Start prepping for this cold snap

[nightfighter]

You have a few days to figure out where and if you are vulnerable. Plug up any openings that wind can get in through to hit your water supply. Throw pipe insulation on anything you even think might be exposed. Friday will be the day to check thermostats and set any susceptible sinks to be just barely dripping. It will only last until Sunday so don't be cheap thinking you are going to get a huge water bill... A repair after frozen pipes are much more than any water bill.... Think. Plan. It is coming.

[piemma]

Good advice Ross. Also charge the battery on your generator as they say fierce winds. Could be power outages.

[Got Stripers]

Yup time to drip, drip, drip.

[tattoobob]

You can always put a container under the dripping faucet and use the water to cook with or water plants

If you have forced hot air furnace change the filter a clogged filter is not your friend in the cold weather it will cause it to short cycle and your house won't heat up

[clambo]

We put in mini splits last year, this is our first winter using them for heat. Called Mitsubishi to check on upcoming cold snap, they said system will stop working at 5 degrees. Well at least I kept the old heating system and can use that for a couple days. I asked the rep what happens if you don't have a secondary system and he said, we get some very angry calls! Quite a few houses now only use mini splits and it seems they may be in a bad place soon, at least it will be a short duration. Of course the electric went up quite a bit as soon as we installed the system, looking into solar now to offset the cost.

[nightfighter]

Wow... that is nuts.

[Rmarsh]

I supplement my hot water baseboard heat with my wood burning stove....been doing that since we built the house in '77.
Problem is my thermostats don't call for heat for long periods of time....house feels warm and cozy
. But with the heating system not circulating throughout all three zones...and to two bedrooms we don't use anymore....I've had one zone freeze up when temps get into single digits. Fortunately no broken copper pipes yet....pump is running but not circulating.
Not going to use the wood stove during this cold spell.....set tstats to 68 and burn oil....to get the heat to all corners of the house.

[JohnR]

Thanks for the reminder, turned off the feed to the outer faucets, checked the indows, and the f)#*ing kid, that has been at school for weeks, left his f)#*ing window open again

[nightfighter]

Now this may sound really stupid of me to say, given that I started this thread.. but it seems the media around this is getting out of hand. We have all lived through worse. Whipping people into a frenzy when they just have to think and not be stupid about it.

[jredfly]

Originally Posted by JohnR

Thanks for the reminder, turned off the feed to the outer faucets, checked the indows, and the f)#*ing kid, that has been at school for weeks, left his f)#*ing window open again

Too F'in funny, I got one of those too

[Clammer]

NO SCHOOL FOSTER/GLOCESTER

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by jredfly

Too F'in funny, I got one of those too

Right?

Originally Posted by Clammer

NO SCHOOL FOSTER/GLOCESTER

[clambo]

A friend of mine had to drive his boat to Billings in Maine due to a problem with his manifold overheating. When we were driving up a week later for a sea trial the temperature in his truck went down to 25 degrees below zero outside, that was the actual air temp! I worked outside most of my life and never saw temps that low, the windshield washer froze and we couldn't clean the windshield. Going down the highway at 65 with no visibility is not for me. I didn't know windshield washer could freeze, I do now