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100 yr freeze (2 Viewers)

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BigRick

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I saw the message and I still was only partially prepared :( :smow:
I thought you would have atleast had a back plug to back feed your panel by now since we been thru so many whole house generator threads... i finally prepared for the last hurricane.
 

steveb

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I thought you would have atleast had a back plug to back feed your panel by now since we been thru so many whole house generator threads... i finally prepared for the last hurricane.
You'd think but stupid is as stupid does. What can I say.

I'm trying to figure out how to sell a whole house standby generator to the wife at the moment. If that doesn't fly I will work on getting a tri fuel kit for the current genny and plug to back feed the breaker panel.
 

BigRick

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You'd think but stupid is as stupid does. What can I say.

I'm trying to figure out how to sell a whole house standby generator to the wife at the moment. If that doesn't fly I will work on getting a tri fuel kit for the current genny and plug to back feed the breaker panel.
I'm lucky to have even waited til couple months ago to do mine.. I can atleast power the whole house. Backfeed at the minimum. Having A/C and Heat in the house makes controlling a tank waaay much easier. I never even added a heater to any tanks, the house kept warm enough at 75. Sadly I do have loss at my warehouse where my backups failed overtime.
 
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If you cut the water ahead of time is there a way to drain the pipes or would this reduce the amount of overall water in the pipes that can freeze and burst the pipe?
You can cut ahead of time, then run all faucets til nothing comes out... we did that in the west back in the day 😂 it worked... would just suck to cut off if unnecessary. Unfortunately, i don’t think any amount of prep could’ve helped this time around
 
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Yes!!! Good looking out Glenn! Depends on the location of the heater... if it’s indoors, it doesn’t need to be drained... you just have to turn the water feed valve off directly on those lines too so it’s not bleeding back into the main lines... But 100% on killing power!
 
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Yes!!! Good looking out Glenn! Depends on the location of the heater... if it’s indoors, it doesn’t need to be drained... you just have to turn the water feed valve off directly on those lines too so it’s not bleeding back into the main lines... But 100% on killing power!
You can drain the hot water heater and drink the water in emergency. :)
 

foos

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I had a pipe burst at one of the elbows-luckily it was an outside faucet like Steve’s, and it was at the end of a water line, so was able to cut and cap temporarily rather than do a bigger fix. My plumber will come back next week to either repair it or install a new faucet somewhere close by. Do the “frost free spigots” just keep the actual faucet from splitting?
Your normal faucet shuts off the water at the handle, the frost free ones are long and the shutoff is actually near the end of the pipe in the wall. As long as you shut it off and do not have a hose connected the last 4", or more if you got a longer one, will drain so that the water is several inches in the wall. This does not help if your entire house freezes, but for the every few year cold snap we get it would make it so you do not need to run around wrapping things. Basically you make it so that the water at the shutoff is in the warm house instead of outside in the cold.

I grew up in MN, have family in construction, and my grandpa was a pipe fitter, so I have picked up a few things about surviving the cold. When I was little we were a bit short on cash and would run out of money for heating oil and could spend weeks camping in one room with a space heater. Point being, if you know what to do you can save your pipes from a hard freeze, I know since I have lived it. If people are interested I could make a thread on steps to prepare for next time and steps to take when a freeze hits.
 

steveb

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I'm lucky to have even waited til couple months ago to do mine.. I can atleast power the whole house. Backfeed at the minimum. Having A/C and Heat in the house makes controlling a tank waaay much easier. I never even added a heater to any tanks, the house kept warm enough at 75. Sadly I do have loss at my warehouse where my backups failed overtime.

Sorry to hear you lost some. It sucks.

On a bright note I was able to replumb the pool equipment last night and pressure tested it this morning so that is a plus.

Have a slow leak in a pipe on the North facing exterior wall of our house. I sure thought we flushed enough (every 4 hours or so) to keep that from happening. Hopefully plumber will come by today. Already opened a claim with insurance but we have 1k deductible.

I've been paying 20 years on this house. I betcha $$ they gonna raise my rates when it renews this summer.
 
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