How to prevent frozen pipes

danham said:

As I think I mentioned earlier, antifreeze is a good solution for some installations, but the tradeoff is that it tends to gum up or corrode zone valves a little faster than plain water. I use it, so not saying it's a bad idea, just that it ain't no free lunch (as with most things in life).

-dan

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I dont have any zone valves, so no problem there, just a circulator pump and 25 Ft of cast iron radiators at $140 a foot to replace.

We're getting another blast of cold starting today. Yesterday I just drained the system. No water, no frozen pipes. I have two zones, I think I dumped out nine 5 gallon pails. I want to ensure I don't spend my weekend patching in new pipe! I just makes me annoyed to think I'll spend money on oil to keep the system I almost never use from breaking. Since my pipes burst last time, I'm now acquainted with refilling my system, so draining it seemed less scary.

One of the best ways to avoid this is to let the heat run periodically and not have the stove do all of the work.

bridgerman said:

Not true! ThermGuard comes with a coupon for a $5 foot long.

Kidding
John

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So excited . . . and so disappointed . . . all within the space of 20 seconds.

DTrain said:

We're getting another blast of cold starting today. Yesterday I just drained the system. No water, no frozen pipes. I have two zones, I think I dumped out nine 5 gallon pails. I want to ensure I don't spend my weekend patching in new pipe! I just makes me annoyed to think I'll spend money on oil to keep the system I almost never use from breaking. Since my pipes burst last time, I'm now acquainted with refilling my system, so draining it seemed less scary.

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In the past I was all about wanting to use little to no oil . . . but once you realize that by going 24/7 you really are saving money and hardly burning any oil, turning up the thermostat or running the oil-fired boiler for a few times in the year and burning up a few gallons really doesn't seem to be that big a deal to me. I figure the convenience factor of not having to attempt plumbing on frozen pipes . . . both with the boiler and domestic water (since both lines are in the basement) is worth the expense.

I understand your feeling though . . . and have the same type of thinking when I get the oil boiler serviced every other year . . . especially when the tech tells me how clean it is . . . but I figure it's still just a small investment of money compared to the potential aggravation of not having the back up system, ability to keep the domestic water lines from freezing, etc.

firefighterjake said:

In the past I was all about wanting to use little to no oil . . . but once you realize that by going 24/7 you really are saving money and hardly burning any oil, turning up the thermostat or running the oil-fired boiler for a few times in the year and burning up a few gallons really doesn't seem to be that big a deal to me. I figure the convenience factor of not having to attempt plumbing on frozen pipes . . . both with the boiler and domestic water (since both lines are in the basement) is worth the expense.

I understand your feeling though . . . and have the same type of thinking when I get the oil boiler serviced every other year . . . especially when the tech tells me how clean it is . . . but I figure it's still just a small investment of money compared to the potential aggravation of not having the back up system, ability to keep the domestic water lines from freezing, etc.

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Did I mention it's an all original 1961 boiler / 1961 flimsy insulation? Nothing cheap about running that thing. I've got an electric heater in the basement to run if my temp in the basement is getting to low. Sitting at 40 degrees right now. None of the domestic water pipes are in exterior walls either.

Yesterday I was on the fence about turning it on for the week, or just draining it. Then I thought that I was just being lazy by flipping the switch instead of draining. I am a stay at home dad, so I'm here all day to feed the stove. My wife calls it my other woman. I sleep down stairs and tend to it when it's this cold.

In the Boston area we typically get only a handful of really cold days (this year may be an exception!). When the temps get below 10 degrees, I switch back to oil and give the insert a rest. I've got both water and hydronic pipes in outside walls, and I like to keep some heat in them at those temps. A couple of gallons of oil is cheap insurance.

Many years ago, we came home from a long weekend to a frozen/burst pipe (small copper line leading to humidifier in attic...a really bad idea left over from the previous owner). It rained for several days in the house and we ended up with about $40K in damage, weeks in a hotel, and an offer of a beating for my GC if he didn't finish the job before my daughter was born. (Wife was 8 months pregnant when the damage happened)

Just not interested in doing anything like that again!

If I ever design/build a house, the plumbing (and related services) will *not* be anywhere near outside walls. D'oh!

DTrain said:

Did I mention it's an all original 1961 boiler / 1961 flimsy insulation? Nothing cheap about running that thing. I've got an electric heater in the basement to run if my temp in the basement is getting to low. Sitting at 40 degrees right now. None of the domestic water pipes are in exterior walls either.

Yesterday I was on the fence about turning it on for the week, or just draining it. Then I thought that I was just being lazy by flipping the switch instead of draining. I am a stay at home dad, so I'm here all day to feed the stove. My wife calls it my other woman. I sleep down stairs and tend to it when it's this cold.

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Wow-zers . . . I imagine that a 1960s vintage boiler is rather inefficient and burns oil like . . . uh . . . like . . . it was the 1960s. Add in the other factors and I think I might have reconsidered as well.

Iv kept an old empty 1500Sf house relatively warm for 4 months now on a quarter tank of oil. How is that possible you say? I use a cold start aquastat. On the days the thermostat does not call for heat the boiler does not run. When it does run the circ pump starts immediately. Set it at 40 lately but it was 60+ for a month while i rehabbed the house.