Sawyer
Minister of Fire
We live on the lake shore so sounds travel miles across the frozen water. Have to be careful what you say when you are out there. 
-27F and Still Dropping
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Returned Monday afternoon after a long weekend away in Minneapolis-St. Paul. House was 27F inside, ice in the toilet bowl. The backup electric heat failed to come on due to failure of the utility load management switch to activate the heating circuits. This has never happened before and we never have been concerned about load management when we were gone because the "off" periods are only an hour or two, maybe a couple times a day. Since this has not been a problem, we did not turn on our LP backup space heater to provide heat if electricity failed. Won't make that mistake again.
Appears that the drain lines on the washing machine and dishwasher also froze, as well as the water supply to the water/icemaker dispenser on the fridge. Busy repair work today.
A few more hours away and water supply lines might have frozen and burst, and the water pump would have had a field day turning the house into a new swimming pool. Also need to be more consistent about turning off the well pump when we take off, ever for just a couple of days.
Lastly, unrelated to electric heat, I checked the septic tank and found about 8" of ice on top of the liquid below. Chopped through that and dropped a heater element into the tank. I made this from a hot water heating element and used it many years ago to keep the septic tank from freezing during another very long cold snap. That time temperatures got into the high -40'sF, so high my thermometer bottomed out. Might have got into the -50'sF.
Appears that the drain lines on the washing machine and dishwasher also froze, as well as the water supply to the water/icemaker dispenser on the fridge. Busy repair work today.
A few more hours away and water supply lines might have frozen and burst, and the water pump would have had a field day turning the house into a new swimming pool. Also need to be more consistent about turning off the well pump when we take off, ever for just a couple of days.
Lastly, unrelated to electric heat, I checked the septic tank and found about 8" of ice on top of the liquid below. Chopped through that and dropped a heater element into the tank. I made this from a hot water heating element and used it many years ago to keep the septic tank from freezing during another very long cold snap. That time temperatures got into the high -40'sF, so high my thermometer bottomed out. Might have got into the -50'sF.
Sawyer
Minister of Fire
Sorry to hear of your mess Jim, I hope repairs are minimal. I now know I will check the gas boiler before I leave for an extended period of time to make sure everything is working properly. I put 2" of Dow blue foamboard over my septic lines and tank, also the water lines from the well to the house to hopefully avoid freezing.
The freezing wasn't as bad as it appeared. The washer drain hose thawed out fine, and no innards on the washer were frozen. The apparent freeze up of the dishwasher turned out to be freezing in the sink drain lines pushing the connections apart and getting a drip in two locations. The dishwasher was OK. But the fridge freeze up split the fill valve for the ice maker and water dispenser. Ordered a new part today and will have to replace that. The ice in the one septic tank is diminishing with the heater in the tank, and as long as the drainfield stays open, all will be good.
Tonight the low is forecast -10F, Wednesday -17F. and Thursday -15F. Days are warming now, but still lots of frost deep in the ground to bother septic systems and water lines for wells.
Tonight the low is forecast -10F, Wednesday -17F. and Thursday -15F. Days are warming now, but still lots of frost deep in the ground to bother septic systems and water lines for wells.
Wow, you really lucked out Jeb. Amazing that no pipes burst and flooded your house. There were LOTS of them in this neck of the woods last year. And I just heard over the weekend that there were at least 20 reports of freezing water lines in town. The frost is down over 6' again this winter and is only going deeper for the foreseeable future.
We are also going to be well below average for the rest of the week and well into March by the looks of the long range European model forecast. We are in basically the same EXACT pattern as most of last winter. Our weather guy confirmed last night that this February will be the coldest ever on record at the NWS in Marquette. The average daily temperature has been 2.9F so far this month
! Unreal !
Lake Superior is buttoned up tight again and looks like there could be a new record for the most ice coverage ever on all 5 Great Lakes combined. They are collectively about 85% covered and will be over 90% by the end of the week in all likelihood. It really sucks to live up here in the winter !
Pat
We are also going to be well below average for the rest of the week and well into March by the looks of the long range European model forecast. We are in basically the same EXACT pattern as most of last winter. Our weather guy confirmed last night that this February will be the coldest ever on record at the NWS in Marquette. The average daily temperature has been 2.9F so far this month
! Unreal ! Lake Superior is buttoned up tight again and looks like there could be a new record for the most ice coverage ever on all 5 Great Lakes combined. They are collectively about 85% covered and will be over 90% by the end of the week in all likelihood. It really sucks to live up here in the winter !
Pat
Wow! Over 6' of frost? I'm an engineer for a large water company here in CT. We lay our water mains with 4.5' of cover, if we got 6' of frost we'd have 2000 miles of split ductile iron pipes! We have had a record number of main breaks this year dating back to 1929.
They were still thawing water lines in Escanaba, and many parts of the U.P. last year in May. I think a lot of the water mains in town are down 8' and there were a few that broke last year as it was starting to thaw. We have only about 1/2 as much snow cover this winter as last year, so the frost could go even deeper this year. My frost-free hydrant that supplies water for my wife's horses at the barn froze up again this year. It is down 6'. Didn't thaw out last year till May 17th !! Crazy cold for sure.
About the same situation where I live, deep frost, very little snow cover which came late and allowed an early start on frost penetrating down. My wife and I don't mind the cold at all, but we wish we had more snow for cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The peace of winter is a joy, along with our local road that stays white all winter from packed snow, no salt or sand. If a single car comes down our country road during the day, we call it a traffic jam.
maple1
Minister of Fire
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