Watch those pipes in your unheated basement

[begreen]

With a large arctic mass of air descending over the country, many homes are going to be in a sustained cold period. Be sure to keep some heat in the basement to avoid frozen pipes. It can happen more easily if the furnace/boiler never comes on. Consider running the heating system at least once a day to warm up the basement or crawlspace. And close off those foundation vents until the spring thaw.

 

[Slow1]

Good point.

I've also been wondering about my hydro-air unit up in the attic. Last year it came on every night as we never had an overnight burn... so far this year we haven't used any oil while we are home. I wonder if I need to run it once in a while to keep those pipes from freezing or if enough heat leaks up there to keep them warm enough... if I do need to run it I wonder how often - need a thermostat that can be programmed to run for 5 minutes x times a day regardless of temperature.

 

[Lanningjw]

Seems like a really good idea to run the furnace. I have been watching temps in the basement and so far they seem to be holding around 50 degrees.
thanks for the heads up, it gonna go 5 below on Thursday in Minneapolis.

 

[Highbeam]

This morning I had 9 degrees and I am 500 feet above sea level near Tacoma WA. I don't think I've ever seen single digits and if it is this cold in the moderate western washington rain forest then you inlanders are in for a treat. I don't even mind the cold so much but we had some heavy sustained winds with it the last couple of days that really took the heat away.

Right now the frozen pipes aren't leaking. Later this week we'll start hearing about the leaks and the plumbers will be busy.

 

[firefighterjake]

Seems like a good time as any to cue up one of our member's products . . .

http://bearmountaindesign.com/

A few other members here have purchased these products and are very happy with them.

What I do is run my oil boiler for a few minutes every day when the temps are below the donut . . . the basement/crawl space in my house actually holds the temp pretty well, but I figure running a few gallons of oil each winter is worth the expense.

 

[Wet1]

Seems like a good time as any to cue up one of our member's products . . .

http://bearmountaindesign.com/

A few other members here have purchased these products and are very happy with them.

What I do is run my oil boiler for a few minutes every day when the temps are below the donut . . . the basement/crawl space in my house actually holds the temp pretty well, but I figure running a few gallons of oil each winter is worth the expense.

I was wondering when we'd quit dancing around it and cue up the full promotion. :cheese:

Slick product though...

 

[begreen]

Running the furnace/boiler once in awhile is good for it. Keeps out condensation and bugs.

With no snow on the ground, it's getting pretty solid out there. That's bad, our pipes are typically not buried to east coast depths.

 

[schwaggly]

I was just starting to wonder about this myself. I think I'll run a thermometer in the basement and insulate a little better. This is my first year with significant wood heat that will leave my basement out in the cold.

 

[cycloxer]

I keep the downstairs at 55. Of course I have forced hot water natural gas at 80% efficiency - not such a bad deal right now due to NG prices. I run the upstairs zone once every day until the system heats up just to make sure the pipes on the N side don't freeze. Storm on the E. Coast tonight. Stacked the last of the wood last night.

 

[rdust]

I don't think my basement ever gets colder then the 50's. I guess I'll keep on eye on it just to be sure.

This just reminded me to shut the water off going to my outside faucets! Of course it should have been done already.

 

[BucksCounty]

With a large arctic mass of air descending over the country, many homes are going to be in a sustained cold period. Be sure to keep some heat in the basement to avoid frozen pipes. It can happen more easily if the furnace/boiler never comes on. Consider running the heating system at least once a day to warm up the basement or crawlspace. And close off those foundation vents until the spring thaw.

We had a pipe freeze last year....what a mess since we weren't home. This year is the first year of primarily heating with the stove. I have the thermostat set so the furnace can kick on when the temp drops to 64 when we are home and 60 when we are not. I do this specifically to get some heat downstairs. I am have been checking everyday on the downstairs room/backroom and crawlspace since we don't really use this area...it gets cold down there and we haven't had really cold air yet. Is is worth running the furnace fan time to time to circulate the heat?

 

[jf254]

Good point.

I've also been wondering about my hydro-air unit up in the attic. Last year it came on every night as we never had an overnight burn... so far this year we haven't used any oil while we are home. I wonder if I need to run it once in a while to keep those pipes from freezing or if enough heat leaks up there to keep them warm enough... if I do need to run it I wonder how often - need a thermostat that can be programmed to run for 5 minutes x times a day regardless of temperature.

There is a very good chance your pipes will freeze call your HVAC company and have a freezestat installed. It will kick on the circulator anytime that it hits whatever temp it is set for. We install one on every attic hydro air we install... cheap money compared to new ceilings..

 

[Northern NH Mike]

This was something I worried about last year as the first wood heating year. I have a therm/hygrometer in the basement to monitor the air. We have an old (200+ yrs) field stone foundation so it required a good deal of patching and I have fiberglass insulation drapped down the walls. w/o the furnace running for a few days I've seen us go as low as 42 °F during an arctic cold spell. That being said, running the unit once a day to bank some warm air down there isn't a bad idea. I've considered installing a vent down there (forced hot air system) that can pump hot air just into the basement.

 

[SolarAndWood]

We've had this issue every year since removing the forced air furnace 4 years ago. When it is cold/windy for sustained periods, a little drip in the faucets goes a long way to keep pipes from freezing.

 

[begreen]

With a large arctic mass of air descending over the country, many homes are going to be in a sustained cold period. Be sure to keep some heat in the basement to avoid frozen pipes. It can happen more easily if the furnace/boiler never comes on. Consider running the heating system at least once a day to warm up the basement or crawlspace. And close off those foundation vents until the spring thaw.

We had a pipe freeze last year....what a mess since we weren't home. This year is the first year of primarily heating with the stove. I have the thermostat set so the furnace can kick on when the temp drops to 64 when we are home and 60 when we are not. I do this specifically to get some heat downstairs. I am have been checking everyday on the downstairs room/backroom and crawlspace since we don't really use this area...it gets cold down there and we haven't had really cold air yet. Is is worth running the furnace fan time to time to circulate the heat?

Is about a buck or less a day worth saving the flooded mess? No question for me. I've had one basement flooding experience from a frozen pipe and never want to repeat that experience. The mess was awful and some priceless pictures were lost.

 

[Slow1]

I just wish another chimney wasn't so darn expensive or I'd have another stove down in the basement. Perhaps once I finish the other half I will find a place for a stove and find a way to justify the expense of the chimney system. Then I could just burn a fire every few days when it was cold enough. Oh the dreams eh? Of course I tell myself I'd buy a very inexpensive stove but once I get into it I'd probably end up with a BK or another FV - hey, there's a great excuse for a BK with it's 48hr burn eh? Don't need it hot down there, just warm enough... Debating on a pellet stove too but hate to have to store them in the house etc.

I got a quote from my HVAC folks to put a hot water loop off the boiler in the basement and that came in at over $3K - still cheaper than a chimney though nowhere near as much fun

 

[SolarAndWood]

I just wish another chimney wasn't so darn expensive or I'd have another stove down in the basement.

The Garn boiler vents horizontally. If you have a little pitch in your yard and access to a mini-ex, you are all set.

 

[Rich L]

The fear of frozen pipes was the main reason I put a Mansfield in the basement.

 

[Fins59]

Mobile Home dwellers should also be careful if they heat with wood. I don't live in a MH but had a friend who did. The first winter he heated with wood his water pipes froze. The pipes were under the floor along side the furnace ducts but since he didn't use furnace the pipes received no heat and in sub zero temps the wood heat wasn't enough to get through floor to pipes.

Then if that wasn't bad enough, instead of using his regular driveway, he made a temporary short-cut winter driveway. It so happened that his in-ground water supply pipe was beneath this driveway and even though it was 6' deep the constant driving of the car over this area forced the frost down to the pipe and froze it. He was a single guy so carrying water from the neighbor until the ground thawed wasn't too bad.

 

[woodjack]

This year I'm experimenting with putting a small, oil filled, plug in heater in my small basement. On a low setting I think it will be less expensive, and more effective, than running the furnace intermittently to keep the pipes from freezing.

 

[Rougement]

I had all the plumbing redone, the house was a repo and was left unoccupied all winter. Most of the old copper pipes had split. I got pex put in, it's not freeze-proof but it is freeze-resistant.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I got pex put in, it's not freeze-proof but it is freeze-resistant.

Did you consider the gorilla pipe or whatever the product is that is supposedly freeze-proof?

 

[jharkin]

Its my first year in the new (old) house and I'm only running the stove on weekends when I'm home. My basement is uninsulated, mortared fieldstone and fully below grade except for the top ~ 18in.

Last weekend was the first time I had the stove going round the clock on a cold day and the basement stayed around 60F. When the wood stove is going the only heat down there is the little waste from the humidifier and the couple times a day the boiler fires to heat the hot water tank.

All week we have had the central heat on and the basement is still around 60F. Our heat is gas fired steam - The boiler is relatively new and efficient ('05) and I have all the steam mains insulated with 1in of fiberglass - so the only waste heat when its running is what gets through the insulation and the uninsulated return lines and hot water tank loop.

I suspect that being fully below grade my basement wont freeze even in a long cold spell. When I was a kid my father heated the house for years with a '79 resolute and our below grade basement didn't freeze either... never got much below 50 as I recall. The only time we ever had a frozen pipe was one of the runs to the HW baseboard that the builder put in an outside wall outside the insulation - fixed that and no more freezes.

 

[Jack Straw]

Has anyone wired their thermoguard near their boiler? My thermostat is in my main hall near the front door and for aesthetic reasons I would prefer to hide it somewheres else.

 

[pen]

Its my first year in the new (old) house and I'm only running the stove on weekends when I'm home. My basement is uninsulated, mortared fieldstone and fully below grade except for the top ~ 18in.

Last weekend was the first time I had the stove going round the clock on a cold day and the basement stayed around 60F. When the wood stove is going the only heat down there is the little waste from the humidifier and the couple times a day the boiler fires to heat the hot water tank.

All week we have had the central heat on and the basement is still around 60F. Our heat is gas fired steam - The boiler is relatively new and efficient ('05) and I have all the steam mains insulated with 1in of fiberglass - so the only waste heat when its running is what gets through the insulation and the uninsulated return lines and hot water tank loop.

I suspect that being fully below grade my basement wont freeze even in a long cold spell. When I was a kid my father heated the house for years with a '79 resolute and our below grade basement didn't freeze either... never got much below 50 as I recall. The only time we ever had a frozen pipe was one of the runs to the HW baseboard that the builder put in an outside wall outside the insulation - fixed that and no more freezes.

In this region basements are common and like your experience, rarely get less than the mid fifties if they fully below grade. However, often time pipes running to sinks are along the sill plate of the outside walls of the house and if not properly insulated there could be a draft on those below zero nights that's just enough to get that pipe to freeze in an otherwise above freezing basement.

good advice by all here.


pen