Folks in the midwest and east should watch their water pipes. Cycle the furnace or boiler occasionally if the basement is unheated or there are pipes in exterior walls and the wood stove keeps the thermostat from calling for heat.
Bitter cold coming, watch those water pipes
- Thread starter begreen
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Indeed. This is something I have to do. The hot water loop from the boiler to the little great room with the wood stove goes through a section where the old house and new addition connect, and the no-glycol water will freeze. Below 10 and I run it before bed and when I wake up. Below 0F, and I set the thermostat to come on periodically in the night. Progress hybrid will be running 24/7 of course, boiler not so much.
Yup similar situation here. I run the oil boiler when temps are 25F or less. My vulnerable pipes are in a ceiling (no access small attic) above a recently renovated kitchen addition off the back of the house. So don't want any water damage there.
As we only have1 zone it means all the radiators in the house get heat. So it's not ideal at all. But i can usually get away with about 50 Gallons of oil a season. This year looks like maybe more than that though.
Been debating on whether to put glycol in the system.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
Any way to get a programmable thermostat to help keep cycles shorter and more frequent?
Not sure, i'll look into that,
Good idea. My old boiler (with becket burner) uses a 2 wire t stat. Not sure if that works or not on a programmable one?
There is a special thermostat (add-on?) that people have mentioned. It cycles the furnace/boiler at set intervals. There is a past thread on this somewhere.
EbS-P
Minister of Fire
A battery powered one would work. The memory setting it has available might not allow that flexibility in programming you are after. Basically you want to raise set temp for 10 minutes every couple hours. The functionality you want is more like running the hvac fan x minutes per hour
Yeah, I swapped out the thermostat to one that can be programmed and has an app. Below zero F and it comes on at like 1am and 3am for 15 minutes.
I had glycol in the pipes, but I was getting leaks. You'll hear different things from different HVAC people, but one line of thinking is that glycol is harder on the solder joints an is prone to leak. For me, I had more leaks. Also it's less efficient.
I've got a work room that I keep at 40 if I'm not using it. That does the trick. But one time when it was below zero and the power went out, ran the generator, but for some reason I didn't turn on the oil boiler generator breaker. The pipe in that work room froze. That sure was bad.
I had glycol in the pipes, but I was getting leaks. You'll hear different things from different HVAC people, but one line of thinking is that glycol is harder on the solder joints an is prone to leak. For me, I had more leaks. Also it's less efficient.
I've got a work room that I keep at 40 if I'm not using it. That does the trick. But one time when it was below zero and the power went out, ran the generator, but for some reason I didn't turn on the oil boiler generator breaker. The pipe in that work room froze. That sure was bad.
In case this is helpful... My previous home had forced hot water heat with a bunch of Taco valves for zone control. It had antifreeze in it when we moved in and long story short, it cause no end of headaches, mostly by clogging the Taco valves so they would stick open or closed. Long term it was "easier" to run plain water and during rare, long-duration cold weather power failures, either drain the system or use water pressure to keep water moving through it as if I was flushing it.
-dan
NickW
Minister of Fire
When we built I had the plumber run no water supply lines in the exterior walls. Only the kitchen sink drain runs inside an exterior wall for a few feet, all other drains are in interior walls. Our basement is insulated and heated on a separate zone set at 60, so should be no worries. Outside spigots are frost free type so they won't (shouldn't) freeze.
I have a thermometer with remote readings, I place one sensor under the house in the crawl space. Gives me temps and humidity.
Gearhead660
Minister of Fire
Zone valves are a hassle. I had them in the rental house (for over 40 years) and i was always replacing transformers, and the zone valve motors. I ended up just leaving them in manual open so there is only 1 zone in the house now, but it doesn't really matter.
If it did matter, i'd take out the zone valves and use a pump for each zone instead.
The pumps are much more dependable and really don't cost that much more than zone valves.
We are lucky to not getting the crazy cold down here that you guys are. We ARE bracing for ice from the inbound storm. Where we are is pretty much ground zero for heavy ice. The forecasts have been moving around at 48 hours out but the snow line has been 30 miles north for a couple of days. The variables are between .5" of ice to inches of sleet. There is a repeating bump of rain mid storm but who knows right now. One way or the other it'll be pretty ugly.
Wood on the porch
Checked the genny
Lots of propane for it
4 runner and buggy garaged.
Running down the hill in a bit for some minor things and then ready for whatever lands.
Stay warm y'all
Wood on the porch
Checked the genny
Lots of propane for it
4 runner and buggy garaged.
Running down the hill in a bit for some minor things and then ready for whatever lands.
Stay warm y'all
Stay safe, ice storms are the worse. They are right up there with tornadoes as things I like to avoid.
NickW
Minister of Fire
I was in NC one spring after a winter of several ice storms there and couldn't believe the damage. It looked like tornado/derocho damage. I will take cold and snow over ice any day.
I'm gtg shutting down the mountain for 2 weeks with no access or power due to snow or piles of sleet. I really don't want to experience the woods being torn down around us by ice.
Supposed to get 1-2 feet of snow here Sunday into Monday on top of bitter cold. Not as cold as Wisconsin, but very cold for us.
We had one here that knocked out our power for 6 days. It stripped whole sides of tall hemlock trees on our property. I was cleaning up after that storm for a month.
-30 in Minnesota again with reported wind chills at -50 to -60 in some areas. lucky for us that there is no threat for ice like in the south. It’s been on the weather channel all day to be quite destructive & travel will be impossible on the interstate highways down south ..
-30? My God, be safe. Good luck. We're due to dip below 0 here this weekend, and its hard to even be out in that... Everybody take care.
NickW
Minister of Fire
We had one on Christmas Eve in SE WI about 20 years ago that had the roads like an ice rink. It was only for a day or so before it warmed up enough for the roads to clear so not too bad. We only occasionally get a 1/4" of ice. Nothing like what the South is expecting. Now wet heavy snow in December or March that snaps off 50 tree's every few years is another story...
I vaguely remember the great ice storm of '76 when I was 3. All I remember is the whole family camping in the kitchen for 3 days with a Coleman stove for heat and cooking and being bored out of my head because I was too young to play Monopoly and cribbage with my parents and older siblings. Matchbox cars and Lego's can only entertain a 3 year old for so long...
Just say it: you were getting bread and milk - like everyone else in TN when the forecasters use the S or I word in winter...
I’ll be stacking a cord or so of firewood Saturday in the cold. No choice before it’s buried under snow
I have never figured out the milk sammich thing to be honest.Just say it: you were getting bread and milk - like everyone else in TN when the forecasters use the S or I word in winter...
Actually wine for the wife and I suppose you could say milk, half n half for my coffee. Grabbed some mid day grub and came back up the hill.
I shoveled out the stove and lit the fire that'll be burning till I'm not quite sure.
Bring it.......!
Similar threads
