Coldpocolypse: Hard Freeze Predicted for Houston, Upcoming Monday and Tuesday

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

[standard no homo disclaimer applies]

[Aerovette]

To all the "Let the faucets run" crowd, I present

a FROZEN Niagara Falls.

[Aerovette]

I left work at 5:00PM and it was 24 degrees. It took me 48 minutes to get home.

It usually takes me an hour.

[Aerovette]

My dishwasher has a delay feature that allows 2,4, or 6 hours before starting, I have it set so it will wash the dishes at 4:30 AM which will be my automated faucet run.

[Torqaholic]

Middle of January be like "We're all gonna die!"

[Dan47]

Finally got above -10 yesterday and they opened the car wash. Had a bunch of ice buildup on my rims that was throwing off tire balance and caused a tpms warning light. All better now.

[Vandelay Industries]

Originally Posted by aerovette

My dishwasher has a delay feature that allows 2,4, or 6 hours before starting, I have it set so it will wash the dishes at 4:30 AM which will be my automated faucet run.

That's pretty cool. Does she come back to bed afterwards?

[Rodnok1]

Originally Posted by Vandelay Industries

That's pretty cool. Does she come back to bed afterwards?

Better not... That breakfast isn't going to cook itself.

[Bill]

Well, made it through the night, still alive, pipes still OK, even though it's still below freezing. Tonight will be the real test. It will be even colder, and we won't have the benefit of residual warmth to keep pipes from bursting.

It's sunny, but windy, now, so in terms of trying to thaw out, that's probably a push, even if we make it above freezing today.

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

Well, made it through the night, still alive, pipes still OK, even though it's still below freezing. Tonight will be the real test. It will be even colder, and we won't have the benefit of residual warmth to keep pipes from bursting.

It's sunny, but windy, now, so in terms of trying to thaw out, that's probably a push, even if we make it above freezing today.

Damn furnace ran 19 HOURS !!! downstairs.

45 minutes upstairs.

[BRUIZER]

We're on a warming-up streak.

Beats -20+ that we've seen for a few days.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by aerovette

Damn furnace ran 19 HOURS !!! downstairs.

45 minutes upstairs.

I'm telling you, reduce the temp on your downstairs' unit if you want to equalize usage. Is that going to make any difference to you when you're gone all day? Is your bedroom upstairs? If so, is that going to make any difference to you at night? If it's 4 or 5 degrees colder downstairs, that's not going to make any difference in keeping your pipes unfrozen.

Are you willing to be mildly inconvenienced by having the downstairs colder than the upstairs in the evening before you go upstairs to bed?

In any event, hopefully this all wraps up by Thursday, so I doubt you're going to wreck your heaters in this short amount of time no matter what you do.

Think about Houston.....our a/c's get punished for much of the year....rode hard, put away wet. Our heaters, on the other hand. are all low miles, one owner, rarely driven in the rain.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

I'm telling you, reduce the temp on your downstairs' unit if you want to equalize usage. Is that going to make any difference to you when you're gone all day? Is your bedroom upstairs? If so, is that going to make any difference to you at night? If it's 4 or 5 degrees colder downstairs, that's not going to make any difference in keeping your pipes unfrozen.

Are you willing to be mildly inconvenienced by having the downstairs colder than the upstairs in the evening before you go upstairs to bed?

In any event, hopefully this all wraps up by Thursday, so I doubt you're going to wreck your heaters in this short amount of time no matter what you do.

Think about Houston.....our a/c's get punished for much of the year....rode hard, put away wet. Our heaters, on the other hand. are all low miles, one owner, rarely driven in the rain.

Youse guys don't have "central heat," meaning one unit with air/hot water distribution throughout the entire house? Arrow-Guy has a unit downstairs and another one upstairs?

[Bruze]

Youse guys also need one of these:

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Youse guys don't have "central heat," meaning one unit with air/hot water distribution throughout the entire house? Arrow-Guy has a unit downstairs and another one upstairs?


Attachment 94927

It's common for two story houses to have two separate HVAC systems, one for upstairs, one for downstairs. That's what I have, too.

Downside: More expensive up front, twice as much stuff to go wrong

Upside: If one unit fails, the homeowner at least has the other one to limp along with while repairs are effected on the non functioning system.

It's also commonplace for larger one stories to have two or more units.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Youse guys don't have "central heat," meaning one unit with air/hot water distribution throughout the entire house? Arrow-Guy has a unit downstairs and another one upstairs?


Attachment 94927

It's common for two story houses to have two separate HVAC systems, one for upstairs, one for downstairs. That's what I have, too.

Downside: More expensive up front, twice as much stuff to go wrong

Upside: If one unit fails, the homeowner at least has the other one to limp along with while repairs are effected on the non functioning system.

It's also commonplace for larger one stories to have two or more units.

[dvarapala]

Originally Posted by slewfoot

[Porter]Do they make a smaller size?[/Porter]

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Youse guys also need one of these:


Attachment 94928

After the 2021 blackouts you better believe I did one.

Over the last 24hrs my 5 ton downstairs furnace ran 10.46hrs while my upstairs 3 ton ran 1.87hrs.

After the 2021 freeze we added the generator and removed the blown in insulation and replaced with spray foam.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

It's common for two story houses to have two separate HVAC systems, one for upstairs, one for downstairs. That's what I have, too.

Downside: More expensive up front, twice as much stuff to go wrong

Upside: If one unit fails, the homeowner at least has the other one to limp along with while repairs are effected on the non functioning system.

It's also commonplace for larger one stories to have two or more units.

Weird. Nobody up here has anything like that. Takes up a lot more room, for one thing.

Do youse guys have basements?

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

It's common for two story houses to have two separate HVAC systems, one for upstairs, one for downstairs. That's what I have, too.

Downside: More expensive up front, twice as much stuff to go wrong

Upside: If one unit fails, the homeowner at least has the other one to limp along with while repairs are effected on the non functioning system.

It's also commonplace for larger one stories to have two or more units.