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

[Mick]

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.

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.

You can say that again!

High 20s here at the moment, not expected to get above freezing until Monday. Pretty unusual here, but I doubt we will get into "survival mode".

Hoping for the best among the folks with much harsher weather!

[Mr Hole]

Originally Posted by Bruze

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

Do youse guys have basements?

No basements in Houston. We're only 20ft above sea level.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by Mr Hole

No basements in Houston. We're only 20ft above sea level.

Ok thanks. Built right on a slab, or do you have crawl spaces?

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Ok thanks. Built right on a slab, or do you have crawl spaces?

typically on slabs. But in flood prone areas the homes are being lifted. And some of the older homes may be on pier and beam.

The only basements we have are filled with water and swim in them.

[MadInNc]

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[Aerovette]

Went out in 18 degrees and used an IR thermometer to read the pipe temp with the heater installed. 41 degrees !! Best 20 bucks spent.

[Onebadcad]

It is a frigid 72 here right now, so I am heading to the course soon to brave the elements.
Always a great day when you can shoot a score less than the air temp.

[Mick]

Originally Posted by MadInNc

.

Yes, as a matter of fact, I do!

14 degrees when I took the pooch out in the morning, 19 now. I hate the cold.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Onebadcad

It is a frigid 72 here right now, so I am heading to the course soon to brave the elements.
Always a great day when you can shoot a score less than the air temp.

It's in the mid 30's here now. I can shoot under that any time.....at a 9 hole mini golf course....assuming I can get past that damned windmill this time.

[Bill]

Originally Posted by aerovette

Went out in 18 degrees and used an IR thermometer to read the pipe temp with the heater installed. 41 degrees !! Best 20 bucks spent.

You wrapped the heated tape just to the outside faucets and water inlet line? How do you plug that in? Extension cords running to outdoor outlets? Did you run that heat tape in your attic as well?

And did you additionally cover your pipes with the foam insulation, or simply rely on the heat tape?

[Aerovette]

Originally Posted by bill_daniels

You wrapped the heated tape just to the outside faucets and water inlet line? How do you plug that in? Extension cords running to outdoor outlets? Did you run that heat tape in your attic as well?

And did you additionally cover your pipes with the foam insulation, or simply rely on the heat tape?

The heater spirals around the pipe. One end is at ground level, the other end is at the entry to the wall. I zip-tied it in place and covered it with the split foam (black pool noodle stuff) and black duct taped over the foam. The lead for the heater ended up pretty close to the garage door so I plugged in an extension cord and ran about 4 feet of it over to the heater.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by aerovette

The heater spirals around the pipe. One end is at ground level, the other end is at the entry to the wall. I zip-tied it in place and covered it with the split foam (black pool noodle stuff) and black duct taped over the foam. The lead for the heater ended up pretty close to the garage door so I plugged in an extension cord and ran about 4 feet of it over to the heater.

Your incoming water supply is above ground in places?

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Your incoming water supply is above ground in places?

Some do. Here's my water inlet, the copper pipe has the foam 'noodle insulation, additional rags wrapped around that, an old comforter wrapped around all that, and a big contractor garbage bag covering everything so it won't get wet.

Older pier and beam homes obviously have exposed pipe going into the home, and some slab homes, like my next door neighbor's house, have the water inlet coming through the slab directly into the wall, which is nice this time of year.

[Rodnok1]

Originally Posted by Bruze

Your incoming water supply is above ground in places?

Yes in some areas the water line exits the ground then goes into the house.
The last bad freeze they had a lot of incoming lines froze.
Must save 2 dollars a house only reason I can see to have it exposed.
Bet it's primarily slab houses.

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by Rodnok1

Yes in some areas the water line exits the ground then goes into the house.
The last bad freeze they had a lot of incoming lines froze.
Must save 2 dollars a house only reason I can see to have it exposed.
Bet it's primarily slab houses.

Thanks, I'm learning a lot here of how youse guys live and how houses are built down there.

When I plumbed my cabin in 1981, I had the well line come up into the crawl space and straight up into the bathroom because there weren't any other options. FWIW, crawl spaces stay somewhat warmer than the outdoor air temp.

I wrapped heat tape around the well line, down about 3' below grade and all the way up to the floor and then insulated it; it never froze.

In 2008 I redid the whole system, and now have the well line come into the cellar (which I didn't have before) 3-4' below grade on the opposite end of the house, no heat tape needed. Much-o better-o.