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Cold weather tips: Stopping your pipes from freezing
Comments
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Joey the lips wrote: »Nahh leave the attic door in most modern houses open and half the house will catch pnuemonia.
An easier solution would be to run a 100w bulb up through a hole in the door. Yes this does work...and leave your down stairs tap on a very slow drip. If you are really over concerned.
local authority asked people not to leave water taps runing as there is a shortage of water0 -
Adeline Dower wrote: »local authority asked people not to leave water taps runing as there is a shortage of water0
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Adeline Dower wrote: »local authority asked people not to leave water taps runing as there is a shortage of water
Please i answered that a long long time ago. I said a poss solution but not necessary a good solution. I know what the council said but if it came between me and my sleep I would rather sleep with a dripping tap.0 -
Adeline Dower wrote: »I have my attic well insulated and still my pips froz up ,any other tips0
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Some people here need to catch up on their physics 101 regarding lightbulbs...
Firstly, 100W is hardly going to send off cold air back to the artic. But when people are comparing heating an attic to heating a living room, something critical is being forgotten.
The rate of heat flow between a and b depends on the temperature difference between them. I.e. how fast heat is conducted depends on the temperature difference between a room and the garden outside. So a room which is heated 20 or 30 degrees hotter than outside is going to need quite a lot more heat than a room heated to 2 or 5 degrees above outside temperature.
Secondly, though it's open to correction, ALL the energy from a 100W lightbulb is going to result in heat sooner or later. That visible light is going to be absorbed by various things so it's going to result in heat, for example. Besides, 80% or thereabouts is emitted as non-visible light energy, aka heat.
Finally, a good chunk (I don't know how much) of the heat is the radiated infra-red-light kind of heat. That's going to heat in some way or another, all the surfaces it shines on. I don't think the convective air flow thing is particularly important. If the air has already frozen the pipes, it's not going to cool them no matter what sort of breeze blows! Pipes don't suffer from wind chill:rolleyes:
Apologies if I went a bit nerdy there but I felt that people shouldn't be given the wrong impression. The facts are that leaving a strong light on in the attic will make a small but significant difference to keeping pipes ice free. It's not a guarantee but it sure as hell will make a lot of people sleep more soundly and less likely to be forced to leave the tap running. Especially if they are too immobile to haul up heaters or put up makeshift insulation!0 -
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To_be_confirmed wrote: »Some people here need to catch up on their physics 101 regarding lightbulbs...To_be_confirmed wrote: »Firstly, 100W is hardly going to send off cold air back to the artic. But when people are comparing heating an attic to heating a living room, something critical is being forgotten.To_be_confirmed wrote: »The rate of heat flow between a and b depends on the temperature difference between them. I.e. how fast heat is conducted depends on the temperature difference between a room and the garden outside. So a room which is heated 20 or 30 degrees hotter than outside is going to need quite a lot more heat than a room heated to 2 or 5 degrees above outside temperature.
It seems a lot of people believe because their attics are insulated, that their tank/pipes will be protected more, as the cold won’t get into their attic. In a lot of cases this is incorrect since the insulation is between the top floor and attic space, rather than the attic space and outside. In this case the chances of the tank/pipes freezing increases, as the heat is held below the attic and the attic space gets colder, increasing the likelihood of freezing. Of course, if the insulation is laid correctly over the tank/pipes and not under the tank, there should be no freezing as long as heat is coming from below!To_be_confirmed wrote: »Secondly, though it's open to correction, ALL the energy from a 100W lightbulb is going to result in heat sooner or later. That visible light is going to be absorbed by various things so it's going to result in heat, for example. Besides, 80% or thereabouts is emitted as non-visible light energy, aka heat.To_be_confirmed wrote: »Finally, a good chunk (I don't know how much) of the heat is the radiated infra-red-light kind of heat. That's going to heat in some way or another, all the surfaces it shines on. I don't think the convective air flow thing is particularly important. If the air has already frozen the pipes, it's not going to cool them no matter what sort of breeze blows! Pipes don't suffer from wind chill:rolleyes:To_be_confirmed wrote: »Apologies if I went a bit nerdy there but I felt that people shouldn't be given the wrong impression. The facts are that leaving a strong light on in the attic will make a small but significant difference to keeping pipes ice free. It's not a guarantee but it sure as hell will make a lot of people sleep more soundly and less likely to be forced to leave the tap running. Especially if they are too immobile to haul up heaters or put up makeshift insulation!
In a tiny room with tank and pipes taking up most of the space and insulation shielding the room from the outside, I would accept that a 100w bulb may make a difference of a few degrees. You can’t otherwise say it will make a difference, due to the complexity of the other external factors involved like:
The size of the space being heated, The insulation between outside and inside, The insulation between house and attic, Insulation between bulb and tank/pipes, Outside temp, Heat provided from the house below, Water temp, Size of pipes, Material of pipes, Water flow, Thermal transfer between materials.
I think with the extreme temperatures outside, a lot of people had their mains water cut off due to pipes freezing outside. Not much can be done about this besides burying the pipes deeper, adding insulation, heating the water (somehow) or keep the flow running (these will only slow down freezing process and obviously aren’t practical).
Also a lot of people had their attic pipes/tanks freeze, due to either lack of insulation (over their tank), or heat in the right places (i.e. the room directly under their tank).
Either way, leaving a tap running (while helpful) is irresponsible. We seem to be experiencing longer periods of temperatures below zero. This day in age, there is not much excuse for not having proper loft insulation, considering the price, the savings and the grants available. The majority of people have heating. Of course there is always the odd exception0 -
To_be_confirmed wrote: »Some people here need to catch up on their physics 101 regarding lightbulbs...
This put me asleep long ago. You can spout all the physics you want an old school plumber will tell you that a light bulb positions in close prox to the water tank prevents it freezing it does not thaw it. It stops it in the first place.
I dont care what physics says. It has been practicised for years. Just look at the old stock of houses around dublin
As for anyone believing me. I could not care less. It was a "Suggested" idea. If you really want protection get up there this summer and lag all the pipes and lag the tank.0 -
Joey the lips wrote: »This put me asleep long ago. You can spout all the physics you want an old school plumber will tell you that a light bulb positions in close prox to the water tank prevents it freezing it does not thaw it. It stops it in the first place.
I dont care what physics says. It has been practicised for years. Just look at the old stock of houses around dublin
As for anyone believing me. I could not care less. It was a "Suggested" idea. If you really want protection get up there this summer and lag all the pipes and lag the tank.
I cannot believe you "spouted" that at me when I never said it would thaw anything! I didn't come here to prove people wrong, I said it to clarify that a bloody bulb does make a small difference and that every little helps:mad:
Bubblehead, the fact I was getting to is that a 100W lightbulb will make a small difference. You put caveats on what I said but the point is still there. Outside temp can be below zero but pipes won't necessarily freeze. The amount of frozen pipes I heard of were nearly always after a night of temps below -6.
That's all I'm going to say in this thread.0 -
Joey the lips wrote: »This put me asleep long ago.Joey the lips wrote: »You can spout all the physics you want an old school plumber will tell you that a light bulb positions in close prox to the water tank prevents it freezing it does not thaw it. It stops it in the first place.
It’s very easy for someone to swear something works after trying it, when they don’t factor in other things that can affect the result.Joey the lips wrote: »I dont care what physics says. It has been practicised for years. Just look at the old stock of houses around dublinJoey the lips wrote: »As for anyone believing me. I could not care less. It was a "Suggested" idea. If you really want protection get up there this summer and lag all the pipes and lag the tank.0 -
lilybarlean wrote: »My 81 year old mother is afraid to turn on the gas central heating as her water went off yesterday. Everyone on her terrace has no water. The downstairs toilet has no water but the upstairs one does. I'm guessing that this is coming from the tank in the attic while the downstairs one is coming from outside. How many litres approx does a tank hold? She's afraid to flush the upstairs toilet too much in case she uses all the water in the tank. Also, she's afraid to turn on the central heating as she thinks that the radiators are taking water from the tank and the house will blow up! Can somebody disprove this? She has a wood burning stove that she's using for heat but its only heating one room and she needs her warmth.
Your poor mother!0 -
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