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I've had half a mind to start shutting off my water and draining my pipes before leaving on trips in the winter. We've had frozen pipes several times before, bu

I've had half a mind to start shutting off my water and draining my pipes before leaving on trips in the winter. We've had frozen pipes several times before, but thankfully PEX doesn't seem to burst. Have been working on fixing the insulation issues that lead to the frozen pipes, which I suppose is probably the better solution. But draining the pipes would be a pretty low effort way to get a bit of added insurance.

ghaff 6y ago
My dad used to have the operation done in the winter at his house in Maine and it wasn't trivial. Of course, he just turned off the heat entirely as opposed to protecting against temporary heating loss. That said, I never investigated how easily one could just do such protection on one's own. I have improved insulation over the years but you're presumably still in a bad situation if you have a multi-day power outage in freezing temperatures or your furnace quits.
- war1025 6y ago
  I know to winterize a camper you fill the water lines with antifreeze. I suppose to be really protected you'd need to go that route. We live in a townhouse with a garage on the main level, so the water comes in on the main level, but basically all of our plumbing is on the upper levels. I've had several times when dealing with different plumbing issues where I turn off the main water valve, then open all the faucets and let the water drain out through our water heater. I guess the weakness in that approach would be if there was a bend in the pipe somewhere to not let the water drain fully out, it would still freeze. I guess that's probably why people do the antifreeze method when actually winterizing water lines.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
You don't have to drain your pipes, turning off the water and opening up some faucets will prevent 99% of burst pipes.
EricE 6y ago
Don't drain your p-traps - your house will fill with methane/sewer gas. Don't ignore your sewer pipes either; they can burst too. Instead if you really want to winterize, pour RV antifreeze down all your sinks, toilets, tubs, showers, etc. RV Antifreeze is also great to pour down all your drains if you aren't going to be in your house for an extended period of time even when it's not freezing cold outside - it evaporates a LOT more slowly than water and thus your home will be far less likely to smell like a sewer when you return.

ghaff 6y ago

My dad used to have the operation done in the winter at his house in Maine and it wasn't trivial. Of course, he just turned off the heat entirely as opposed to protecting against temporary heating loss. That said, I never investigated how easily one could just do such protection on one's own. I have improved insulation over the years but you're presumably still in a bad situation if you have a multi-day power outage in freezing temperatures or your furnace quits.

war1025 6y ago
I know to winterize a camper you fill the water lines with antifreeze. I suppose to be really protected you'd need to go that route. We live in a townhouse with a garage on the main level, so the water comes in on the main level, but basically all of our plumbing is on the upper levels. I've had several times when dealing with different plumbing issues where I turn off the main water valve, then open all the faucets and let the water drain out through our water heater. I guess the weakness in that approach would be if there was a bend in the pipe somewhere to not let the water drain fully out, it would still freeze. I guess that's probably why people do the antifreeze method when actually winterizing water lines.

stjohnswarts 6y ago

You don't have to drain your pipes, turning off the water and opening up some faucets will prevent 99% of burst pipes.

EricE 6y ago

Don't drain your p-traps - your house will fill with methane/sewer gas. Don't ignore your sewer pipes either; they can burst too. Instead if you really want to winterize, pour RV antifreeze down all your sinks, toilets, tubs, showers, etc. RV Antifreeze is also great to pour down all your drains if you aren't going to be in your house for an extended period of time even when it's not freezing cold outside - it evaporates a LOT more slowly than water and thus your home will be far less likely to smell like a sewer when you return.