Minnesota power outage: pipes

2 years ago

Our power is out here in Minnesota from the storms. It went from 60 degrees yesterday down to 30 degrees now and it should drop to me 19 degrees by this evening. Just closed on a new house… what do I do to prevent my pipes from freezing?

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Comments (5)

gawdinfever Z6
2 years ago
Turn the water off at your main and open all faucets to let the remaining water out.

That's if it's expected to be out for extended period of time. Do they even have an estimate?

Sorry you're having to go through this! Hope they get your power on ASAP!
mike_home
2 years ago
If the house has a atmospheric type natural gas hot water then it does not require electricity to produce hot water. Running the hot water would protect the hot water pipes, but unfortunately not the cold water pipes.

If you can buy a portable generator then you could try using it with an electric space heater. If you can't locate a generator than another option is a kerosene type heater. The goal is to keep the house warm enough to prevent pipes from freezing.
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Jake The Wonderdog
2 years ago
If you know what you are doing and have the tools, you can winterize your plumbing by draining it down, putting anti-freeze in the traps, etc. That's a lot to ask from a homeowner though.

Keep the house closed as much as possible, close blinds and such to retain as much heat as you can. You don't need it to be warm... just not way below freezing.

Then run a pencil stream of water from all of your faucets including a mix of hot and cold. The running water will be less likely to freeze because it's being replaced by water that's above freezing. Flush your toilets every couple hours to keep the traps from freezing.

If you have a gas stove, turn on a burner or two. You will have to light it with a match since the igniter won't work. Keep anything flammable away from the stove. Don't overdo this though - just run a couple of burners at a time.
Megan W
Original Author
2 years ago
Power back in, thank you for your help!!
Stax
2 years ago
last modified: 2 years ago
How cold did it in fact get inside your home during the power outage?
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Minnesota power outage: pipes

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gawdinfever Z6

mike_home

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Minnesota power outage: pipes

Comments (5)

gawdinfever Z6

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