Frozen pipes. Owt I can do?

In common with a lot of people I now have no water as the pipes are frozen.

I've turned the water supply off and turned a tap on, to avoid burst mains, but what now. the interweb said go at the pipes with a hairdryer. But I've only got about half an inch of exposed pipework. United Utilities are saying **** off its not our problem

Any suggestions?

well, if it's a copper pipe then a hot air paint stripper would probably heat up a fair length of it even if only a small amount is exposed and as the water heats up it will pass the heat along too. might be best not to boil the water in the pipe so heat up and pause for the heat to travel then repeat and not be too localised.

Same problem here binners, although we do have a trickle down stairs. Girl down the road has tried the haidrier trick and it worked.

United Utilities are a bunch of ****s.

It's not UU's problem they only have to supply it to the house, what happens after that is your problem.

All my neighbours have this problem. Even on inside supply pipes.

Unfortunately there isnt much you can do other than the hairdryer and heater.

When we had our heating system moved to the garage the installer insisted we fit a thermostat in there which overides the house thermostat and is set to about 5dg. If the temp gets down below that our heating kicks in regardless. We are the only house with no issues because of it. May be worth considering if your system allows in future.

Heat your house up. Turn the central heating up to full, leave it on all day. If you've got a fire, light it. Get some fan heaters. Get the place throbbing.

Cheers folks. heating on full blat. Fire on. Going at the pies with a hair dryer. First time i've needed one of those for many a year 🙂

Jesus, your heating comes on when its 5 degrees out, that must cost a fortune!

Warm the pipes up using the method this bloke did…

"Going at the pies with a hair dryer"

mtfu and eat them cold 😉

As above, turn on your ctrl heating and leave it on. The supply to our shower froze last winter and this solved the issue after a night or so.

The heating only needs to come on a little bit (Internal can be set as well) and its an adjustable thermostat so we can knock it back down once this deep freeze is over. Rather have a toasty house for a couple of weeks than a burst pipe

If its a cup of tea you need, just fill the kettle with snow.

I'm not sure how this helps a supply pipe though. Stops internal pipes freezing, and your heating pipes (as they must go outside to get to the boiler obviously), but doesn't stop the main water feed freezing?

but doesn't stop the main water feed freezing

I can't believe that anything outside of the house (underground) will have frozen. It's not that cold.

First time i've needed one of those for many a year

😆

Binners keep at the pipe, it's worked here! A real sit back, stroke your beard and light your pipe moment.

It's not UU's problem they only have to supply it to the house, what happens after that is your problem.

Doesn't alter the fact that they are a bunch of ****s though.

I have no idea as don't use them, I know someone who works or did work for them and he's a cock.

Already sorted the kettle problem. That was priority. I can't function without caffeine.

At some point I'm going to need a big poo though. Actually…. I think my local pub should have working toilets 🙂

Hair dryer does work – the heat will conduct along the copper. Do not use paint gun for risk of desoldering hidden joints. I'm in for a hair dryer session myself now that the electricity is back on. Got no drinking water at the mo, plus bath won't drain!

Drac – Member
I have no idea as don't use them, I know someone who works or did work for them and he's a cock.

Nice.

😀

Fill a bottle straight from water tank for water.

Standard industry protection against freezing conditions is to turn any circulation pumps on when the outside air temperature gets to about 1degC. If the return pipe water temperature to the boiler gets as low as about 10degC then turn on the heating until it reaches 50degC. Finally if the internal room temperature gets as low as 11 degC then turn on the heating until its warmed up by 3 or 4 degrees.

Its seen as cheaper to heat to protect a building then repair damage later.

I can't believe that anything outside of the house (underground) will have frozen. It's not that cold.

No, I agree, but I find it odd that any pipes internally would have frozen, you'd have to see some seriously cold weather for the inside of the house to reach negatives and threaten pipes – unless you're not living in it and forgot to leave the heating operating at a reduced temp. What I'm saying is the poster suggested a 5 degree stat outside woudl save the pipework, I'm saying it wouldn't save the feed pipe and it only saves the heating if the pipework goes outside, otherwise the internal normal stat should work fine.

I think the issue with this 5 degree stat in the garage is because the boiler is in the garage and needs to be frost protected.

Fill a bucket with a load of snow and sit it next to a rad. to melt or chuck it in the WC cistern 🙂 Eventually you'll have enough water to flush the bog.

coffeeking – Member

Jesus, your heating comes on when its 5 degrees out, that must cost a fortune!

Better than having water flood your home and ruin it's entire contents!

Frost stats should come on only when it gets to freezing, not 5C

wwaswas – Premier Member
I think the issue with this 5 degree stat in the garage is because the boiler is in the garage and needs to be frost protected.

Exactly.

Crikey lads, it was only suggested as a solution for future thought. It works in my home and all of my neighbours have got frozen pipes. I wasnt saying it as some kind of expert, just that (As wwaswas has stated even more eloquently, it protects my garage located boiler and as a added benefit if the garage gets anywhere near to freezing, my house automatically warms up as well so no burst pipes.

It doesnt cost a fortune because it switches on and off regularly to keep a maintained temp and as i said, i can control both thermostats. I altered the garage one to 5dg just to be on the safe side tbh

I can't believe that anything outside of the house (underground) will have frozen. It's not that cold.

No, I agree, but I find it odd that any pipes internally would have frozen, you'd have to see some seriously cold weather for the inside of the house to reach negatives and threaten pipes – unless you're not living in it and forgot to leave the heating operating at a reduced temp. What I'm saying is the poster suggested a 5 degree stat outside woudl save the pipework, I'm saying it wouldn't save the feed pipe and it only saves the heating if the pipework goes outside, otherwise the internal normal stat should work fine.

The water feed is in the garage against the outside wall, hence the freezing of the exposed pipe. Interestingly enough the washing machine feed and waste pipe are also against the same wall and are also frozen solid. The tac for this will be draping the pipes in towels that have been soaked in hot water.

We never switch our heating off, and when out (or at night) just drop the thermostat down to 15C. This is because one year we switched off the heating as we went on work/holiday (late Sep), came back a month later to no heat as we'd had a frost and the boiler couldn't flick on the frost-protection.

We'd been in Florida, so you can imagine how cold we were without heating…

coffeeking – Member

Jesus, your heating comes on when its 5 degrees out, that must cost a fortune!

Are you suggesting your house stays at a 20C ish when it's 5C outside without any heating? Do you run around a lot inside to keep it warm?

Am i the only one who has a running battle with my wife regarding the main thermostat. Every day i have to reduce it to just below 20C. She would have it on full throttle if she had her way 🙁

Jeepers I cannot believe how hot some people have their house! Do you all go around naked indoors? Turn it down to just below 20C? Get used to 15 and save yourself masses of money. After several days with no power my house was only at about 8 degrees this morning, but wasn't too bad. Prior to the heating coming back on it was below freezing in the kitchen – that was officially too cold.

I have no idea as don't use them, I know someone who works or did work for them and he's a cock.

He must mean you coyote. Couldn't possibly be me.

oh, and we've got a boiler that's not working. Good idea when it's your only source of heat and hot water, not.

Quick trip down to pound stretcher and we've got two halogen heaters burning up electricity at 10p an hour each. No hot water though, we'll all smell bad by this time tomorrow.

all water pipes against outside walls should be lagged appropriately to be compliant with Water Regulations (or Bylaws as was)

The big problem is for people who go away when it's cold and it thaws before they get home, pipes pop and the house floods for a few days

I was on standby in 95 when the last big freeze thaw happened at New Year, just ran around the area turning people off for a week (100 hours of OT for that event!

Our combi boiler was making a right racket this morning with warning lights and buttons flashes away nicely. Looks like the condenser output thingy-ma-jig has frozen. I think my Mum's combi has the same problem as well.

oh, and we've got a boiler that's not working. Good idea when it's your only source of heat and hot water, not.

Quick trip down to pound stretcher and we've got two halogen heaters burning up electricity at 10p an hour each. No hot water though, we'll all smell bad by this time tomorrow.

Just stick the heaters in the bath then. The water will soon be toasty

cxi – same thing here, just disconnect the condenser output at the boiler & catch the condense with a saucepan or bucket – but you'll have to be careful as they'll be a backlog of water when you first disconnect it. Then fire up the boiler as normal – but you'll need a big saucepan or bucket & keep emptying it as there is quite alot of condense off those boilers.

Wooohoooooooo. I have water again. Fab. Cheers chaps!