Kansas Crimson

Bursting pipes and draining tanks. Maybe this morning's posts on the TRT should be moved to NSFW?
Being serious, sorry to read about the misfortunes.
Moral of the stories are cold weather in the late fall in the USA sucks - and we need more global warming to combat that.

^^^^^

jhawks99 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:31 am 5 degrees here and we have a burst pipe.

Insulation, insulation, insulation.

It's tougher to add in a finished residence. We have one or two weeks every year in the Empire where the temp never get above zero and is -15 to -20 overnight. "Luckily" we needed to reinforce the roof framing first in our process of renovating our buildings so we took down the ceilings. We put 6"-8" of sprayed on closed cell foam on the bottom of the roof decking and then in the exterior walls. It ain't cheap but it has paid for itself.

japhy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:44 am

jhawks99 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:31 am 5 degrees here and we have a burst pipe.

Fuuuucck, that sucks.

^^^

Of all the things you are forced to deal with when you own a house, plumbing problems are probably my least favorite.

TDub wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:46 am if it makes you feel any better it's 16 degrees here and we only have about 2 minutes (maybe..max) of hot water and any given time and the last minute is Luke warm at best before it goes icy.

I've gotta switch out the lower heating element in the hot water tank today and hope that solves it. Im gonna try to do it without draining the tank. Should be easy enough.

Ugh, I don't envy you. I hope it goes smoothly.

japhy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 9:27 am

jhawks99 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:31 am 5 degrees here and we have a burst pipe.

Insulation, insulation, insulation.

It's tougher to add in a finished residence. We have one or two weeks every year in the Empire where the temp never get above zero and is -15 to -20 overnight. "Luckily" we needed to reinforce the roof framing first in our process of renovating our buildings so we took down the ceilings. We put 6"-8" of sprayed on closed cell foam on the bottom of the roof decking and then in the exterior walls. It ain't cheap but it has paid for itself.

I was hoping that I could make it through one cold night before a warm day tomorrow to shut off and drain the outside spigot. No such luck.

jhawks99 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:10 am I was hoping that I could make it through one cold night before a warm day tomorrow to shut off and drain the outside spigot. No such luck.

Ouch, that belongs in the FAFO thread.

japhy wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 11:02 am

jhawks99 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 10:10 am I was hoping that I could make it through one cold night before a warm day tomorrow to shut off and drain the outside spigot. No such luck.

Ouch, that belongs in the FAFO thread.

^^^

Unfortunately 99, no amount of hopium will prevent molecules of water from getting so cold that they achieve their lowest energy state, slow down enough to hook onto each other, and form solid crystals. For pure water, this happens at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and unlike most other solids, ice expands and is actually less dense than water.

Which is why ice cubes float.

It’s why lakes don’t freeze from the bottom up, either

While most materials get denser as they get colder, water is one of the very few that doesn’t

TDub wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:46 am if it makes you feel any better it's 16 degrees here and we only have about 2 minutes (maybe..max) of hot water and any given time and the last minute is Luke warm at best before it goes icy.

I've gotta switch out the lower heating element in the hot water tank today and hope that solves it. Im gonna try to do it without draining the tank. Should be easy enough.

Is it time to spring for that Takagi install that you've always wanted?

defixione wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:12 am

TDub wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:46 am if it makes you feel any better it's 16 degrees here and we only have about 2 minutes (maybe..max) of hot water and any given time and the last minute is Luke warm at best before it goes icy.

I've gotta switch out the lower heating element in the hot water tank today and hope that solves it. Im gonna try to do it without draining the tank. Should be easy enough.

Is it time to spring for that Takagi install that you've always wanted?

Do you recommend tankless hot water heaters Defix?

Yes. The initial cost for purchase and installation is about 50% more than the traditional hot water heater. We've had one in our home for over 20 years and we installed one in our property in the Empire. We noticed an almost instantaneous savings in our gas bills each month because the unit only heats the water when you ask for it. Traditional hot water heaters may go through six or seven cycles per day depending on the temperature you have set on the tank. I don't think I have installed a traditional hot water heater in over 15 years, most of my clients want the hot water on demand units.

defixione wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:12 am

TDub wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:46 am if it makes you feel any better it's 16 degrees here and we only have about 2 minutes (maybe..max) of hot water and any given time and the last minute is Luke warm at best before it goes icy.

I've gotta switch out the lower heating element in the hot water tank today and hope that solves it. Im gonna try to do it without draining the tank. Should be easy enough.

Is it time to spring for that Takagi install that you've always wanted?

Unfortunately I can't go tankless here. We don't have any natural gas all the way it thisaway and the electric tankless tanks are garbaggeee.

Hopefully it's just the lower element. I'll start with the cheap and easy repair first and work my way to throwing it out the window.

TDub wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:32 am

defixione wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:12 am

TDub wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:46 am if it makes you feel any better it's 16 degrees here and we only have about 2 minutes (maybe..max) of hot water and any given time and the last minute is Luke warm at best before it goes icy.

I've gotta switch out the lower heating element in the hot water tank today and hope that solves it. Im gonna try to do it without draining the tank. Should be easy enough.

Is it time to spring for that Takagi install that you've always wanted?

Unfortunately I can't go tankless here. We don't have any natural gas all the way it thisaway and the electric tankless tanks are garbaggeee.

Hopefully it's just the lower element. I'll start with the cheap and easy repair first and work my way to throwing it out the window.

Propane?

Shirley wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 9:03 am

TDub wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:32 am

defixione wrote: ↑Wed Nov 29, 2023 8:12 am

Is it time to spring for that Takagi install that you've always wanted?

Unfortunately I can't go tankless here. We don't have any natural gas all the way it thisaway and the electric tankless tanks are garbaggeee.

Hopefully it's just the lower element. I'll start with the cheap and easy repair first and work my way to throwing it out the window.

Propane?

I'd have to buy a tank, build a place to hold the tank and pay to have it filled

there are parts of this world where cold showers are the norm

jussayin’

For what a new hot water heater costs, Chuck it and bolt in a new one.

the element I'm replacing was $36 and will take 10 minutes.

A new tank, at the Contractor's price with the fittings etc is pushing $900.

Not too mention, having to drain it, drag it out of the closet and drag the new one in.

I'll start with the elements...if that doesn't fix it then yea, may be time for a new tank. Its only 8 years old though. My guess is sediment build up, we have extremely hard water, even with a water softener hooked up.

While I not longer wish to emulate your pioneer spirit; I do applaud and appreciate it.

That is the way my hero, St. Joaquin of the Empire would approach this problem, troche y moche.

I dunno. I saw this, and it made me miss Leawood.