How Cold Is It?

[GuRu]

I feel for you in the cold!!!

So far the winter here in middle Europe is one of the mildest ever!! Temperatures were between 5°C and 10°C sometimes up to 13 - 15°C here in Germany. They dropped down to -10°C only for one or two nights in January (except the regions in the Alps). At the moment it's around 0°C - 2°C and a mixture of snow and rain.

Be tough!! Best regards from Germany, GuRu

 

[Whitecat8]

It's so cold here in Minnesota.... This last Sat., I was at Orchids Limited and saw a spray from a beautiful white Phal outside in the snow and thought - oh, dear - what happened?

Inside (paradise, by comparison), Jason Fischer said that, in weather this cold - single digits - if you put orchid blossoms outside, they freeze, looking as if they were still in 70 degrees. They'll stay, frozen in perfection, while it's super cold. If you flick the flowers with your finger, or drop them on something hard, they shatter like glass.

Amazing -

 

[Sandy O]

I watered everything Sunday afternoon. And if the heat goes out I am screwed anyway. So I'm just going to wait for a thaw. If we don't get one in the next few days I'll get the sledge hammer out.

Hey Rob---

When my greenhouse was free-standing I had to break the ice on the door regularly with a rubber mallet. When we moved it, I knew I had to attach the greenhouse to my basement so it wouldn't freeze---and so I could wander around the GH in the middle of the night.
Have you been able to open it yet?

Sandy

 

[littlefrog]

Yep, managed to get a few days ago. It warmed up enough that a solid shove was sufficient.

 

[NYEric]

Man, you people who live where it's that cold or where the powe goes out during cold storms deserve credit and a break.

 

[Marco]

I went to MN t2 weeks ago and my toes almost froze when I stepped outside the plane. It's nice and warm again since im back in NY

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Be thankful you guys don't work in water damage cleanup....

If I see another frozen pipe burst in a ceiling or a busted sprinkler system in an office I'm just gonna bring a sleeping bag to work with me and not bother driving home.

Jon

 

[Heather]

Wondered where you were, Jon! Should have figured.

So, tell me, what does a frozen pipe look like, and does running the faucet all the time really help? My landlord keeps telling me to keep all three faucets running all the time.

 

[Persephone]

I'm no expert, but my experience is that if you let a faucet drip, the pipes will be less likely to freeze up. We had that problem with the pipes that lead to the kitchen and laundry room. They would freeze up every winter ( don't like doing dishes in the bath tub) Leaving the faucet dripping when we remembered helped. This year we invested in having the pipes moved to interior areas of the house and so far we haven't frozen up. But then again it's only the beginnning of February.

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

The usual culprit is a 1/2" copper pipe with an inch long split in it. You'd be amazed how many gallons can spurt out of one of those in a short time.

Yes, running your faucet at a slight trickle does work! The main thing I've seen countless times this month is houses with pipes run in the attic without enough insulation laid around them and in unheated basements. The worst one I've seen so far this week is a 3/4 million dollar house (that's a mansion in Ohio for you city folks ) that the realtors didn't want to "waste" money heating. Well, when they gave a walkthrough a week later to find the basement would require a canoe, guess who they called...

If you EVER are gonna be away from your home for a week or more, TURN OFF YOUR WATER AND OPEN A FAUCET!!!! The amount of customers we get that call us the day they got home from vacation is enough to make me never want to travel.

Jon

 

[Heather]

Apparently the historic trouble is in my laundry area.

I have been leaving the shower dripping, and when I remember the other two.

do the other two make a difference?
I'm off tomorrow night and will return Sun. p.m. While it will be in the teens at night, should I be sure to leave all three faucets running?

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

I'm not sure you need to, but as they say, better safe than sorry.

Jon