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frozen pipe anxiety
Monday, December 2 2024
location: rural Hurley Township, Ulster County, NY
When I winterized the cabin on Sunday, I only drained the pressurized plumbing system at the pressure tank, assuming it would draw water out of both the cold and hot water pipes. I'd made that assumption once before, the first time I drained the cabin's plumbing systems, and the result had been damage to the tankless heating functionality of the Navien gas boiler. But that was back when the foundation walls weren't insulated and freezing temperatures were able to reach into the basement. But after completely insulating the foundation walls in 2023, I've been more cavalier about water left in pipes in the cabin basement. It's possible that nothing bad can happen to the system now that the basement no longer dips below freezing. But part of me is concerned that there is some sort of check valve keeping water from from being pulled backwards out of the hot water system, meaning that when I opened all the taps in the cabin, the hot water was only able to drain down to the first floor taps and that water remains in the pipes below that. This means that there are three vertical feet there of pipes with water in them that will be subject to freezing conditions. It could be that the freezing process will simply squeeze the water up into the empty part of the pipe above. But what if it forces it down into the basement? Might the pressure of the liquid down rise to a high enough level to cause damage? These are not pleasant things to think about, and it has me thinking I should probably return to the cabin one more time before conditions in the upstairs dip below freezing. It's could up there now, so that could be as soon as in a few days.
Meanwhile here in Hurley, it's the coldest it's been so far this season. I took Charlotte and Neville on a walk up to the end of the Farm Road and then diagonally northeastward to the Stick Trail, a path designed to see any deer hunters who might be crazy enough to hunt in such weather. There were none, and Neville dropped out of the walk very early.
The weather has affected the inside of the house, making it so that the minisplits aren't really getting the temperature as high as they promise. I was feeling a chill most of the day that didn't go away until I got back from that walk with Charlotte, when the comparative warmth of the indoors felt refreshing after being out in the frigid forest. Later I took a nice hot bath and shaved off a beard I'd been growing for well over a week. I didn't bother to make any dinner due to all the leftovers and cabin items stuffed into our brand new stainless steel refrigerator. For my dinner, I ate old corn chips with discolored guacamole (both from the cabin) that tasted perfectly fine.
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