Learn me... preparing the house for extreme cold

Dusterbd13-michael said:

There are plenty of jobs down here. Why the berkeley would you voluntarily deal with -50??????

It builds character. Also makes decent musicians Winterpeg is where Randy Bachman and Neil Young grew up.

Another tip is to minimize cold air intrusion by minimizing how many and how often you open exterior doors.  We use the garage door to come and go, but that lets a lot of cold air in, so we are using the normal front door for now.    

Dusterbd13-michael said:

There are plenty of jobs down here. Why the berkeley would you voluntarily deal with -50??????

Healthcare, schools, other social issues... I'll stop there so this thread doesn't get locked :P

Dusterbd13-michael said:

There are plenty of jobs down here. Why the berkeley would you voluntarily deal with -50??????

I'm glad it scares people away. We love it up here and it's still 'Merica

Update: A few new cracks in the plaster walls in the kitchen, which is likely the least insulated part of the house. No other damages that we can tell. 

So the pumps at the gas station Dana works at are currently frozen. The heater is also out in the gas station, maintenance is supposedly on the way.

I didn't think it was quite that cold, seeing -3, windchill of -28.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

There are plenty of jobs down here. Why the berkeley would you voluntarily deal with -50??????

To me, it's easier to dress up for the cold than it is to undress for the heat.  At some point, you run out of things to take off.  I've never run out of things to put on.

And either way- in the oppressive heat of the summer or the brutal cold of the winter, nobody is going outside.  

alfadriver said:

Dusterbd13-michael said:

There are plenty of jobs down here. Why the berkeley would you voluntarily deal with -50??????

To me, it's easier to dress up for the cold than it is to undress for the heat.  At some point, you run out of things to take off.  I've never run out of things to put on.

And either way- in the oppressive heat of the summer or the brutal cold of the winter, nobody is going outside.  

Agreed. I am uncomfortable all over when it is 100* and humid. While I wasn't there yesterday (or today), I have walked my dog in -25 windchill. I wore wool socks, a wool sweater, toque, Carhartt insulated bibs, a scarf, and a mid-weight Carhartt jacket. Wanna know what was uncomfortable during that walk? My right hand, because I had to pick up dog doo and I had to take off my mitten (which are better htan gloves) and the tip of my nose. 

I get it. It isn't for everyone. And tbh, I can deal with the heat just as well--have some deodorant at the office and wipe yourself down, but to me the cold or the heat are both manageable. I just prefer the cold.

All I need to survive in 100deg weather is some water.  I'll be smelly, but ok.

Subzero temps will kill you, and quickly.

I can't ever see living any farther north of about where Tulsa lies. 

I could probably be convinced for KC or Nashville for the right job. 

There are a few other places I wouldn't mind moving to, but I'm not sure I could get a big enough raise going to a company to cover the increased cost of housing.

I’m in the middle of a move and my new landlord mentioned a few precautions and I ended up putting my old space heater down in the basement to help with the pipes running to the washer. That and a dripping faucet. 

Brian said:

I’m in the middle of a move and my new landlord mentioned a few precautions and I ended up putting my old space heater down in the basement to help with the pipes running to the washer. That and a dripping faucet. 

Make sure you're careful with that. Every year people try that up here and when a pipe bursts and floods the crawl space/ basement they can cause a fire.

Also if it's truly -50F wherever this event is happening, a dripping faucet isn't doing much. The Yukon river has plenty of ice on it at -30F and that's moving a metric berleleyton of water. At 20F, it's helpful but -50F you aren't doing much.

In reply to alfadriver :

 There is a limit to adding layers. I may just get my move to FL. 

crankwalk said:

Brian said:

I’m in the middle of a move and my new landlord mentioned a few precautions and I ended up putting my old space heater down in the basement to help with the pipes running to the washer. That and a dripping faucet. 

Make sure you're careful with that. Every year people try that up here and when a pipe bursts and floods the crawl space/ basement they can cause a fire.

Also if it's truly -50F wherever this event is happening, a dripping faucet isn't doing much. The Yukon river has plenty of ice on it at -30F and that's moving a metric berleleyton of water. At 20F, it's helpful but -50F you aren't doing much.

It’s staying right around 0F here, so not too bad. 

Turn the water to the toilets off, then flush'm. 

It sucks to have to do number 2 and have cracked bowls and tanks to deal with. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

There are plenty of jobs down here. Why the berkeley would you voluntarily deal with -50??????

I would much rather deal with being cold than too hot , although -50 is pushing it

RevRico said:

In reply to ProDarwin :

Almost seems warm compared to what some of you people who live further north are going to see. Why do you live there?

really good ethnic food 

pinchvalve said:

Another tip is to minimize cold air intrusion by minimizing how many and how often you open exterior doors.  We use the garage door to come and go, but that lets a lot of cold air in, so we are using the normal front door for now.    

I do a bit of handyman work and one gentleman called me on an "emergency" call today because one of his renters claimed the furnace wasn't working properly...

The renter was claiming the thermostat was set at 75 degrees and it was only 65 in the house..   When I drove up the Garage door which opened right into the basement and the uninsulated floor above was wide open so he could work on a car in the driveway..

yup....     

crankwalk said:

Brian said:

I’m in the middle of a move and my new landlord mentioned a few precautions and I ended up putting my old space heater down in the basement to help with the pipes running to the washer. That and a dripping faucet. 

Make sure you're careful with that. Every year people try that up here and when a pipe bursts and floods the crawl space/ basement they can cause a fire.

Also if it's truly -50F wherever this event is happening, a dripping faucet isn't doing much. The Yukon river has plenty of ice on it at -30F and that's moving a metric berleleyton of water. At 20F, it's helpful but -50F you aren't doing much.

Yes but that river is straight exposed to those temps, where a pipe in a wall has those temps on one side but a warm house on the other so that pipe isn't going to be seeing ambient temps. of course there's a dozens of variables that will determine the temp that will start causing issues but leaving the faucet on a drip wont hurt anything.

edizzle89 said:

crankwalk said:

Brian said:

I’m in the middle of a move and my new landlord mentioned a few precautions and I ended up putting my old space heater down in the basement to help with the pipes running to the washer. That and a dripping faucet. 

Make sure you're careful with that. Every year people try that up here and when a pipe bursts and floods the crawl space/ basement they can cause a fire.

Also if it's truly -50F wherever this event is happening, a dripping faucet isn't doing much. The Yukon river has plenty of ice on it at -30F and that's moving a metric berleleyton of water. At 20F, it's helpful but -50F you aren't doing much.

Yes but that river is straight exposed to those temps, where a pipe in a wall has those temps on one side but a warm house on the other so that pipe isn't going to be seeing ambient temps. of course there's a dozens of variables that will determine the temp that will start causing issues but leaving the faucet on a drip wont hurt anything.

Won't hurt, won't help much either. The river was a dumbed down example. The point is, people think as long as its flowing they are fine and if you have a slow drip -30F -50F can still overcome that and freeze it in a hurry.

I think I’ll stay in Oklahoma.. love it here lol