How to Prevent Pipes from Freezing

Well, I am a techie geek, but in this hub, I will be crossing the weather, plumbing, and technical world all at once.  Here in Pennsylvania, it has been averaging 20 degrees Fahrenheit or less for the last week.  At my house I have a concern for this because part of my crawlspace foundation wall is exposed to the outside and not underground completely like the rest.  So, the last thing I want is my pipes to freezing up.

So, here is what I did.  I visited my local Home Depot and purchased a indoor/outdoor wireless thermalstat (about $25.00,) and brought it home.  I placed the remote weather station in the crawlspace where most of the piping is, and where it would likely freeze first.  The main station is upstairs in the warm house.

Even though this thermometer is suppose to be used for outdoors, it does a dandy job of letting me know what is going on down there in terms of temperature.  It is staying about 44 degrees F. right now at 0-10 degrees.  I am happy, because this is above freezing, however, in the near future, I will be installing some heat lamps that point directly to the earth.  My crawlspace is a walk-in type, and dirt, so this will be safe, however I wouldn't recommend putting heat lamps pointing directly at pipes (especially plastic,) because they could melt, etc.

I added an amazon link below to show some examples of thermometers.  Mine in particular is a Weather Channel Weather Station. 

Well, if your pipes froze, and didn't bust or crack, then you have no reason to panic just yet.  The first thing you need to do is turn on a faucet in the house.  Turn both the hot and cold on.  Likely, nothing will come out.  We are doing this to prevent the un-busted pipe from busting.  Then you will need to warm up your pipes.  This can be done by heating the area your pipes are in with a space heater.  You could treat a single pipe with a blow dryer (don't get too close if you have PVC piping, you don't want to melt anything.)  Try to warm the piping evenly until you get the water flowing again.

If however, you pipes have burst, then you will need to turn off your main water line or at a shut off valve near the affected pipe(s).  Then call a plumber and your home owners or renters insurance if it damaged anything.

There are some options for copper to keep them warm, by installing an on the pipe heater.  PVC, you will need to keep the area above freezing temperatures with heat lamps or some other method of heating.  Keep in mind while space heaters have become considerably safer over the years, water and electricity still don't mix, and you don't want a space heater in a tight closed space, this will prevent a fire hazard. 

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