25
votes
What is an air bleeder valve, and how does it winterize pipes?
This is for an outside valve that can freeze. Frozen water can crack pipes and valves. Destroying them.
An air bleeder will look like a small round knob sticking out of the side of the valve, under ...
- 30.3k
23
votes
Accepted
Should I put black garbage bags on the inside or outside of my windows to keep my house warm and cold from getting in?
TL;DR Inside
For a bunch of reasons, inside is better than outside, including:
Damage - Inside, the plastic will basically last forever, or at least through the winter. Outside you have birds, wind, ...
16
votes
Accepted
What is an air bleeder valve, and how does it winterize pipes?
An air bleed valve looks like this
You'll note
The directional arrow
The cutoff valve (red handle)
The air bleed valve (the knob past the cutoff)
The reason for this process is that once you shut ...
- 26.3k
16
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
There are a few approaches available. You've already described one of them: add a grippy tread on top of the wood. Another approach is to mix sand in to the next layer of wood finish that you paint on,...
- 12.7k
12
votes
Accepted
(When) Does room messiness affect water heater efficiency?
The heater already has insulation. The cluttered mess of the room it's is in will have exponentially tiny effect on the efficiency. Unless it was perfectly air sealed and insulated, but even then, ...
- 1,080
11
votes
(When) Does room messiness affect water heater efficiency?
For electric, if anything clutter will act as insulation, but realistically no effect.
Gas is an entirely different story, as you need to have air flow for combustion and the exhaust can be very hot.
11
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
The problem comes from the high gloss wood preservative. I imagine the steps would be slippery if just wet.
Sand the treads just to knock off the gloss. Then apply a Matte finish with some sand ...
- 42.8k
11
votes
Should I put black garbage bags on the inside or outside of my windows to keep my house warm and cold from getting in?
Should I put black trash bags on the outside or inside to keep my house warmer?
No.
Your question reflects a common misconception about radiant heat. Black surfaces do indeed build heat from sunlight,...
- 149k
10
votes
Accepted
Can I put road salt into toilet/sink trap to prevent it from freezing?
Your plan is OK except that -20C is about the lowest you are going to get protection with NaCl (i.e. common salt). Here is a graph of freeze point vs. concentration. You really cannot get a higher ...
- 23.5k
9
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
There are a number of wooden bridges in a nearby park.The local council has secured some chunky plastic mesh to the tread areas using galvanised staples, and its far less slippery now.
I've also seen ...
- 11.8k
5
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
I'd go with some metal grip strips. You want something that won't hold water against the wood and allows the treads to dry or your treads will rot away faster.
Image from: https://www.clearwaysupply....
- 14.4k
4
votes
Accepted
Condensing furnace in garage or attic safe for winter?
A condensing gas furnace needs to discharge it's condensate "waste" water. If the furnace is in an environment that experiences freezing temperatures, this can become difficult. Typical condensing ...
- 917
4
votes
Accepted
Fire table surface disintegration over winter
I have the exact same fire table and mine does the same thing! I even pull it inside during the MN winters, but to no avail, I am refinishing it every year! It is definitely a poorly made product. I ...
- 56
4
votes
Accepted
Deck the halls with bubble wrap?
I would select non-flammable insulating materials such as rock-wool, or fiberglass (fully puffed up; mashing it badly hurts its performance). To use these, you will need some sort of framing to hold ...
4
votes
How will a hybrid water heater perform in less than optimal conditions?
For your “with ducting”, it should not be an issue at all, since you have met the full requirements with ducting.
For your “Without ducting”, in general you have met the condition, as the 300 cf room ...
- 2,782
4
votes
Should I put black garbage bags on the inside or outside of my windows to keep my house warm and cold from getting in?
Not.
From second hand experience I can tell you that if you get an unexpected moment of strong sunshine on them, they can melt stuck to your window. Use something like cloth instead. That I'd put on ...
3
votes
Accepted
How to keep my tankless water heater safe in a cold room?
40°F is above freezing, so freezing shouldn't be a problem.
If the weather is getting cold and you're concerned that this utility room might dip below the freezing point, prop the door open a bit to ...
- 48k
3
votes
How can I predict now the heat sinks that will appear in winter?
The general principle to use is that actual air leaks are a lot worse than just having poor insulation.
Look around your doors, windows, plumbing, attic/basement/crawlspace access hatches, fireplace, ...
- 2,522
3
votes
Is it safe to set my water heater tank to vacation during winter time? What else can I turn off to save heating bills during winter?
First of all you should turn off the water to the house and water heater . I've had a burst pipe at my vacation home because the power failed, it got really cold and froze pipes. When the power came ...
- 23.3k
3
votes
Accepted
Sump discharge freezing
How is a sump discharge normally set up in freezing climates?
Short and wide, with plenty of slope, so that ice cannot build up in the bottom of the pipe. A 2" pipe to a 4" pipe with a fall ...
- 226k
3
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
As Tetsujin mentions in a comment, there's no covering on the stairs that will really prevent ice from building up in the right conditions. Refinishing the surface with something less slippery would ...
- 200
3
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
When I lived in that kind of climate, I used a mix of sand and road salt.
The salt melted the snow and ice while the sand gave any ice and/or the remaining cleared ground more grip. This helped with ...
- 1,893
3
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
As already mentioned, ice will be a problem no matter what you put, but also remember that any kind of carpet will fill with ice and be just as bad or even worse as it could provide an absorbent ...
- 141
3
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
To expand on the grippy tread tape suggestion:
I live in Wisconsin and also see snow and ice. I wanted to make my mail carrier's life a little easier and safer and install some grip tape, having done ...
- 31
3
votes
How do you make outdoor wooden stairs less slippery in winter?
Use black rubber stair treads, you can find them in most hardware stores at the start of the cold season. You simply put them down on each step, and store them away when the icy season has passed. No ...
- 131
3
votes
Heat Pumps that can add moisture to dry indoor air in winter
I think you're mistaken. A heat pump can't add water to the air. Probably someone described their HVAC system that includes a humidifier as a heat pump, not knowing any better.
- 21.4k
2
votes
Turn off water heater as well during winter?
Ideally..
Turn the power/gas off to the water heater.
Turn off the water to the building.
Remove the water from the entire building, including the water heater, toilet tanks and water supply lines.
...
- 490
2
votes
If pipe has been frozen for a week, should I call a plumber?
I would go to the hardware store and get a roll of electrical heating strip/tape (could be named either one). We would use this up in Minnesota in our gutters and valleys to prevent icing. Wrap this ...
- 102
2
votes
Fire table surface disintegration over winter
did something cause this... is this just a poor quality product?
Yes and yes. I suspect that freeze/thaw cycles caused this damage.
can I reasonably repair this, and if so how?
It's hard to tell ...
- 36.7k
2
votes
Pouring foundations in cold weather, builder didn't protect them - how to tell if it is set right?
you sound canadian from the metric and the cold in march, so i will answer with some familiarity. i'm a general contractor in southern ontario so i am very familiar with it. you absolutely cannot ...
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