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 ...
- 19.3k
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 ...
- 23.2k
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,...
- 5,188
13
votes
Accepted
What to do when snow blocks house door?
Go out a door that's not blocked and walk to the blocked one to clear the snow.
If all your doors are blocked go out a window and do the same.
If it's a screen door, remove the screen and reach ...
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, ...
- 970
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 ...
- 12.7k
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 ...
- 23k
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 ...
- 9,292
6
votes
What to do when snow blocks house door?
In most cases, snow is not a solid substance. It is powder so it has a bit of movement. What you have to do it push the door a little bit open, and close it repeatably. From this you will hopefully ...
- 252
6
votes
What to do when snow blocks house door?
Here are some options:
Use another door
Go out a window so you can dig out the door
Call someone who can come over and dig you out
Hole up and wait for the snow to melt.
- 63.7k
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....
- 12.6k
4
votes
Will this concrete fence base heave/break during winter cycle?
Best advice is to dig the whole thing down to the level below frost line. It is also the standard practice to put down a bed of gravel at the bottom and lay in a reinforced concrete footing that lies ...
- 63.7k
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 ...
- 2,709
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, ...
- 2,492
3
votes
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 ...
- 31
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 ...
- 38.1k
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 ...
- 22.4k
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 ...
- 176k
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 ...
- 141
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 ...
- 1,560
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
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.
- 20.7k
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
So much humidity in home over the winter
You get condensation because the windows (and evidently part of the ceiling, unless that's just a roof leak) are the most poorly insulated part of the building, so they cool below the dewpoint of the ...
- 176k
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.
...
- 480
2
votes
What to do when snow blocks house door?
I doubt the snow is so compacted that you cannot open the door at all. You don't have a huge ice-cube out of your door.
So, just open the door as much as you can and dig your path clean.
- 143
2
votes
Accepted
Do long roof overhangs influence ice dam formation?
Longer overhangs could impact ice dam formation, but it does not seem to be a significant factor. As this page from the University of Minnesota outlines, heat loss through the roof is the big ...
- 8,755
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