11 Plus Exams Forum

DH woke me up to inform me there was no water in the kitchen or outside tap. As he had to leave for work in order to cover people who were stuck abroad I was left to sort it out. Turns out I had frozen pipes Rang my plumber who was not going to be able to get to me. He told me to stick a heater under the kitchen sink and see what happens. 5 hours later, I have water . Have now put DD's old jumpers around the outside tap. I realise it could have been much worse and am looking for suggestions on what else I can do to prevent this happening again. Both the hot and cold water pipes were frozen but for some reason the cold water one thawed before the hot one.

Leave your hot water on all night. Expensive, but at least you won't wake up to any surprises

Buy some lagging from Homebase or B&Q.

We had two frozen pipes this morning to our ensuite- no cold water tap and couldn't even flush the loo as cistern had not refilled. We left the loft hatch open for 2 hours and hey presto, water again. We were half expecting a burst pipe and water to come flooding through the ceiling at any moment. Leaving loft hatch open or water on all night will be a lot cheaper than a plumber's bill or an insurance claim!

I'm planning to keep the heat on all night tonight. If I do this do I have to keep the water on too to avoid the pipes to the water freezing?

WFG - do keep the heating on with your chest probs please. You do not need to keep hot water on too though - as long as house is kept warm, they shouldn't freeze and I do not think that water in them actually stays hot even if water on.
My (1 year old) boiler stopped working today. It seems that if it is extremely cold, the pipe carrying the condensate outside freezes and whole boiler stops. Defrosted it with hot water and back on now.

I too have been keeping the heating on for as long as possible - the thought of water coming through the ceiling is nightmarish - my neighbour had a burst pipe in the kitchen today and I got soaked trying to help (I didn't really). I so wish this weather would just go away!!! More snow forecast tonight.

Leave all your internal doors open. Close all your curtains, and keep them closed all day and night. Open the loft hatch and leave it open.

Any pipes which are on outside walls will benefit from being lagged, it doesn't matter what with. Use old jumpers, blankets, bubble wrap. Anything to put a layer around the pipes.

Fill your kettle and empty bottles/jugs with water and store in the fridge (not the kettle though ) so you have water for the morning to drink and wash in.

Use a hairdryer to gently unfreeze pipes in needed.

Leave your heating on all night, but turn your thermostat down.

I leave my heating on 24 hours as DD has a weak chest. Will be leaving the loft door open tonight as well. I suppose I should leave the taps running too (I'm on ameter so : )

Don't leave the taps running! Leaving the water on means leaving the *heating* for the water on!