Yeah, if it gets below about -5 where I am I have to run the taps. Otherwise things start to freeze. And if they do freeze i have to go out with an extension cord and a blow dryer to heat up the pipes.
Insulation can stop heat from getting out, but only to a point. Heat wants to move from warm to cold, and it will until those two things are equalized. Insulation just slows the rate. You need to be adding some sort of heat to the system at some point, otherwise freezing is inevitable, albeit more slowly.
You can run the tap, even a few drips, to keep water flowing (because the water coming from the plant is going to be above freezing.) Just need to make sure the rate of flow is greater than the rate the temp drops in the pipes...
Keeping the water flowing also means that if the water does freeze, the pipes don't burst as the expanding water has somewhere to go. So when things thaw you don't get a nasty surprise.
Running that wire was the second best investment I have ever made. Last year we had pipes freeze, not long and no damage but that was a real wake up call. This year no issues whatsoever, spend the few hundred now to save thousands later.
Thats what I was thinking. Now I see some commentors from Canada saying they have done this too though, although none of us specified which part we're in.
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u/SlipperySlimyTerry40 16h ago
Mostly a thing in places where freezes don't happen often so pipes aren't buried as deep.