An interesting night!

[Vicario]

11.30 last night. Noise of water outside. My neighbour's outside tap had burst away from the wall, presumably because there had been ice inside which had now thawed. The little tap that was supposed to isolate the supply (small, blue plastic thing like on a washing machine) just turned uselessly, so we had to turn off at the mains (he's quite elderly, so I was called in on the assumption that someone younger would know more about plumbing - BIG mistake!). Luckily my plumber is coming at 9.30 to sort it all out. I said that he should turn off the central heating in the meantime, but he was very reluctant. I couldn't remember the reason why this is necessary, can anyone help?
Also, I thought that outside taps on a house wall were fairly immune from freezing. My neighbour doesn't have his heating on very much (gas fire in front room suffices), so I expect that's the reason.
I think he left the heating on overnight, so if I hope everything is OK.....

 

[EliteHeat]

Can't fault any of this.

You seem very well clued up on central heating, freezing exterior pipework and their interconnectedness

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Can't fault any of this.

You seem very well clued up on central heating, freezing exterior pipework and their interconnectedness

So for someone like me who isn't so clued up but now very curious - why should the central heating be turned off? We've got a combi-boiler and i thought the heating system was totally unconnected from the water supply unless you are filling the heating system? Our outside tap freezes up on a regular basis and i'd never even considered turning off the heating?

 

[Vicario]

His heating is supplied from a header tank (two overflow pipes, so I assume that's correct) and is very ancient (rusty radiators etc.). I thought it best to play safe. Plumber on his way!

 

[bathjobby]

I thought it best to play safe.

Why not tell him to turn his lights off and buy a guard dog ! Just as irrelevant.

 

[Rico99]

Hi there,

I can understand why you told him to turn it off.

Heating supplied from Header Tank.
Mains Water Turned OFF.
Corroded Radiators.
Heating ON all night
Rad blows, empties heating system, no water to replace, boiler burning wih nothing to heat.

Always best to play safe if you are not completey sure.

Rico

 

[EliteHeat]

Hi there,

I can understand why you told him to turn it off.

Heating supplied from Header Tank.
Mains Water Turned OFF.
Corroded Radiators.
Heating ON all night
Rad blows, empties heating system, no water to replace, boiler burning wih nothing to heat.

Always best to play safe if you are not completey sure.

Rico

Boiler overheats, starts sparking, eventually explodes, house burns down, next door catches fires, whole town soon follows, contributes to global warming, polar bears drown, end of life as we know it.

P.S. And that is why plumbers charge so much - they are single handedly saving the world

 

[gremlin16]

Boiler overheats, starts sparking, eventually explodes, house burns down, next door catches fires, whole town soon follows, contributes to global warming, polar bears drown, end of life as we know it.

Just think if that happened then there would be enough heat to stop the pipes freezing in the 1st place.

Sorted

 

[Vicario]

Plumber replaced tap and fitted an insulating sleeve over and around it (it looks like strongish rubber or maybe some synthetic material, anyone know where these are sold?.) Replaced washing machine type valve with a separate stopcock for outside tap. Oh, and the main stopcock was leaking from where the handle goes in, so he tightened that. £105 labour plus materials - not bad! He was here for about an hour. He said that it is quite right not to run the 'old fashioned' heating systems when the mains are turned off. He has been to half a dozen burst pipes in the last 24 hours. Controversially, he reckons that some people have got too much insulation (loft) nowadays and forget to lag everything properly. (He hardly ever sees lagging on outside taps.)

 

[ChrisR]

He hardly ever sees lagging on outside taps.)

I don't think it does a lot. It doesn't actually warm them up. Only solution is to drain them.

Friend of mine had a stable, and gave up trying to stop things freezing. SO every cold morning he had to connect his car battery to the pipe with long bits of twin and earth. The current through the pipes warmed them enough to get a trickle of water flowing, which was enough to melt the rest.

 

[mattylad]

I notice that a lot of outside tap kits these days are supplied with garden hose instead of copper piping.

I can see that this makes installation a lot easier, however I'm curious if it also helps prevent the pipes that are outside from bursting too as I would have thought that there would be the ability for more expansion in garden hose?

 

[raydar]

He hardly ever sees lagging on outside taps.)

I don't think it does a lot. It doesn't actually warm them up. Only solution is to drain them.

Friend of mine had a stable, and gave up trying to stop things freezing. SO every cold morning he had to connect his car battery to the pipe with long bits of twin and earth. The current through the pipes warmed them enough to get a trickle of water flowing, which was enough to melt the rest.

Would not do this as you are shorting out the battery.

The twin and earth would end up glowing and burning your hands, you most likely will arc weld a hole in the pipe and if you are really unlucky you may end up with a face full of sulfuric acid as the car battery explodes.
Diy fans dont try this at home.

 

[blondini]

...and if you are really unlucky you may end up with a face full of sulfuric acid as the car battery explodes.
Diy fans dont try this at home.

Not to mention a face full of shrapnel from the battery casing.

 

[Agile]

The Water regulations require an indoor isolator so that in freezing weather it can be turned off and the tap opened to drain it.

Of course many outside taps do NOT have this and even when they do they are never turned off.

Before the days of global warming in the 50s and 60s people were much more clued up about protecting their houses from problems like this.

Now people may know how to use computers but that have lost all perferal knowledge about their surroundings. Try asking someone in the street the name of the adjoining road to where they live and they are unlikely to even know it or for that matter the name of ANY of their neighbours!

Tony