bolivianbaby

It's been FREEZING down here in GA. Overnight temps in the low teens. My washing machine has a history of flooding my laundry room due to frozen pipes, so trying to be smart, I ran a load and set it for hot water. It's set by the back wall of the house, so it's probably not insulated well.

I stopped it so the hot water could unfreeze the pipes, but it's not working.

Any ideas on how to get them unfrozen? Today isn't too much of a crisis, but I'd love for us to have clean clothes for school/work on Monday. The temps aren't expected to get above freezing today or tonight and tomorrow the high is like 34 degrees.

aquarist48

Hello BB...you may want to put a portable heater in the room. (don't burn down the house!) Then too it may depend on what pipes are frozen inside the wall. I was talking to Chef about this. He's a washing machine hobbyist like we are fish hobbyists. He frequents a washing machine site. He likes to lie there and watch it spin and spin and spin LOL. I threw him a pillow one day and told him to enjoy! lol.
He also suggested a laundry mat. GASP! We have dryer issues at the moment and have been having to go there!
Best of luck!
Ken

bolivianbaby

Portable heater! That's an awesome idea! Thanks, Ken!

I'm trying to avoid the laundromat if I can help it. I worked more this week than I usually do so getting the house back in order and the family (two-legged, finned, feathered, and furred) ready for the week has be a little behind. Worse-case scenario, I can be TOTALLY lazy and do a drop-off laundromat.

I'm still working on water changes-GASP! They're usually done on all tanks by Friday. I got the testing done, so everyone's okay, I just need to drop the nitrates in a few tanks and give them some fresh minerals in the water.

aquarist48

Laundromat...that's it! I couldn't think of how it was spelled to save my life LOL
I just finished water changes in all of my tanks. All is well here!
I hope you thaw soon. It's only 34 here in SC with a windchill of 26. Burrrrrr
Ken

bolivianbaby

Thanks! I put the heater in there, so I'm hoping we see some results soon!

It was 18 this morning with a windchill of 6 degrees. I know at 11:30, it was only 26. I TOTALLY empathize with you

bolivianbaby

UPDATE: The heater worked! Thanks, Ken! You're a lifesaver!

aquarist48

Yeah!!!!!!!! Glad to hear it. Now, can you fix my dryer? LOL
Ken

ldbrown3138

FYI, Hot water freezes faster than cold water.

mike67

I don't know what setup you have in there but if any way to leave a faucet dripping from same line will prevent freeze... old new englander trick

bolivianbaby

To be honest, I don't know what setup I have here, either

It's in the laundry room, so I'm not sure if any lines are attached to it The faucet behind the washing machine is directly on the back wall of the house.

If you think about it, it's kinda funny. I can raise a child on my own, take care of two dogs, 23 tanks, 4 bird cages, and a guinea pig, but can't figure out how to prevent this from happening other than running a space heater in there before I run the washing machine.

sirdarksol

Yes and no. The Mpemba effect (which is what the phenomenon of warm water freezing faster than cold water... sometimes) only occurs under certain conditions, and science isn't precisely sure why.
Even in plumbing, sometimes the hot water pipe will freeze first, and sometimes the cold, although in each pair of pipes, it will always be the same one. This may be due to insulation, airflow, initial temp of both hot and cold water, or any number of factors. As I said above, science isn't entirely sure why.

Depending on how cold it gets, it might have to be more than dripping, but this is one of the best tricks (if the weather gets cold enough, it can fail, though).
I used to work at a restaurant where they put the water pipes on the outside of the building's insulation on the windward side of the building. The cold water pipe would freeze unless we left the water running overnight.

ldbrown3138

In my experience with hot and cold water pipes in crawl spaces and plumbing chases in poorly insulated houses, the hot water pipes always freeze first. Water heaters act as giant settling tanks, drain your water heater sometime and observe the stuff that comes out. Hot water will have fewer dissolved solids in it, that's why it is recommended to hook the ice maker line to the hot water line, fewer dissolved solids, less junk in the small prefilter and prettier ice cubes.

sirdarksol

No, hot water has fewer dissolved gases, not solids. Solid dissolves better in hot water. Gas dissolves better in cold water. It's bubbles of gas that clouds ice, more than solids, which is why hot water makes prettier ice cubes.
This is also why you're not supposed to use hot water from the tap for drinking or cooking; it is more likely to carry lead and carcinogens than the cold.