Freezing pipes up north?

Our pipes are inside our heated homes.

Supply lines are below the frost line, but at low low temp, with no cover on the ground, its best to let the water run just like you do in TX.

Inside make sure all pipes are in inside walls, wrap them, and keep the heat on if possible. Doesn`t hurt to have drain valves located at different points. Hose connections to the out side are "drain back" They slope to the out side,and the shut off part is inside the building.

When the lines do freeze, if possible to get to, a good hair dryer will do wonders. Out side lines I use an electric welder. You need to use a little common sense with it.

Probably what you don`t know and will question, Water lines usually freeze when the old timers say the frost is going out of the ground. About the 2nd or 3rd warm day the line will freeze. I have never set and watched it, but I have always been told the frost goes down.

I have water pipe for garden use which is out side, I wraped and insulated them, and I have a shutoff valve between the house pipe and the pipe out side the house, I shutoof the value and and leave the switch on, so it let all the water drains out. I do that before the last frozen day. I do protection for all my plants too. and basicly they don't need any water from the pipe after the frozen day any ways.

the water pipe inside is under protection of heat. I leave the heat on around 60 degree, so inside pipe won't freeze.

Most of the houses built in the northern area of the United States are "much " more insulated than the homes built in Texas.

I lived in Chicago for many years, all the exterior walls were thoroughly insulated. The attics had very good insulation. Here in Texas (Dallas area), the homes are built with very little, if any, insulation in the exterior walls. They but them up as fast and cheap as possible. Same with the apartment complexes that have the "Freeze Warning" signs out.

I live in maine. Most houses here have basement where the furnice is located and the residual heat from the furnice heats the basement. The main water pipe leading into the houses here are dug to a depth between 4 to 6 feet to avoid frost. Of course we only need to worry about frozen pipes in the winter.

I live in Ohio, southern part, and we just insulate more and keep pipe from outside walls and put them more near the ceiling, where the heat is. For you, a heat tape then wrapped the pipe in pipe insulation might be a better solution for you.

One option is to have a secondary shutoff valve in the interior of the home to shut of the water supply to outdoor pipes.

Then, simply open the outdoor faucets to drain the water from them.

you can insulate them and you can buy a electric wrap that goes around the pipe to keep them warm and they don't use that much electricity.

We use heat tape and insulation.