Sunday, December 20, 2009

How to we heat up our pipes so we can use our washer?

Our washer and dryer are outside under the deck in a enclosed area. We rent the place and so this stupid idea is not ours. It is freezing outside and we cannot do laundry. What can we do to warm the pipes?How to we heat up our pipes so we can use our washer?
I would go with the Electric heaters for a quick fix but also you need to get the heating tape you will rap it around the pipes and plug it in it will keep them heated so you don't have to worry about them freezing on you again. I live in a trailer and my pipes would never work in the winter with out the heating tape.How to we heat up our pipes so we can use our washer?
A torch will work in a pinch, but the best solution is to put pipe heater tape on the exposed sections and cover it with insulation.





UPDATE: A torch will not cause copper pipe to burst, but plastic pipe, of course, is another story. Keep the torch moving if you're trying to thaw out plastic pipe. (tho' generally plastic pipe might have already burst from the ice expanding inside, so I'm guessing you have copper)





You might be able to skip the heater tape, and just use pipe insulation if you live in a place where it doesn't go way below freezing and stay there for several hours or more. For that you may need to ask some locals how they deal with frozen pipes.
Get an electric heater or two or three. You need to raise the tempurature inside the enclosed deck and let it thaw over a day or so. Maybe use a hair dryer directly on the pipes. DO NOT HEAT THE PIPES WITH A TORCH, it will build pressure in the pipe too quickly and cause it to burst.

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