-20 This morning...This is nuts. We are a little better prepared than those poor folks in Texas,Oklahoma and Arkansas. What a shock it has to be for those folks. Stay safe everybody. Blankets in vehicle..Disposable hand warmers Full tank of gas etc etc.
Pipes freezing and power outages..slick roads I feel bad for them...Preparing for the weather they are getting is just not something they think about.
Living in DFW, it sucks around here. We got lucky, never lost power, but all our friends in the area did at some point. Tuesday evening we had to venture out and collect my grandma-in-law - still lives alone and her power had been out for the better part of the day. Took her to the folks who had electric. Otherwise we hunkered down, keep the lights off and heat to a minimum and faucets running. Thankfully we had a good store of food in the larder, and I have enough propane/cookers/heaters/bags to survive for 2 weeks if needed. Roads suck, deliveries have come to a halt, huge lines for what food is left at fast food places and grocery stores, and we have warming stations set up throughout the city. Way too many people have died between the wreck over the weekend and the brutal cold. Property damage from burst pipes is going to be severe from what I can see. I can't wait for this weekend.
You guys in texas still have natural gas coming into the homes? Or is that not a thing in that area? Or is that shut down also? Just curious.
We still had gas the whole time, but several gas fired power plants had freezing issues which took them off line. In my house I only have gas for the WH and furnace. The fireplace has a gas igniter, but we rarely use it and have no wood anyway.
A gas outlet for a range top would give off some heat with a boiling pot of water. Still not ideal. One of the reasons i ripped out my electric stove when I moved in.
Wasn't an option for us, despite living in an old neighbourhood in the city. No gas lines available, so we have no backup for electric. Good thing I still own a generator and have a lot of battery and solar. Plus a decent outdoor kitchen for cooking
I wish I could get a gas oven/range. Unfortunately mine are electric, although I still harbor some hope that there is a gas stub behind the oven (there wasn't one behind the range) so I can go with gas when my current original 1970s oven finally dies and I could justify the switch.
NE Dallas TX. Normally nothing like this and certainly not this long. The plumbers are gonna be busy! I cut a 1/2" line under the house to a freeze proof faucet, capped with sharkbite 1/4 turn valve for a toilet. Neighborhood roads still snow Wed night, this morning signs of ice which many will play slip and slid on for days. Most sharkbite fittings gone from Lowes. Informed grocery stores have very limited inventory. Sun is out, above freezing tomorrow, there will be many with busted pipes. Some with pipes in the attic (Houston)!
If your house is plumbed for gas, it’s easy to run csst (yellow jacketed flexible piping) in your house to wherever you want it. I swapped in a gas range when I did my kitchen a few years ago, and I installed a gas log set in my fireplace.
You are correct, here in nj you used to need a license for it. Now i think they sell it at the big box stores, just make sure in between floors is hard piped ( or crush proof) and you bond it. Thats how it should be done but most dont.
The packaging says you’re supposed to self-certify or something like that. Does the csst itself need to be grounded separately? I was thinking that as long as the gas line is grounded somewhere it protects the entire run. There’s clean metal-to-metal contact at the joints.
I think it need to be bonded from the end. Not sure , they came put with that after i allready had mine done. Lol. Sent me a letter like 5 years later saying that it needed to be done. I think its more for lighting strikes, the aluminum gives out first or something like that.
Feel bad for you Texas folks. Hope you can get through this. Where I live we are used to this type of weather. It is easier to deal with as long as you have power. Times like this is when you appreciate power line workers. plumbers, etc. They work hard under tough conditions. Just like health care workers, I am thankful there are people to do this kind of work.
