SNOW! In Texas?

I have PTSD from cold weather here in Texas. Snow is not a normal thing here, but it happens every few year. When it iced and then snowed in 2021 I lost all my old water pipes. They were a combination of galvanized and PVC pipes. Not having water for 6 weeks taught me some valuable lessons. It also left me with a healthy dose of fear of having it happen again.  Yes, it does snow in Texas.

Here is my chicken coop on Tuesday!

I live in an older home. It was built in 1936. You know, back when the pink insulation wasn’t a thing.  So I have no insulation between my walls. So what have we done to make sure it doesn’t happen again?

What we did for future snow in Texas

• The first thing is that when they redid all my water pipes, I had a cut-off put in the house. Like I said, our house is old. It is way older than the law that there has to be a cutoff in the house. It is outside at the curb. It isn’t a good thing for me when it is snowing and icing. I now have a cutoff in my laundry room.
• The second thing is that when they redid all of our water lines, they are now done in PEX. What does that mean? It means that if something does happen, and we get caught in another situation of rolling blackouts and a cold house in single digits, it will resist freeze cracking. Yes, you can still have burst, especially if it happens repeatedly, but it isn’t like metal and has a bit of forgiveness.
• The plumbing company that replaced all my lines also ensured every pipe was insulated. That’s right. I had pipes that were just pipes with no insulation. They are now all nice and cozy in their insulation coats.
• I bought a space heater for the kitchen. We installed a Mitsubishi Split system when we moved in here. It is mounted up above the refrigerator. It has a heat pump as well as an AC which works wonderfully. Just remember heat rises, so the kitchen floor never got warm. While it cools wonderfully well in the summer, it only heats the ceilings. Yes, I do have water lines in the ceilings to the upstairs bathrooms, but there are more in the kitchen floor coming into the house.

Yes, you have to be very careful with space heaters. We never leave them on if we leave the residents.  But this little heater? It keeps my whole kitchen warm! SPACE HEATER and I did notice that there is a coupon right now for $30 (January 2025). Yes, that is an Affiliate link. I do make a small amount of money if you view and purchase that item.

So if I am a bit MIA and you see there is a winter storm in Texas more than likely I am puttering around the house, checking to see if the water is dripping, the cabinets under the sinks are open and the space heater is ok.

Next year I want to move the kitchen sink and dishwasher off the outside wall. I think that would help my stress level, so if ya know someone, here in central Texas, that wants a project and knows how to move plumbing, let me know!

Stay Warm!

 

 

 

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More pictures of the winter storm of February 2021.