Electricity Still Out! - Need advice

Submitted by Different-Pangolin20 t3_zv9sgg in Maine

Hello folks, my parents place is up near Ellsworth, they are down here visiting us for holidays. Their power went out I think sometime Friday. And its still out. So my question is this - What will happen to an unoccupied house that loses power and has no electricity for almost 2.5 days of below freezing temps from a water pipes perspective? I am worried that the house will regain power while no one is there, and when it starts to thaw everything out there will be burst pipes flooding some parts of the house. Is that what's going to happen? What should I have a neighbor do in the mean time? Just turn off the water? (its from a well). TIA

49

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

Deanho t1_j1nz89k wrote

I'd turn that water off as soon as possible. Awhile back my friends back door was left open just about 6 inches and it burst her pipes. Do it now. I'm in ellsworth too and its freezing out there.

65

VegUltraGirl t1_j1o0bxi wrote

My son left his window cracked open over night last winter, burst the pipes upstairs and it was horrible! When we realized it was open we just closed it and assumed it would be fine. Came home from work to a nightmare!

14

eircheard t1_j1o0st0 wrote

Plumber here.

Turn the main shutoff off. If it is a private well, kill the power to the pump at the electrical panel.

Open every fixture hot and cold to drain out everything you can on every floor.

RV antifreeze(nontoxic) in every trap you can.

62

Mayor_McCheese529 t1_j1nzrz8 wrote

Kill the breaker to the well pump. Drain the house from the lowest point. This will probably be the blue expansion tank where the well water runs into the house. Open the sink faucets to relieve pressure. Hope for the best.

Dont forget to drain the water out of the baseboard heaters if you have any.

I wish you the best of luck.

49

Craig3416 t1_j1o0u8g wrote

If it’s been off since Friday it’s to late.

30

Squidworth89 t1_j1od3vv wrote

Hopefully you or your parents have gotten the hint at this point and are on your way back to deal with it. Blows my mind anyone thinks leaving the house alone this long is okay without the pipes freezing.

26

PorkchopFunny t1_j1qc4kb wrote

I was thinking this is kind of too big to ask the neighbors. They're probably dealing with their own homes plus the holidays. The joys of owning a home and all that.

2

asmithey t1_j1o0z2k wrote

Yeah they need to go address it asap or get a neighbor to do it. I'm up in Rangeley but was visiting my family down south. Had a neighbor check on it yesterday and said the house was ok. When I got in today it was 35 before I could get some heat on.

With single digits again tonight it might be really be cutting it close to do tomorrow. I hope their house is well insulated and I'm hoping for the best for them.

17

GovernmentWide8872 t1_j1nzvi9 wrote

Unfortunately it will burst while cold, expansion. I would get a generator hooked up to the furnace and let the heat run. Otherwise it’s probably too late to drain and antifreeze the houses water system…

16

VegUltraGirl t1_j1o0679 wrote

Turn off the water! We have a wood stove and have kept the house around 65 during the day, we stop adding wood around 11pm and go to bed, by 5 am it’s about 55 degrees in the house. Without running the wood stove we would be in trouble. I would assume pipes would freeze.

11

crowislanddive t1_j1oiya9 wrote

Your parents need to come back and stay in a hotel and take care of this immediately. There are so many things that should have been done knowing this weather was coming… Christ… just leaving a tap dripping would have helped. I’m really sorry and I know it sucks to hear.

11

kauaime t1_j1o96ig wrote

If you turn the power off for the well I would also turn to power off to the hot water heater.

9

ToiletPhoneHome t1_j1okbtk wrote

This! If you follow the advice of others here and turn off your well pump and drain your lines (which is good advice) you'll also be draining your water heater. When the power comes back on the the heating element will likely fry (or worse); it needs the water in there to dissipate the heat, they aren't designed to work in air.
Not sure what a gas heater will do if empty, but probably nothing good.

10

swintec t1_j1oekf0 wrote

Your parents are still down here? They should have been back there 2 days ago to deal with it.

9

covietulip t1_j1o45ly wrote

Oy we are in the same boat, also up near Ellsworth. Wishing the best for your parents!

5

imnotyourbrahh t1_j1o0qq7 wrote

turn on a couple faucets and let the water continually flow. Just a slow a pace, more than drips but not full throttle.

3

BeemHume t1_j1pgixi wrote

Not with power out if youre on a well

3

Squidworth89 t1_j1qda60 wrote

Traps can still crack, toilets can still crack. That’s just for your water lines.

1

Craig3416 t1_j1o0p6k wrote

It will freeze and break

2

hagak t1_j1prey1 wrote

I am near Ellsworth as well and actually ended up cancelling my flight plans that I had on christmas eve because we lost power. With no estimates on the return of power I did not want to leave the house unattended in fear of burst pipes (did not have RV antifreeze or time to winterize the house). We have wood stoves and a generator so maintaining temps while here is no issue.

All good advice, I go one further anytime I leave the house for more then a day or so I always turn the well pump power off (summer or winter) and open hot and cold water.

2

Norrland_props t1_j1p5rmp wrote

Definitely agree with other to turn off power, drain water lines, and add antifreeze to all PVC traps. The hot water tank should be turned off BEFORE draining water.

If the lines have already frozen and burst, you may have damaged the washer and dishwasher intake switches and drain pumps if you have these. They have standing water in them that can freeze and expand. I own a camp up in Maine and have dealt with every one of these issues. Good luck. Hope you get to it before any of this happens.

1

chuckleoctopus t1_j1s3tto wrote

Hope they have a fireplace or wood stove. We’ve had a fire going for about 90 hours since Friday afternoon here on MDI

1

Dry-Persimmon-2234 t1_j1s3g8x wrote

It’s not cold enough for it to freeze you’ll be fine

0