Have to say it's pretty damn fresh up here -- this morning it was officially -39C with a windchill of -49C.

At this point it's not fun. I'm on alert, sweating the details, worried about rolling blackouts on the grid, septic freezing, furnaces dying, and whether I can get the car started if I have to. Plan A, B, and C.

I'm lucky to have trustworthy neighbours with skills and resources who will certainly lend a hand in a pinch. As would I to them. But I will handle things myself if at all possible.

Anyway we're okay, and it looks like it might ease up in a couple of days. How is everyone else doing?

BTW if you're wondering if I went for a walk this afternoon, damn right I did. Excellent opportunity to test my gear and technique. I still have all my fingers and toes haha.

It's warming up here, we're supposed to hit -2 F soon!

It will be 14°F in East Texas tonight, so we plan to stay in and have our electric blankets, battery backups, lanterns, and books ready in case of a power outage.

Jeanette Isabelle

Just above freezing here, 1-2°C.

Do you have a job or are you involved in anything that requires you to be on alert and pay attention to details?

Jeanette Isabelle

I live in the country, on an acreage. I am personally responsible for all systems -- water, heat, sewage, transportation.

Heat is natural gas fired but unfortunately reliant on grid electricity; though I do have a plan C with a small generator that could probably power one furnace if I physically disconnect the wiring so I don't fry a linesman. The natural gas supply here is self-powered, and would likely keep operating if the electrical grid went down.

If any of these systems fail in this extreme cold, we switch to emergency mode. The electrical grid is currently at its maximum; yesterday the emergency alert system sent messages to all cell phones saying cut usage or face rolling blackouts. We dodged that bullet.

So yeah, I am definitely on alert. And watching all systems like a hawk.

In my neck of the woods we cozy -2°C. That´s the lower end of t-shirt weather for me. Some consider it !devastatingly cold". It is a little warm for the time of year.
Luckily I do not have to worry about infrastructure.

Just now I checked and it is up to -6 here in the middle of Iowa. Over the last few days there has been a foot plus of snow, lots of blowing and below zero temps.

I'm in a newer area so all the utilities are underground and the local infrastructure fairly robust. No power issues in our area and most people around here know how to cope with this sort of weather. We have had no need to go out since Thursday and are sitting home watching TV detective shows and other 'fun' stuff.

My house is heated by a natural gas furnace. My plan, if the gas is still working and the power is out, involves wiring a pigtail in where the furnace’s cutoff switch is located, and using a large power bank backed up by a small generator. Assuming other services (water, groceries, gas from gas stations) are available, we could go indefinitely that way.

If we lost natural gas in weather like this, I don’t think I could keep my pipes from freezing without shutting off the water and draining the pipes. I can run a space heater off a generator for a “warm room.” I also have an indoor-safe propane heater, but if we get down to that we probably waited too long to depart.

One day I’d like to own a place with a “whole house” generator setup, or even better one with solar and/or hydropower along with a battery bank. But that won’t be soon.

Coldest it got here was -32C. No problems to report. Neighbor down the road had a couple of partially frozen pipes which was remedied with a heat gun that I loaned him.

I keep seeing on the news websites about the wind chill factor and a lot of it is clickbait. Everyone needs to keep in mind that windchill is defined as below.

What is wind chill temperature?
The wind chill temperature is how cold people and animals feel when outside. Wind chill is based on the rate of heat loss from exposed skin caused by wind and cold. As the wind increases, it draws heat from the body, driving down skin temperature and eventually the internal body temperature. Therefore, the wind makes it FEEL much colder. If the temperature is 0°F and the wind is blowing at 15 mph, the wind chill is -19°F. At this wind chill temperature, exposed skin can freeze in 30 minutes.

So if you are in the house, or in your car etc, then wind chill has zero affect on you.

Does wind chill apply only to people and animals?
Yes, wind chill applies only to people and animals. The only effect wind chill has on inanimate objects, such as car radiators and water pipes, is to more quickly cool the object to the current air temperature. The object will NOT cool below the actual air temperature. For example, if the temperature outside is -5°F and the wind chill temperature is -31°F, then your car's radiator will not drop lower than -5°F.

Source:
https://www.weather.gov/safety/cold-faqs

Same plan here. Now that I have a little genny I can run many big fans to distribute heat or a small heater. I can also power an air compressor to help blow down the blue water lines if I have to; most homes have so many dips and doglegs in the piping that a gravity draindown won't cut it. I also keep enough RV antifreeze to protect all the traps.

I figured draining at the lowest point I can get to would be “enough” for blue water lines, as there’d be plenty of air-filled pipe for water to expand into as it froze. We’ve only ever once had a drain line freeze (exposed in the garage). After I wrapped it in pipe heating tape we haven’t had the issue since.

How would one use compressed air to get the rest of the blue water out?

Example: I have a little seasonal cabin that I winterize every fall. I made an RV style blow-out adapter so I can attach my compressor hose to the outside tap. I open that tap and open one leg of the water piping, apply toots of compressed air (volume is more important than pressure). I then rotate through the other legs. I usually make a quick second pass because sometimes there's enough residual water to drain back into a low spot.

Thank you!