01/13/2024
It is bitter cold in the Pacific Northwest right now, and we want to provide a few reminders about how to protect your tiny house plumbing from freezing up. Importantly, your Carriage Houses NW tiny house is built to exceed recreational and park model vehicle standards for insulation. So that’s a good first protection against freezing pipes. Here are a few things you can do to reduce the risk of frozen pipes.
1. Put skirting around the perimeter of your tiny house from the bottom of the house to the ground. Simple lattice skirting does not do much to prevent cold wind from whipping around underneath your tiny house. A great idea is to use 1 inch thick rigid insulation boards up against the inside of the skirting.
2. Where the waterline comes into the tiny house it is a good idea to wrap that with something protective. In extreme conditions, you may want to use heat tape, which actually keeps a warm layer around the waterline. In most cases a foam sleeve will do the trick.
3. Let water slowly drip from each of your faucets and shower. If they are single handle faucets, you want to have them set where you would normally get luke warm water meaning that it is drawing water from both the hot and cold waterlines. A slow drip is sufficient to keep water moving.
4. If you are not using your tiny house during extreme cold periods, the best thing to do is shut off the water coming to the tiny house and drain the waterlines so that they are not full of water.
5. Lastly, keep the interior of your tiny house at a minimum of 58°. Don’t ever leave it completely unheated for extended periods during freezing weather.
Stay warm out there, friends!
