How to close a house for the winter?

claudy_kay: How to close a house for the winter?
What can I do about the plumbing (toilet, sinks, tubs) and the water line from the pump house to the house. There are lights under the house every 6 feet for the plumbing, but what kind of light bubs would last for 3 months? And what am I overlooking? Any advice would be appreciated….thanks.
The elevation is 7600 feet and the temp. drops to -10 as a rule.

Answers and Views:

Answer by ~Seamaster~
Cut off the main water supply valve and open all the fixtures to bleed the water out of the pipes. Pour about 1 cup antifreeze down all the drains and toilets so the traps don’t freeze up. Hopefully, your pipes are insulated. If not, wrap in insulation. You should be able to shut the lights off since there will be no water left in the pipes to freeze. Make sure the main valve is well insulated.

Answer by 007longbeach
You should also think about leaving some kind of heat on in the house so moister doesn’t condense on the inside. As a rule here at the coast we set the temp at 55 F, but I am not sure about where you are at. High temp swings are hard on wood products like cabinets, window trim, etc. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to leave some 40W bulbs on under the house, and if they burn out, and you do as in the last answer and drain everything, there shouldn’t be any problems. Also you can get 130 Volt bulb that last longer.

Answer by larry m
turn off water at the inlet for your water disconnect and use air pressure to blow out pipes. In all the drains go to RV sales and buy some anti freeze made for drain is non toxic and pour into all drains. You might also ask them about connections for blowing out your pipes. At 10 degrees lights won’t do the job, Life long experience with zero and below temp.

Answer by wind_jammer_57
If you have baseboard hot water (and the system is not filled w/ antifreeze mixture) you should have drain plugs at all the low points in the system.

You could buy heating cable just for this purpose – just wrap around the plumbing and plug in. Lasts alot longer than light bulbs, and only draws electricity when the temperature drops below freezing.