With freezing temperatures and water pipes - ANYTHING can happen. :)
"Can hot water pipes freeze?" YES. They are only hot when hot water is running through them - otherwise if they have been sitting and then the freezing air gets at them, they can freeze. Perhaps the hot water pipe is closer to the source of freezing air than the cold water pipe?
With that said, some troubleshooting needs to be done...
- Have you checked to see that the hot water heater is getting water? Maybe the pipe that feeds the hot water heater is frozen?
- Does the hot water pipe feed through any exterior walls? Maybe it is frozen in a wall?
- Have you physically felt any and ALL exposed areas of the hot water pipe to see if they appear to be freezing cold?
- Are there any areas of the house that are not being heated, that perhaps the hot water pipe runs through? (sub basement, garage, laundry room, etc...)
- Still stumped? Try heating areas of the house where cold air can get at the pipes - this may take hours, but may solve any 'in wall' problems...
If you find the frozen area of pipe - DO NOT POUR HOT WATER ON FROZEN PIPES!! - This may burst the frozen part of the pipe. Thaw slowly, with some sort of hot air device, but not a flame based device.
If you're still having trouble after all that, please get back to me...
Best of Luck, and STAY WARM!!
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Troubleshooting
Hi Julie;
With freezing temperatures and water pipes - ANYTHING can happen. :)
"Can hot water pipes freeze?" YES. They are only hot when hot water is running through them - otherwise if they have been sitting and then the freezing air gets at them, they can freeze. Perhaps the hot water pipe is closer to the source of freezing air than the cold water pipe?
With that said, some troubleshooting needs to be done...
- Have you checked to see that the hot water heater is getting water? Maybe the pipe that feeds the hot water heater is frozen?
- Does the hot water pipe feed through any exterior walls? Maybe it is frozen in a wall?
- Have you physically felt any and ALL exposed areas of the hot water pipe to see if they appear to be freezing cold?
- Are there any areas of the house that are not being heated, that perhaps the hot water pipe runs through? (sub basement, garage, laundry room, etc...)
- Still stumped? Try heating areas of the house where cold air can get at the pipes - this may take hours, but may solve any 'in wall' problems...
If you find the frozen area of pipe - DO NOT POUR HOT WATER ON FROZEN PIPES!! - This may burst the frozen part of the pipe. Thaw slowly, with some sort of hot air device, but not a flame based device.
If you're still having trouble after all that, please get back to me... Best of Luck, and STAY WARM!! RemodelingMySpace.com