I woke up this morning thinking it was colder than normal in our bedroom even though the thermostat is set to run on a program. In a deja vu moment I remember that when it gets below freezing, not only do we have to turn off the out door hose spigots but also disconnect the condensate line from the furnace as the brass hose freezes solid where it exits the house. Once it freezes, the furnace shuts off. As soon as the line is able to drain into the bucket the furnace refires.

We visit all of our vacant real estate listings after weather events if the owner is absentee and this would qualify. We try to keep thermostats set above 50 so that the house is comfortable when shown and to protect against property damage in lieu of winterizing the house which includes draining water from the house. It’s a great way of minimizing monthly cost but must be undone for a home inspection and makes the house uncomfortable when shown.

Hopefully we be able to avoid last year’s ice dams that clogged rain gutters city-wide last year after the snow storms.