Up north, some of you have already scraped frost off the windshield. Down here we’re still in shirtsleeves most afternoons. But it’s coming, same as every year.
Most Texans remember February 2021. Plenty of folks learned that week that a house can go from warm to dangerous in a couple of days. Some got through it fine. Others had burst pipes, no water and nothing in the house to keep them going.
The difference usually wasn’t money or skill. It was whether they’d done a few small jobs beforehand.
So here are five for this weekend.
1. Find your water shut-off, and test it
Every house has a main valve that stops all the water coming in. It’s usually where the water line enters the house: in the garage, a basement or crawlspace, near the water heater, or outside by the meter.
Find it. Turn it off, then back on, so you know it moves. If it takes a wrench, keep that wrench right there beside it.
Do the same with the small valve behind each toilet and under each sink. When a pipe bursts, every minute counts, and you don’t want to spend those minutes hunting for a tool.
2. Disconnect your hoses
A hose left on an outside tap holds water, and that water freezes back into the pipe. Take them all off, drain them and put them away. A foam tap cover costs about five dollars and fits right over the tap.
While you’re at it, pipes in a garage, attic or crawlspace can be wrapped in foam pipe insulation. It costs a few dollars a length and slips right on.
3. Store water for flushing, not just drinking
Everybody remembers drinking water. Hardly anybody remembers the toilet.
If your water stops, pour a bucket of water straight into the bowl and it’ll flush. Keep a few jugs or a five-gallon bucket filled in the garage. If you’re on a well with an electric pump, this one matters double: no power means no water.
4. Make sure your backup heat is safe
Every winter, people get hurt keeping warm during a power cut.
Put a carbon monoxide detector near the bedrooms, one with a battery. They run about thirty dollars.
Run a generator outside only, well away from doors and windows. Never in the garage, not even with the door open.
Never heat the house with a grill, a camp stove or the kitchen oven.
Give a space heater three feet of room, and plug it straight into the wall.
5. Put a flashlight by every bed
When the power goes out at night, you don’t want to be feeling your way to the kitchen drawer. June, my wife, keeps one on her nightstand and checks the batteries every fall. It’s cheaper than a candle, and it’s never started a fire.
Cole’s Rule: The time to find your water shut-off is not when the water’s on the floor.
What’s the longest you’ve ever gone without power? Hit reply and tell me. I read every one.
See you next time.
— Cole