My parents have their oil burner in a garage with pipes running to the house but it looks like this outside pipes have frozen. When the thaw comes on 26th, how will be know if these pipes have burst or not. Also, should they keep putting on the oil burner to try and free the blockage or prevent further freezing tonight. Any advice welcome.
External burst pipes - how do you know?
- Thread starter Birroc
- Start date
If they were frozen surely you would have no heating at all
Do the pipes run above ground or underground?
The pipes run out of the garage and then underground and then back up into the house - about 4 metres is under the driveway. They have no heating in the house at all but I could hear the boiler pumping water along the pipes inside the garage and presumably outside to the ice blockage. The boiler runs for a few mins and then shuts itself off - I am guessing that the water running between the boiler and the ice (2/3 metres) gets to the required temperature and stops heating.
Sounds like the water just heats up, I doubt if it moves anywhere in the system if it is frozen. Check the attic for frozen pipes and especially when the thaw comes, they may have bursted. Is there ice in the small tank in the attic? Make sure you have some water in this tank at all times. Also check the pipes in the garage they may be frozen at that point - get a wrench and open them if you can.