Yes, hot water pipes freeze. Once a hot line sits unused in a cold wall or crawl space, the water inside cools to the same temperature as the cold line and can freeze just as easily. When you drip faucets in a cold snap, drip both hot and cold. Frozen lines? Call (413) 603-1274.
Why the hot line is not protected
Hot water is only hot while it is flowing. Overnight, the water standing in the pipe between the water heater and a faucet gives up its heat to the cold wall around it within an hour or two. From then on it behaves exactly like a cold line. Hot lines are often smaller or run differently than cold lines, so in some houses they actually freeze first.
Signs your hot line is frozen
- Cold water runs but the hot side gives a trickle or nothing
- The problem is at one fixture on an outside wall
- The water heater is working and other hot taps are fine
What to do
- Open the hot tap at the affected fixture.
- Open the cabinet doors and warm the wall area.
- Warm the exposed pipe gently with a hair dryer. Never an open flame.
- Watch for leaks as it thaws.
- Call if it is inside the wall: (413) 603-1274.
See how to thaw frozen pipes safely and should you drip faucets in cold weather.
Heating pipes freeze too
Hot-water heating loops in baseboards and radiators are full of water as well. If the boiler stops in a cold snap, the loops along outside walls can freeze. See heating pipe and baseboard burst.
Why hot water lines can freeze first
People are surprised that the hot side often freezes before the cold. One likely reason is simple: hot water lines are used less often, so the water in them sits still for longer, and still water freezes sooner than moving water. In many older Chicopee kitchens, the hot and cold lines run side by side in the same outside wall, so they get the same cold air. If only the hot side is dead on a cold morning, that line is usually frozen, not the water heater.
Is it the water heater?
Check a different hot faucet in another part of the house. If hot water works there, the heater is fine and the problem is a frozen section on the line to that one fixture. If no faucet has hot water, check that the heater is on and its gas or power has not been interrupted. A frozen hot line does not damage the water heater, but a split in it can leak hot water when it thaws. See water heater leaking.
Drip both
When you drip faucets on outside walls in a cold snap, open both the hot and the cold a little, or set a single-handle faucet to the middle so both lines move.
Questions
Does hot water freeze faster than cold?
In a house, standing hot water simply cools to the wall temperature. What matters is how cold the wall is and how long the water sits.
Should I leave the hot tap dripping?
On very cold nights, drip both hot and cold at faucets on outside walls.
Frozen hot line? Call now
Call (413) 603-1274 now. Locally owned in Chicopee.