Severe Winter Weather: ESSENTIAL PREPARATIONS, TRAVEL ADVICE, DRIVING TIPS & CLOSURES

Mountainsandh

Jake1 wrote: »

Thanks for starting this thread UFA

I have questions myself.
Was wondering, should I leave taps dribbling over night, or would leaving the heating on suffice, to protect any pipes from freezing?

Also, the tank in attic, is there anything, I should do there, to protect it?

BBQ briquettes, is a brilliant idea, Super Rush.

Thanks all

We have one of them thermostat anti-freeze heaters for the nook where the water tank is up in the attic. There's a switch outside the trap (in the house that is), and we stick it on as a preventative measure when it's cold. One year it froze due to the little pipe that sticks out on the outside (roof) for overflow or something, started there I think and ran all the way in. Not much you can do other than these specially designed heaters as far as I know. We had tried wrapping it up but that didn't make a difference.

edit : I don't remember the ins and outs of it, but I think we had to put that pipe in for similar overflowing situations

JCX BXC

George Sunsnow wrote: »

Portable generator hire?
See attached
You’d want to take that decision now though even if you ended up not needing it
€100 for the week

Wouldn't be possible I'm afraid, would work for some people. If the worst happens I can always decide to stay a night at a friend's who has a generation hooked up

gozunda

Mountainsandh wrote: »

I lost about 200 euros worth (or slightly more) of meat/food from my big freezer after Ophelia (2+ 5 days without power) so I'm not filling it up this time. Overloaded trees could fall on lines ... Going to stock up on dry foods like pasta, porridge and such instead. Might put some milk in the freezer, bits that won't break the bank if they go to waste.

I have some big water bottles left over after Ophelia, will probably fill some more, and get batteries today, you can never h88ave enough batteries anyway.

Remember if it's freezing outside with snow on the ground - use the conditions to store food. Place perishibles in a cool box or other sealed container and put outside in a sheltered spot.

Edit: by perishibles I mean milk butter hard cheese and no not raw meats etc ...

gozunda

Jake1 wrote: »

Thanks for starting this thread UFA

I have questions myself.
Was wondering, should I leave taps dribbling over night, or would leaving the heating on suffice, to protect any pipes from freezing?

Also, the tank in attic, is there anything, I should do there, to protect it?

BBQ briquettes, is a brilliant idea, Super Rush.

Thanks all

Think that already came up. A big No in my opinion. During the last freeze in 2010 this resulted in empty attic tanks and low levels of water in local resevoirs.

Install a light fitting in your attic and leave on to keep air above freezing You could do this with a length of electrical cable with a standard light fitting on one end and a plug on the other. Secure to a rafter and run cable to nearest socket.

Grandeeod

gozunda wrote: »

Remember if it's freezing outside with snow on the ground - use the conditions to store food. Place perishibles in a cool box or other sealed container and put outside in a sheltered spot.

Back in 2010 I ran out of space in the fridge for beer. So I left it in the boot of the car. Came out icy cold every time.:D

optiplex780

What will the story be with public transport? Like at what stage would busses and the dart stop running?

Meteorite58

Mod Note: please keep to the spirit of this thread. Stay on topic.

Cantona's Collars

The meat deals in Aldi this weekend are great, large chicken for €4, hams, steak and lovely diced lean steak which is cheaper than their stewing beef. Fill the freezer for small money.

Pentecost

optiplex780 wrote: »

What will the story be with public transport? Like at what stage would busses and the dart stop running?

Don’t think they’d run if there’s a red warning. Otherwise they’ll run if they’re actually able to.

Pentecost

Pentecost wrote: »

Don’t think they’d run if there’s a red warning. Otherwise they’ll run if they’re actually able to.

Have memories from 2010 of being on a Dublin Bus for close to 3 hours for what is normally a 30 min journey. Had to get off and walk the last few km. If they do run they're risky especially if driving into the suburbs where the roads aren't cleared as well.

Jake1

Jake1 wrote: »

Thanks for starting this thread UFA


Also, the tank in attic, is there anything, I should do there, to protect it?

leave the attic hatch open a bit at night

km79

gerrybhoy wrote: »

Nah get your BBQ dusted down

I am cleaning ours out today as a backup if electricity goes ......

thomasj

Deleted User wrote:

Have memories from 2010 of being on a Dublin Bus for close to 3 hours for what is normally a 30 min journey. Had to get off and walk the last few km. If they do run they're risky especially if driving into the suburbs where the roads aren't cleared as well.

I recall them stopping after 6pm in the worst of the days in 2010. Luckily had the train as backup.

Not sure how the luas would fair .

Wanderer78

Deleted User wrote: »

leave the attic hatch open a bit at night

we installed a small fan heater in the attic a few years ago after 2010, does the job

xtal191

]

OmegaGene wrote: »

Don’t use hot water to clear the windscreen
The amount of neighbours I see on the school run coming out with steaming kettles is crazy


Good tip about the meat deals in ALDI, I’m off to get few chickens and bottled water, I’m sure they have salt for the drive too

thomasj

thomasj wrote: »

I recall them stopping after 6pm in the worst of the days in 2010. Luckily had the train as backup.

Not sure how the luas would fair .

Yes I think on that occasion I had got on one leaving town just before they made the decision to stop the service! For most of the rest of the week the buses weren't running out my way at all!

Cloudio9

thomasj wrote: »

I recall them stopping after 6pm in the worst of the days in 2010. Luckily had the train as backup.

Not sure how the luas would fair .

Luas was a disaster in 2010 https://www.rte.ie/news/2010/1202/295056-live_weather_transport_updates/

Cloudio9

Kermit.de.frog wrote: »

Possible but I think that is a bit early for disruption, more likely the Wednesday morning commute.

Yeah at least on Wednesday I can make a decision to work from home. My fear is getting stuck in the city.

Nettle Soup

I see zero evidence of panic buying out west. I guess we are tougher.

km79

I’m onlyafter realizing it was 2009 and not 2010 that’s our pipes froze
We did a small bit of work to try and stop them freezing after 2009 but I’m not entirely convinced that’s what it was
My wife was off on mat leave so maybe the water was running a bit more ................

I genuinely can’t remember now was it in 2009 or 2010 we got down to minus 13/14 in east Galway ????
Redsteveirleand?

Darwin

Did two weeks worth of shopping today, very little evidence of panic buying - I still think the general populace are unaware of the severity of the coming week. Felt like a complete dork buying snow shovels in Argos this morning, but not taking any chances. Back on topic, if you have a car, don't forget to top up your windscreen washer fluid and don't dilute it. Fill up with fuel in case you get stranded and need to keep the engine running to keep warm. If you car has drum brakes at the rear, driving on saltly/muddy roads might get this gunk into the drums. If parked up for a while, the shoes may then stick to the inside of the drums. So, consider leaving off the handbrake and putting the car in gear if on a flat incline of course.

DoozerT6

A few spare lightbulbs, because Sod's Law states that the bulb in the bathroom will blow in the middle of a snowstorm while you're on the toilet!

Just in case the electricity goes out, as well as torches and extra batteries, stock up on a few plain unscented candles, candle holders AND either matches or lighters to light them with!

A few 5L containers of water. Some extra food as mentioned above, but also don't forget about pet food. Make sure if you take vital medication that you have enough to tide you over for a few days, maybe a week.

PLEASE bring pets indoors, even if you don't do so usually, and check that outdoor stock animals are secure and have enough food, bedding and shelter.

Be a decent person and make sure that elderly, vulnerable neighbours or those living alone nearby are ok and stocked up and don't need an extra sliced pan or litre of milk dropped in, or a prescription picked up. It doesn't matter if you never spoke to them before - could you live with yourself if something happened, when all it took was someone to knock on their door or shout over the fence to prevent it?

Throw a fleece blanket or two, a hi-vis jacket, a torch, and a packet of muesli bars or something into the car just in case you get stuck somewhere. Take a 2L bottle of water with you on journeys, both to drink and in case you need some for the engine/windscreen washer. Also a hot flask of something if you want to. I also have one of those small petrol canisters that you fill at the pumps in the boot of the car, which reminds me, I need to refill it!!

I mean, it'll probably end up being a cold auld blast with an inch of snow, but better to be safe than sorry!

Mountainsandh

gozunda wrote: »

Remember if it's freezing outside with snow on the ground - use the conditions to store food. Place perishibles in a cool box or other sealed container and put outside in a sheltered spot.

That's great for a jug of milk or beers, not sure I'd trust meat outside in the snow for a few days with possible warm up during the day and then cooling down again at night.

Safer to rely on dry goods for the sake of a few days imo.
I'd trust the freezer for 48 hours without opening the door too much alright.

ZX7R

Just a quick note, be no harm to have a small fire extinguisher and or fire blanket if people have to use candles etc

up for anything

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.

[QUOTE=Jake1;106242306
Was wondering, should I leave taps dribbling over night, or would leaving the heating on suffice, to protect any pipes from freezing?
[/QUOTE]

The problem I found with this the last time is that a dribble won't do. You need to leave it running (not on full obviously) but enough that it's not going so slow that it freezes anyway and as someone else said there's the water wastage aspect. What happened to me in 2010 is that the tap in the upstairs bedroom used to drip constantly but what I hadn't reckoned on was that the waste pipe it left the room in that connected to the big down pipe outside was a bit of a botch job so the water wasn't dripping directly down but through an incline that was more horizontal than slanted or vertical and as the water going so slowly it eventually froze and blocked the pipe meaning that I walked into the room one day just in time to find the sink full and on the point of overflowing. :eek:

Harry Palmr

The only tap I'd worry about is the mains into the kitchen, every other tap can be warmed up or just not used - sure ferrying water between rooms in a kettle/etc can be tedious but buy a couple of big 2/3 litre jugs and it's viable for a few days.

my3cents

If power is likely to go off then often water will go off also.

Good idea to fill the bath with water and have a bucket handy so you can still flush the toilet.

Harry Palmr

Are you in an apartment? My whole system is mains pressure/gravity driven.

my3cents

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Are you in an apartment? My whole system is mains pressure/gravity driven.

I'm out in the country and power cuts and no water are common enough due a weather event.

Ophelia had houses around here off power and water for nearly a week.

If the water supply into your house freezes you are equally without flushing toilets after a few flushes.

minibear

We live only five minutes drive to a national route but in November/Dec 2010 we couldn't move outside. We're on the side of a hill and when it's icy it's simply too dangerous to attempt the incline never mind the decline on the way home. So I'm preparing for being snowbound and if it doesn't happen well nothing will go to waste anyway.

Heating: Have topped up the oil tank and have coal, kindling and hardwood for the stove. If the electricity goes then we can't run the stove so we have a super ser gas heater and spare gas too. We have heavy curtains at the front and back doors and they will be kept closed as much as possible to keep any heat in. If we do lose power then we'll probably sleep in the sitting room cos the couches are really comfy.

Food: the freezers are full and I've frozen bread and milk too. Also stocked up on products that you just need to add hot water to like pasta, pot noodles, soup. I have lots of pre-made casseroles already in the freezer in plastic containers. I read a tip on this forum earlier about getting BBQ coals so might do that too just in case. Although we have an old gas cooker in the garage so maybe no need. Brilliant tip though.

Power: I will keep all power banks, laptops and tablets charged fully while I can. Also will ensure the car and van have fuel in case we need to charge phones/ electronic cigarette batteries.

Unfortunately we both switched from Vodafone to Eir mobile and the Eir mobile service is shockingly bad where we live. So if the main phone line goes then we'll have no phone or internet. I am trying not to think about a few days with no internet, especially with a five year old in the house to try to keep entertained. lots of snowmen I guess!
I will also keep flasks and hot water bottles ready for use and once it starts snowing they'll be filled whether needed or not.

Pets: Two dogs who sleep indoors anyway and stocked up on pet food. Two cats who sleep in an the boiler house. I will ensure their bedding is snug and cosy. A very large pond with about fifty fish. I've topped up the pond to full and will throw in something to try to keep it from icing over but it usually does so i'll just have to try to keep melting the ice when I can. I'd hate to lose them as two of them are huge and most of the others were born here.
Birds: We have lots of crows, hooded crows, magpies, collared doves and other little birds. They eat everything that the other animals (and us) don't. But I will try to source some proper bird food and feeders too.

Have candles since Ophelia but I will get them all into one place and get matches. Must get batteries for torches too.

I kind of wish it was Tuesday night now. Just want to get the school runs over and done with on Monday and Tuesday and then batten down the hatches if necessary. Must root out a pack of cards and Scrabble too.

I will also try to locate all of our old warm clothes, boots and wellies. I seem to recall a lot of damp clothing when we spent our days out in the snow as children.

think I've everything covered now.