Opus 2025-053: Experiments in Physics

As I write we are in the middle of a cold spell.  Some people just say, “Texas.”  Others start looking through Revelation, Ezekiel, Daniel, Matthew 24 or any other place where the end of the world is forecast and try to apply their fear to the real world.

Is it cold?  Yes.  Should we panic?  Guffaw.  I am willing to let the faucets drip to keep peace in the family.  It might even be a good idea.  I went on line to see what the “experts” had to say about how cold it needed to be to drip the faucets.  At one end they seemed to be saying 32º.  That is ridiculous even to this California refugee.  At the other end they said 20º which is reasonable if you keep the heat on in the house.  

It is simple physics but what does not make it simple is the location of your pipes, how long it is how cold and how hard the wind is blowing.  As an experiment I left a two liter bottle of water out on the porch all night and put one in the garage.  This morning they were both liquid.  I will leave them because it is supposed to get colder over the next two days.  

So we let it drip.  Better safe than sorry.  In the last cold spell we had a pipe burst in the garage but that was when the high for the day was 18º.

I love central heat.

homo unius libri