« Shooting Stars | Main | MATHitecture »

It's Coooold

frozen cars.gif

When beginning my search for an opposition i wasn't exactly sure where to find my inspiration so giving up for the time being i headed outside to clss where it hit me in the face. Cold. It was very cold out and i decided that the cold was a perfect opposition for Minnesota. When the deep freeze of a Minnesota winter sets in everything freezes. The water, the people, and even the ground. In particular the ground freezing can create some severe problems for home owners and some businesses. When the ground reaches a certain temperature water pipes running in and out of the house can freeze and burst. Even copper and plastic piping can crack. An 8 inch crack in a water pipe can unload up to 250 gallons of water in a day, which can completely ruin a home. This is a great opposition that architects and engineers have to consider before building a house in Minnesota. But instead of packing up your stuff and moving to the south, there are some things that you can do to avoid a frozen pipe.
Although a house in the tropics would be a very nice alternative, for most people its not a feasible option. But there are plenty of things you can do to the pipes that hold the water to prevent them from bursting. You can Insulate the pipes to keep the cold out or the warm in, the more insulation used the better. You can use heat wraps or heat cables to cover the pipes and battle the cold. In many situations there are small leaks in the insulation that lets in the cold and freezes the pipes, so by simply sealing any leaks you can keep your pipes from freezing. There are other precautionary steps that can be taken, and State Farm has a great outline on their website http://www.statefarm.com/learning/loss_prevent/learning_lossprevention_frozpipes.asp.
Hopefully all of us can stay as warm as our pipes this winter

frozen pipes.jpg