True story: the wife and I were newly married and living in our first home a Schultz single wide mobile home . It was heavily insulated ......... I think 1/2 " in the walls and maybe 3/4 " in the ceiling
. The skirt around the base of the trailer was flimsy thin fiberglass panels . Oil furnace and a wood stove for heat . One of the nastiest winter cold snaps in ages hit and even though the copper water feed pipe was insulated AND had an electric heat tape on it AND we let the water slowly come out of several faucets the main feed line froze............ SOLID !
So being young/stupid/broke I crawled under the trailer in the morning and unhooked both ends of the copper line .
Brought the copper line in the trailer and set it on the wood stove to thaw out . From what I remember it took about 2 hours for the entire length ( about 40 ' ) to thaw out . I unwrapped all the insulation , pulled the heat tape off and inspected the copper for any breaks or splits . All was good so I re-installed electric heat tape and insulation , then wrapped with plastic tape and then wrapped with another layer of insulation ! By now I am thawed out as well so time to go back out with this copper javelin and install
My memory say's it was still -30 outside and my hands were sooooo cold from holding the wrenches even with gloves . But got it all back together , plugged in the heat tape and was lucky enough it never froze again . We only lived in that trailer for about 2 years and then sold it and bought our first " real " house . I think that was the coldest I had ever been in my life .......... really didn't enjoy it either
