Photo Credit: Weather.gov
As most have noticed, an arctic plunge settled in the extreme southern areas of the United States earlier this week. I for one, cannot wait to see temps back above freezing. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until the end of the week. We are expected to creep above the freezing mark tomorrow, but then we will be back in the upper 20’s for highs on Thursday.
We have kept our faucets dripping, the outside faucets have been covered well, we have made sure the animals are as warm as possible, and we make sure their water is replaced several times a day. However, even with the best planning, things don’t always go as smooth as you want.
Last January, we had a manual hand pump added to our well so in the event of a power outage, we would still have water. Adding this manual pump meant that our well was no longer safe from freezing, so I had to build a well house to go around it.
I made this well house nice and insulated. The top comes off for easy access to the pump and there is a door on the side where you can place your bucket to fill it up. The idea behind this, was so that we wouldn’t have to pull the full bucket of water up over the top of the well house. Instead, once it is full we can pull it out the side door and resume with carrying it to wherever we need it. The well house is also well insulated on the wall, roof, and door.
We also had a small well house heater in the well house for use during frigid temperatures. Little did we know, our heater was on the fritz!
We woke up yesterday to no water! I went through the house turning on faucets trying to gauge if the problem was in the house, attic, or well house. We determined the problem was in the well house. I put on my several layers of clothing and stepped out to the well house with the blow dryer in hand. After about 5 minutes, my husband gave me the thumbs up. We now had water flowing back in the house. Knowing that our heater is faulty and no one locally had one for sell, we had to come up with plan b.
I had read online that several people stated they used a single light bulb in their well house to keep it warm. They claimed it worked very well. I borrowed a drop light from my mom who lives just next door. Thankfully she had an incandescent bulb for us to use as well. We figured it would put off more heat than an LED bulb.
I attached this chain on the inside of the well house to give the light something to hang from. Fortunately, my mom was also able to provide the chain, screws, and washers.
After it turned dark outside, I decided to run out and check to see how the light was holding up. It wasn’t. The brand new bulb had blown. Seeing how this should not have happened, I decided there must be something wrong with this drop light. It was older, so it wasn’t exactly unexpected.
This meant we had to go out and find a new one with temps that were going to be in the low single digits. We were very blessed the first time around that nothing busted or got burned up during the first freeze. However, I was not going to take a second chance on letting the well freeze. My husband was kind enough to run this errand so my daughter and I could stay in the warmth of our home.
So he took off for Lowe’s, only to discover when he got there, that he was the only one there. Due to the holiday, the store had already closed. Since we weren’t looking for a specialty part, he was able to find one at our local Walmart. Along with the light, he grabbed a pack of bulbs and headed back home so we could get the new light set up before the temperatures became any more frigid.
Photo Credit: Walmart.com
We got the light set up in the well house and voila! It worked. It stayed on all night long and our well did not freeze during the night. It will stay on until the temps finally climb out of the below freezing mark. We will be able to turn it off on Sunday. Meanwhile, we will be ordering a new heater for the well house. They are available online for $25 - $35.
Photo Credit: Amazon.com
How do we keep ourselves busy during these frigid days? Easy. A nice heavy blanket, some hot cocoa, a few great movies, and a fun jigsaw puzzle keeps us pretty entertained!
Excellent idea on the cover! And doesn't that always seem to be the case...something as simple as just putting a little heat in there turned into a MUCH bigger ordeal than it should have!!!
Oh yes! I have determined even the easiest tasks like to be difficult. I was just happy that it didn't turn into a complete disaster when the well froze. It could have been so much worse.
There you go...look on the bright side, no matter what!
Yup we made a similar well cover with an insulating cover and light. It does work, if the light is on. Cold snap is almost over I hear!
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