The Honest Courtesan

As you can probably guess from the label, this is a water filter.  Or rather, was a water filter; it’s not supposed to be cracked apart like that.  Propane-fueled on-demand water heaters need to be placed or at least vented outside, so I knew I’d need to insulate the water pipes to and from the heater, and I did.  I just neglected to insulate the damned filter, because I figured being inside an insulated enclosure right next to the heater would be protection enough; obviously, I was wrong.  Now, we had no problem at all last winter or the first part of this one; however, a rather nasty arctic air mass came in on Thursday, which meant the temperature got down to -9^o C Friday night and never got above freezing Saturday, which was apparently too much for the insulated box, protective heater notwithstanding.  I left the cold tap dripping overnight, so the cold water line stayed clear; however, paradoxically, the hot line froze up (or more accurately, the filter on the cold feed to the water heater).  That of course means we had no hot water for showers for two days, until yesterday’s thaw revealed the problem.  Now, I left the electric on-demand heater feeding the kitchen and laundry room, so at least we could wash our hands and faces in hot water.  But you can bet I’m going to add heat tape to the pipes for the next time we’re subjected to this Midwest-level cold.  Ah, well; it’s the price one pays for building one’s own country home; it’s just that, as I was saying aloud (liberally spiced with profanity) while crawling around under the floor to make sure there were no other breaks, I am officially Too Old For This Shit.