How cold does it have to get for pipes to freeze?

[Daniel Berlin]

Take into consideration the thermal transfer of windows. Yes, they do lose heat, but they also gain heat during the daylight hours and create a "greenhouse" effect on the interior temperature. Also, the inside of an insulated/ unheated structure doesn't normally fall to the same temperature as the outside air.

It would in fact fall to the same temperature, given enough time. Unless the laws of physics are broken, the temperatures will eventually equalize.

However at some point, depending on the level of insulation, the amount of BTU you lose per hour is so small as to be eaten by local temperature differences outside, and by then the temperature outside starts increasing again.
Additionally, there are other weird impacts you have to take into account that don't normally matter. For example, your water/chairs/tables/etc have some heat capacity, and when the ambient air around them gets to a high enough temperature difference, the BTU they transfer into the air will matter (particularly because water holds 62 btu per lb (or something like that) and air only 0.02, so 1 pound of water can heat a lot of air :P. Wood is similar )

[Rich Engelhardt]

First off - thanks to everyone!

We finally gained access to the property yesterday. Just in time as the temperatures dropped under 20* last night and look to be staying there all week long.
The tenant had contacted the utility companies last week and had them shut off the services.
Nice huh? Lock us out & then have the gas and electric shut off - in the dead of Winter. :|

I can't say any more on that subject though since it's possible criminal charges may be forthcoming.

[Ole Anderson]

Pipes on an outside wall are more likely to freeze than ones on an inside wall. I bet you will be ok if all of the pipes are on inside walls.

[Curt Harms]

Rich I hope there was no major plumbing or water damage. I wonder if if would be possible to set something up with utility companies where if they receive a disconnect request on a rental property, they notify the owner of record? That doesn't seem like it'd infringe on anyone's rights or privacy and might possibly save an expensive mess. Of course someone with ill will could simply turn the heat off (and open the windows).

[Rich Engelhardt]

Curt,
The utilities are supposed to verify ownership prior to shutting off service.
People lie though and sometimes the utilities take their word for it, apparently without checking first to see who the owner is.

Thankfully, we got to it when the temperatures were high enough.

[Dan Hintz]

Yeah, but you don't always want to be the "owner"... if you are, it means you are ultimately responsible for any charges the tenant racks up. This varies from locale to locale, but one notable story was on Holmes on Homes a couple of years back. The house was in CA (Canada, not the home of San Francisco), and the tenants had burrowed through the basement wall to get to the electrical contacts before the meter... to steal the electricity for all of their grow lights, turning the entire house into a marijuana nursery. The electric company wanted $40k+, but luckily the house owner made the tenant get the electricity bill in their name, and therefore the tenant is (properly) stuck for it... if they can ever find/arrest them.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Dan,
We always have our tenants put the utilites in their name. Water service requires a seperate meter for each side if it's a duplex. All of our units are single houses so we're ok there.

"Skip outs" can be and are a problem for the utilites.
One city, Cuyahoga Falls, has been trying to pass a law that the landlord has have the utilites in their name, then try to collect each month from the tenants or include the utilities in the rent.
Naturally, they won't help us out if we can't collect from a tenant, and they won't pay us a monthly fee for collecting payments for them....