Winter Tips for Plumbing

[Molasar]

Originally Posted by busterb

I've heard that you can stick a short 2x4 into toilet and ice will climb and keep bowl from freezing.

presumably a softwood.
a bit of random hardwood timber eg. oak teak or mahogany wouldn't have enough 'give' to absorb the pressure of the enclosing ice (which could still crack the pan/bowl under the pressure) whereas a bit of pine would be better.
a common sense thought that may be total BS but makes sense to me.
I guess something like a hollow plastic or foam-filled stress ball (that floats half above and half below the water line) would do the same.
best not give it to the kids to play with afterwards though. yeuch