mechanical staff+clark
Sorry, I tend to lean to apologetic about it; most people tend to either get wary or accusatory.
I think trying to warm pipes on a large scale would be a mistake, plus as Dean mentioned to Kara, some would get hot water and others wouldn't - jealousy during hard times is likely best avoidable. If there's a central reservoir, though, or a large water heater, we could essentially temporarily do the job of the water heater and warm the water itself in that holding area until the problem is fixed.