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Prevent Frozen Pipes! There isn’t a lot of time to prepare for the severe cold weather coming this weekend, but here are some tips for what you can do to prevent pipes from freezing when the temperatures plummet:
We know fuel costs are very expensive, but turning up the heat when it’s particularly cold out can really help prevent pipes from freezing. The extra fuel cost you may incur is certainly less than the expense of damages from a burst pipe! Keeping your home warmer, up into the 70’s, will keep the air radiating throughout your home warmer. Houses have cold spots, and if one of yours has water pipes through it, then when it’s really cold they are at risk. When you keep it warmer inside, the freeze-point moves farther to the outside of your house and away from pipes.
Also, if your heat should go out, your home will already be warmer to hopefully protect pipes a little longer until you can get the heat back on.
Keep any doors to cabinets housing water pipes open. This will help circulate warm air underneath where water lines are. Be especially careful of pipes in cabinets on exterior walls.
During really cold snaps, allow faucets to drip water steadily. Letting even a small amount of water drip from a faucet keeps the water circulating through your pipes and can prevent a freeze.
If you haven’t already, remove any hoses attached to outdoor faucets. If you don’t have a freeze-proof spigot, be sure to turn off the supply inside. When it’s really cold, it’s not a bad idea to open the outside faucet so water will have somewhere to go if there is any in the pipes.
We actually see frozen pipes from leaving garage doors open in winter quite a lot. Open a garage door when it’s really cold out only when necessary and close it immediately. Don’t leave it open while you snow blow, for example, and move your car outside to warm it up instead of opening the garage door. Warm water pipes freeze faster than cold water pipes, so when a garage door is open even for a short period of time, pipes can freeze quickly!
If you’re really concerned about a freeze, or you can’t get any water out of fixtures, shut off your well pump power or the main shut off valve at your town water intake. Should a pipe freeze and/or burst, the amount of water damage can be contained.
Gelinas HVAC provide 24/7 emergency services and can help you with any plumbing issue. Please contact us and we can get there right away.
There are other measures you can take when you have time to prepare your pipes for cold winter temperatures. Read our blog Preventing Frozen Pipes for further tips.