Cold Weather Pipe Protection: Five Hacks to Keep Them Intact in Freezing Temperatures
Cold Weather Pipe Protection: Five Hacks to Keep Them Intact in Freezing Temperatures
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What're your thoughts and feelings on Prevent Freezing and Bursting Pipes?
All homeowners who reside in pleasant climates should do their finest to winterize their pipelines. It is something you have to do during autumn before deep winter really starts. Failure to do so can mean calamity like icy, broken, or burst pipes. Here are some useful winterizing hacks to maintain your plumbing system shielded even if the weather outside is shocking.
Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warmth Gun
When your pipes are nearly freezing, your reliable hair clothes dryer or warmth gun is a blessing. If the hot towels do not aid dislodge any clearing up ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air directly into them might assist. You may end up destructive your pipelines while attempting to melt the ice.
Open Closet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would certainly be handy to open cupboard doors that are camouflaging your pipelines. They can be someplace in your kitchen area or restroom. This will certainly allow the warm air from your heating unit to circulate there. Consequently, you prevent these subjected pipelines from cold. Doing this little trick can maintain your pipes cozy and restrict the potentially harmful outcomes of freezing temperatures.
Take Some Time to Cover Exposed Water Lines
One simple and also nifty hack to heat up frigid pipes is to wrap them with warm towels. You can cover them initially with towels. After protecting them in position, you can put boiling water on the towels. Do it gradually to let the towels soak up the fluid. You can likewise use pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't fail to remember to wear protective gloves to safeguard your hands from the warmth.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature level drops and it appears as if the icy temperature will last, it will assist to transform on your water both indoors and outdoors. This will maintain the water flowing with your plumbing systems. You'll finish up squandering gallons of water this means.
When Pipes are Frozen, shut Off Water
If you notice that your pipelines are completely frozen or nearly nearing that phase, turn off the primary water shutoff promptly. You will normally find this in your basement or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Transform it off today to prevent more damages.
With more water, more ice will pile up, which will at some point lead to rupture pipes. If you are unsure concerning the state of your pipes this winter season, it is best to call an expert plumber for an assessment.
All home owners who live in temperate climates have to do their best to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can lead to calamity like frozen, fractured, or ruptured pipes. If the warm towels do not help displace any type of resolving ice in your pipes, bowling warm air straight into them might aid. Transform off the major water shutoff right away if you observe that your pipes are completely icy or practically nearing that stage. With even more water, even more ice will certainly stack up, which will ultimately lead to break pipes.
Planning Ahead for Winter Plumbing!
Given how the weather has been recently here in Kansas City, it may not seem like it, but the truth is winter is quickly approaching. As we near the end of September, it is never a bad idea to start considering which areas of your home could use some preventative maintenance heading into the colder months, as well as what you should remember to do once the colder temps settle in. And considering your plumbing system can certainly be impacted by changing weather conditions, guess what we’ll be talking about today?
For those that are visiting our blog for the very first time, welcome to Stine-Nichols Plumbing. Here on the blog, we post weekly about various aspects of the plumbing world. Whether that be DIY tips, brand highlights or anything else, they’re all designed to make homeowners more knowledgeable about their plumbing systems. Believe it or not, even just some general knowledge about one’s plumbing can go a long way in preventing unneeded repairs and keeping everything running smoothly. As referenced in the previous paragraph, this week’s blog will walk through a few of the steps you can do to your own plumbing system to ensure you’re ready to go for the upcoming winter weather and tips for keeping it all in working order as the winter carries on. Let’s hop right in!
Disconnect Hoses
You’ve likely heard this one on multiple occasions, but it is certainly something worth mentioning. Make sure to disconnect any and all outdoor hoses and then turn off those outdoor faucets at the shut-off. The logic behind this is probably something you would have learned in a grade school science class. When water freezes, it expands. Thus, due to this, it’s going to occupy more space. And if there’s no space to occupy, trouble ensues. It’s as simple as that!
Long story short, if you have room to store them indoors, do so. If not, just be sure to completely drain them and then store them in a dry area, such as the garage or a shed. Failure to disconnect the hoses can easily result in frozen/bursting pipes and plumbing headaches for you, especially if there is still water sitting in the hose! Do yourself a favor and disconnect your hoses once you know you won’t be using them anymore for that season. It’s a quick-and-easy step that’s always worth the time.
Headed Out of Town?
Our next point will likely get more and more relevant as we get into the holiday season. Do you remember the extreme arctic blast that hit the Kansas City area in February of 2021? Sub-zero temps, frigid wind chills, it was definitely not the funnest of times for KC residents. Nonetheless, here at Stine-Nichols Plumbing, it’s safe to say our technicians were quite busy dealing with frozen/bursting pipes. What I’m hinting at here is that you never know when we’ll experience extremely cold temperatures. So if you’re going to be out of town for a little bit, it’s never a bad idea to turn off your water at the main shut-off valve. While this won’t prevent every possible plumbing issue, it will at least limit the damage if something bad were to occur. Especially if you don’t have a family member or friend that’ll be checking on your home while you’re away, make sure to keep this tip in mind!
By the way, it may sound like a no-brainer to most, but if you are headed out of town, make sure to also keep the heat on inside while away. You will have some added energy costs from heating a home while nobody’s there, but if it prevents you from dealing with a plumbing emergency, it’s well worth it!
Leave Cabinet Doors Open
As you may start to notice, the primary winter plumbing problem that you need to be mindful of involves pipes freezing. Whether it be indoors or outdoors, they can freeze for a few different reasons, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of various tactics you can implement to improve your odds of keeping everything in working order. Yet another one of these that you’ve likely heard before is leaving the cabinet doors under your bathroom or kitchen sink open. Will this provide complete protection? Not necessarily. However, this is an easy way to make sure some of the heat in your home is reaching those pipes that aren’t insulated under your sinks.
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