Cold Weather Pipe Protection: 5 Hacks to Keep Them Intact in Freezing Temperatures
Cold Weather Pipe Protection: 5 Hacks to Keep Them Intact in Freezing Temperatures
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Just how do you actually feel when it comes to Winterizing Your Pipes?
All homeowners who reside in pleasant climates need to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. It is something you must do throughout autumn before deep wintertime absolutely starts. Failing to do so can lead to disaster like frozen, fractured, or burst pipelines. If the weather outside is shocking, here are some helpful winterizing hacks to maintain your plumbing system safeguarded also.
Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warm Weapon
When your pipelines are virtually freezing, your trusty hair dryer or warmth gun is a blessing. Bowling warm air straight right into them might aid if the hot towels do not assist displace any clearing up ice in your pipelines. Do not make use of various other objects that produce direct flames like a blow lantern. This can result in a larger calamity that you can not regulate. You may end up damaging your pipelines while attempting to thaw the ice. And in the long run, you may also wind up shedding your home. Be cautious!
Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would certainly be helpful to open up cupboard doors that are masking your pipelines. Doing this small trick can keep your pipes warm and also limit the potentially unsafe results of freezing temperatures.
Take Time to Wrap Exposed Pipes
One simple and great hack to heat up freezing pipes is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can likewise utilize pre-soaked towels in warm water, just don't fail to remember to wear protective gloves to guard your hands from the warmth.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and also it appears as if the cold temperature level will last, it will help to activate your water both inside your home and outdoors. This will certainly keep the water flowing with your plumbing systems. Furthermore, the movement will certainly slow down the cold process. Significantly, there's no demand to turn it on full force. You'll end up wasting gallons of water this way. Rather, go for regarding 5 drops per minute.
Turn off Water When Pipes are Frozen
Turn off the main water shutoff instantly if you notice that your pipes are totally icy or practically nearing that stage. You will normally find this in your cellar or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Transform it off as soon as possible to stop further damages.
With even more water, more ice will stack up, which will eventually lead to break pipes. If you are uncertain concerning the state of your pipelines this winter months, it is best to call an expert plumber for an inspection.
All homeowners that live in pleasant climates have to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. Failure to do so can lead to disaster like icy, broken, or burst pipelines. If the warm towels do not assist dislodge any type of clearing up ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air directly right into them might assist. Transform off the main water valve instantly if you notice that your pipes are completely frozen or almost nearing that stage. With even more water, more ice will pile up, which will eventually lead to burst 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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