Winter Pipe Protection: Five Hacks to Keep Them Intact in Freezing Temperatures
Winter Pipe Protection: Five Hacks to Keep Them Intact in Freezing Temperatures
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All property owners who live in pleasant climates need to do their best to winterize their pipes. It is something you have to do throughout autumn prior to deep winter months genuinely begins. Failing to do so can mean disaster like icy, cracked, or burst pipelines. If the climate exterior is frightful, here are some convenient winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system shielded even.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature decreases and also it seems as if the icy temperature level will certainly last, it will certainly assist to switch on your water both inside as well as outdoors. This will maintain the water moving via your plumbing systems. Furthermore, the motion will certainly slow down the freezing procedure. Significantly, there's no demand to transform it on full force. You'll wind up squandering gallons of water in this manner. Instead, aim for concerning 5 declines per minute.
Open Up Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cool outside, it would certainly be useful to open cupboard doors that are masking your pipes. Doing this little method can keep your pipes warm and also limit the possibly dangerous end results of freezing temperatures.
Require Time to Cover Exposed Pipes
One cool as well as simple hack to warm up freezing pipelines is to cover them with warm towels. You can cover them first with towels. After safeguarding them in place, you can put boiling water on the towels. Do it gradually to let the towels take in the liquid. You can also make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply don't neglect to put on safety handwear covers to protect your hands from the heat.
Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Warm Gun
When your pipelines are practically freezing, your trusty hair clothes dryer or warm gun is a godsend. Bowling warm air directly right into them may assist if the hot towels do not assist displace any type of settling ice in your pipelines. However, do not make use of other items that generate direct fires like a blow lantern. This can cause a larger disaster that you can not control. You might end up destructive your pipes while attempting to thaw the ice. As well as in the future, you may also end up burning your residence. So beware!
Shut Off Water When Pipes are Frozen
If you discover that your pipelines are entirely icy or almost nearing that stage, turn off the main water valve promptly. You will generally find this in your basement or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off right now to stop more damages.
With even more water, even more ice will certainly stack up, which will at some point lead to burst pipes. If you are unsure concerning the state of your pipes this winter season, it is best to call an expert plumber for an examination.
All home owners who live in temperate environments need to do their ideal to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can mean catastrophe like icy, split, or burst pipelines. If the hot towels do not assist dislodge any kind of clearing up ice in your pipes, bowling warm air straight right into them may help. Turn off the primary water shutoff promptly if you observe that your pipes are totally frozen or practically nearing that stage. With more water, even more ice will certainly stack up, which will at some point lead to rupture pipelines.
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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