Efficient Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing and Protecting Against Freezing Temperatures
Efficient Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing and Protecting Against Freezing Temperatures
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Everybody has his or her own perception about How to stop pipes from freezing during the winter.
All homeowners who live in warm environments must do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can spell calamity like frozen, broken, or ruptured pipes.
Attempt a Hair Clothes Dryer or Heat Weapon
When your pipelines are virtually freezing, your dependable hair dryer or heat weapon is a godsend. If the hot towels do not aid remove any type of working out ice in your pipes, bowling hot air straight right into them may assist. Nevertheless, do not make use of various other items that generate direct fires like an impact lantern. This can cause a larger disaster that you can not manage. You may wind up damaging your pipelines while attempting to melt the ice. And also over time, you may even end up melting your home. So be careful!
Open Closet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cool outside, it would be helpful to open cupboard doors that are camouflaging your pipes. They might be someplace in your kitchen or restroom. This will certainly allow the cozy air from your heating system to circulate there. Therefore, you protect against these exposed pipes from freezing. Doing this little method can maintain your pipelines warm and restrict the possibly unsafe end results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Piping
One very easy as well as great hack to heat up icy pipes is to wrap them with cozy towels. You can also make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, just do not forget to wear protective gloves to guard your hands from the heat.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature level drops and also it appears as if the freezing temperature will certainly last, it will aid to turn on your water both indoors as well as outdoors. This will certainly maintain the water flowing via your plumbing systems. You'll finish up throwing away gallons of water this way.
When Pipes are Frozen, shut Off Water
If you see that your pipes are totally icy or virtually nearing that phase, turn off the main water valve quickly. You will usually find this in your basement or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Turn it off as soon as possible to stop more damages.
Do not neglect to shut exterior water resources, also, such as your connection for the yard home. Doing this will avoid added water from filling out your plumbing system. With more water, more ice will certainly stack up, which will eventually lead to burst pipelines. If you are not sure about the state of your pipelines this wintertime, it is best to call a professional plumber for an inspection. Taking this positive approach can conserve you hundreds of dollars out of commission.
All property owners that live in pleasant environments must do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can mean disaster like frozen, fractured, or ruptured pipes. If the warm towels do not assist remove any resolving ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly right into them may aid. Turn off the main water shutoff right away if you notice that your pipelines are totally icy or nearly nearing that phase. With more water, even more ice will stack up, which will eventually 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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