Practical Methods to Protect Your Plumbing and Prevent Freezing in Frigid Weather
Practical Methods to Protect Your Plumbing and Prevent Freezing in Frigid Weather
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We have stumbled upon the article on How to Prevent Frozen Pipes down the page on the internet and think it made perfect sense to share it with you on my blog.
All homeowners that live in warm environments should do their finest to winterize their pipelines. It is something you should do throughout fall before deep wintertime truly begins. Failing to do so can spell catastrophe like icy, broken, or ruptured pipelines. Below are some convenient winterizing hacks to maintain your plumbing system secured even if the climate exterior is frightful.
Switch on the Faucets
When the temperature decreases and it appears as if the cold temperature level will last, it will certainly assist to switch on your water both indoors and also outdoors. This will maintain the water streaming through your plumbing systems. On top of that, the motion will reduce the freezing procedure. Significantly, there's no demand to turn it on full force. You'll wind up throwing away gallons of water by doing this. Rather, go for regarding 5 decreases per min.
Open Cabinet Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would be handy to open up closet doors that are masking your pipelines. They could be someplace in your kitchen area or restroom. This will permit the warm air from your heater to flow there. Therefore, you avoid these exposed pipelines from freezing. Doing this tiny technique can maintain your pipes warm and also limit the possibly dangerous results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Some Time to Wrap Exposed Piping
One nifty and also simple hack to heat up icy pipes is to cover them with cozy towels. You can also make use of pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't fail to remember to put on safety gloves to guard your hands from the heat.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Warmth Gun
When your pipes are almost freezing, your trusty hair clothes dryer or warm weapon is a godsend. If the hot towels do not help displace any type of clearing up ice in your pipes, bowling warm air directly right into them may aid. You may finish up damaging your pipes while trying to thaw the ice.
Turn off Water When Pipelines are Frozen
Switch off the main water shutoff promptly if you notice that your pipes are completely frozen or nearly nearing that phase. You will generally find this in your basement or laundry room near the heating unit or the front wall closest to the street. Transform it off today to stop additional damages.
Don't neglect to shut external water resources, as well, such as your connection for the garden house. Doing this will certainly protect against extra water from filling your plumbing system. However, with more water, more ice will certainly accumulate, which will eventually bring about rupture pipes. If you are uncertain about the state of your pipelines this winter season, it is best to call a specialist plumber for an assessment. Taking this positive strategy can save you countless dollars out of commission.
All homeowners that live in pleasant climates must do their ideal to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can mean disaster like icy, broken, or burst pipes. If the warm towels do not help displace any type of settling ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air straight right into them may aid. Turn off the main water valve right away if you discover that your pipes are completely icy or nearly nearing that stage. With even more water, even more ice will certainly load up, which will eventually lead to burst 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.
https://www.stinenichols.com/kansas-city/planning-ahead-for-winter-plumbing/
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