One of the most troublesome things that can happen to your home during the winter months is your pipes freezing. When the temperatures in your area dip below freezing, the water that sits in pipes can freeze.

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As this happens, the pipes expand, which can ultimately cause them to crack or burst, leading to water flooding your home once the ice thaws. Taking the time to learn what steps you should take to avoid frozen pipes can help reduce the chances of this major issue happening in your home.

Here’s some tips for avoiding frozen pipes this season.

Insulate Exposed Pipes and Spigots

One of the ways that you can help to keep your pipes a little warmed during the frigid winter season is to insulate them.

There are numerous ways that you can insulate pipes.

You can purchase foam inserts that look and feel very similar to pool noodles that fit right over the pipes. You can also use items you already have around the home, such as old blankets or towels.

Wrap these items over the pipes and then tape them into place. However, if you do use cloth, you need to remove and replace it after it rains or gets damp, or it could freeze and lead to the pipes actually getting colder.

Open Your Cabinet Doors

If you have any plumbing hidden behind cabinet doors in your home, consider opening up those cabinet doors, especially on cold nights.

By opening the doors, you allow heat to more readily flow into the cabinet and linger around the pipes. This helps to keep them warmer, which can help minimize the chances of them freezing.

Keep Your Heater Running

Speaking of heat, another great way to minimize frozen pipes happening to you this winter is to keep the heater in your home running and set to at least 55 degrees Farenheit or higher.

It can be tempting to shut the heater off if you’re away from your home for hours at work or even on a holiday trip. However, when you shut the heater off in your home, your home can get cold quickly.

This drastically increases the chances of your pipes freezing.

Leave Water Dripping On Cold Nights

Water is more likely to freeze in your pipes if it is sitting stagnant.

Unfortunately, in most households, water does sit stagnant overnight, when temperatures are the coldest.

You are likely sleeping and not using the water. To help keep water flowing, and thus reduce the chances of ice forming in your pipes, you should turn the faucets on in your home to a very small drip, ensuring water is constantly flowing through your pipes and not sitting stagnant, even as you sleep.

Winterize Your Plumbing If You Plan On Being Away

Lastly, if you plan on being away for a few days or longer, consider hiring a plumber to winterize your plumbing system.

All water is removed from the pipes and water is shut off, so there is no sitting water in the pipes while you’re away. This eliminates the risk of your pipes freezing, and ensures you don’t come home from a trip away to an unexpected disaster.

These steps will minimize your risk of the pipes in your home freezing this winter.

However, there is no way to prevent your pipes from freezing completely, especially on extremely cold nights. As such, it’s important to know what to do if your pipes do freeze.

If your pipes freeze, you should immediately shut off the main water valve and call in a professional plumber, like us here at Comfort Systems, to unthaw the pipe and do an inspection for damage.

We can also help to winter-proof your plumbing, helping to prevent this issue from happening to begin with. Reach out to us today to schedule an appointment.

Posted in Plumbing