5 Essential Hacks for Winterizing Your Pipes Against Frigid Temperatures
5 Essential Hacks for Winterizing Your Pipes Against Frigid Temperatures
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We've discovered the article pertaining to Prevent Freezing and Bursting Pipes below on the web and accepted it made perfect sense to talk about it with you on my blog.
All home owners that stay in temperate environments have to do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. It is something you must do throughout autumn prior to deep winter months truly starts. Failing to do so can mean disaster like frozen, fractured, or burst pipes. Below are some handy winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system protected even if the weather condition outside is frightful.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature level declines and it seems as if the freezing temperature will last, it will certainly assist to transform on your water both inside your home as well as outdoors. This will certainly maintain the water streaming through your plumbing systems. You'll finish up losing gallons of water this method.
Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's chilly outside, it would be practical to open up closet doors that are concealing your pipes. Doing this small method can maintain your pipelines warm and limit the possibly dangerous end results of freezing temperatures.
Take Some Time to Wrap Exposed Pipeline
One simple and also nifty hack to warm up freezing pipes is to wrap them with warm towels. You can cover them initially with towels. After protecting them in position, you can pour boiling water on the towels. Do it slowly to allow the towels take in the liquid. You can likewise utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, just don't neglect to wear safety gloves to safeguard your hands from the heat.
Try a Hair Clothes Dryer or Heat Weapon
When your pipes are almost freezing, your trusty hair clothes dryer or heat gun is a blessing. If the hot towels do not help dislodge any kind of working out ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air straight into them might help. You might finish up harmful your pipes while attempting to melt the ice.
When Pipelines are Frozen, close Off Water
Turn off the primary water valve quickly if you observe that your pipes are entirely icy or practically nearing that stage. You will generally discover this in your cellar or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Transform it off right now to avoid more damages.
Don't forget to close external water sources, also, such as your hookup for the yard home. Doing this will certainly stop extra water from filling up your plumbing system. However, with even more water, even more ice will certainly accumulate, which will ultimately cause break pipes. If you are unsure regarding the state of your pipes this winter months, it is best to call a specialist plumber for an evaluation. Taking this positive technique can conserve you hundreds of dollars out of commission.
All home owners that live in pleasant climates should do their finest to winterize their pipelines. Failure to do so can spell catastrophe like frozen, fractured, or ruptured pipelines. If the warm towels do not assist displace any type of settling ice in your pipes, bowling hot air straight right into them might help. Turn off the main water valve instantly if you observe that your pipelines are entirely icy or nearly nearing that stage. With even more water, even more ice will stack up, which will ultimately 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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