Best Way to Keep Pipes From Freezing

Many people experience leaky pipes during the winter months. If a pipe in your home freezes, it can cause it to expand and burst, which will they cause a leak. If it leaks in your walls, you can find yourself dealing with an expensive problem. Let’s look at ways you can prevent your pipes from freezing and what you can do if you find that a pipe has become frozen.

How to keep pipes from freezing

• Make sure that the pipes are insulated and lagged. If you have pipes and water tanks in your attic or crawl space, make sure they are all insulated. The best way to insulate them is to use foam pipe covers, which you can find at most hardware or home improvement stores.
• You should leave your central heating turned on and set to at least 54 degrees. If you don’t want your heater to run all day, make sure it at least comes on for one hour per day in the morning. Having it come on in the morning will heat everything up after going through the cold night.
• If you have a water faucet on the outside of your home, you may want to turn off the water source to it. If you don’t want to turn off the water going to that faucet, make sure that it is thoroughly insulated to avoid freezing.

Things you can do if your pipes become frozen

• As soon as you notice a frozen pipe, turn off the water supply at the water main. Allow some time for the remaining water to run through the various taps in your home. Then check for damage on the pipe(s) that was frozen. Make sure you pay close attention to the pipe joints to see if they cracked.
• If a frozen pipe has cracked or burst, you should turn off the electricity in your home. This is a good idea because the water may have made its way to wires or other electrical components in your home, which is a fire hazard.
• Do not run hot water through your pipes if you think they’re frozen. You should only use a heat source around the outside of the pipe which will melt the ice within them. You can use a space heater if it is safe to do so or even a hair dryer can be used for small problems.

Just remember that you need to follow the precautions in this article to keep your pipes from freezing. By doing so, you will avoid an even bigger problem of having to deal with the damage. Also, if you find that you have frozen pipes, you should consult with your neighbors to make sure they haven’t suffered any damage as well.