Preventing Frozen Pipes
With the winter season approaching it’s important to know what to do if your pipes freeze and what you can do to prevent this from happening. It’s also important to know which of the pipes in your home are most at risk for freezing.
Outdoors hose bibs, swimming pool lines, and water lines for irrigation systems are just some of the few that are most at risk. For outside hose bibs you can disconnect the hoses from the outside hydrants. This can prevent them from freezing and breaking. Freeze covers are also a great option and can provide extra security. If you have a backflow device that is on irrigation it is ideal to have them properly winterized. This would involve taking the device apart and setting the valves in a position to where they do not pocket water.
Supply lines that are located in unheated spaces are also at risk. These lines include water lines in your basements, crawlspaces, garages, and attics. Pipes that have little or no insulation surrounding them are at risk as well. If you’re able you can add insulation to those areas in order to maintain a higher temperature.
When the temperature is below 20 degrees you can leave your faucets dripping slowly. This is ideal especially if you are on city water as the flowing water makes it harder to freeze. You can do this with a septic system, but be aware that it can fill a frozen leach field with access water into the septic system. If you find that you have to leave your home for a long period of time; leave your heat on no lower than 55 degrees. A few other tips include: keeping garage doors closed if there are supply lines in that area, open kitchen and bathroom cabinets and keeping the heat set at the same temperature throughout the day and night.
