Plumbing

Keep Working Pipes in Your Home This Winter

Mike Rampey ·

One of the most stressful problems of winter is the possibility of frozen pipes. Are your pipes ready for the coming season? It's always worthwhile to review all your home's pipes every heating season to ensure that they can hold up to freezing temperatures when they occur. Let's have a look at some of the measures you may want to take to protect your pipes so you can ensure they remain working pipes during and beyond the cold spell.

Ensuring Working Pipes

The pipes most vulnerable to freezing are those located in a northern exterior wall. This could be bathroom or kitchen pipes or pipes that serve some other purpose. Pipes in basements, garages, the attic, and outside may also freeze. Here are ways to keep them from freezing.

  1. When a hard freeze threatens, wrap exposed pipes in insulation. You can acquire insulation sleeves from the home store. Heat tape wrapped around the pipes is also effective. Place a protective cover on outdoor faucets.

  2. Close up minute holes and cracks around pipes that travel through an exterior wall. Otherwise, cold air from even the tiniest cracks may cause pipes to freeze. Use caulk or insulation.

  3. When a cold-weather event is imminent, leave open cabinet doors where pipes are located to be sure warm air gets inside.

  4. Turn on faucets, allowing water to run at a slow drip. With water running through the pipes, they are less likely to freeze.

  5. If you normally set the thermostat a few degrees lower overnight, it's best to change your routine and bump the thermostat setting upward to ensure the house stays warm.

  6. For particularly vulnerable pipes — say, in the garage or basement — you might want to turn on a space heater.

  7. Going away during the cold spell? Don't set your thermostat lower than 55 degrees. Have someone check on your home to make sure the heating is working and that no pipes have frozen.

For more on maintaining working pipes, contact Air Assurance. We serve Broken Arrow and the surrounding area to make sure homeowners have working pipes and everything else they need when it comes to their HVAC system.