Mastering Pipe Winterization: 5 Key Hacks to Use in Frigid Temperatures
Mastering Pipe Winterization: 5 Key Hacks to Use in Frigid Temperatures
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All homeowners who live in warm environments must do their ideal to winterize their pipes. It is something you have to do during autumn before deep wintertime absolutely begins. Failing to do so can mean catastrophe like frozen, fractured, or ruptured pipes. Right here are some helpful winterizing hacks to keep your plumbing system shielded even if the climate outside is terrible.
Activate the Faucets
When the temperature level decreases and also it seems as if the frigid temperature will certainly last, it will assist to switch on your water both indoors and also outdoors. This will maintain the water moving with your plumbing systems. On top of that, the movement will certainly slow down the cold procedure. Especially, there's no demand to transform it on full blast. You'll end up losing gallons of water by doing this. Instead, go for about 5 declines per min.
Open Up Closet Doors Hiding Plumbing
It would certainly be valuable to open up cabinet doors that are camouflaging your pipes when it's chilly outside. They can be somewhere in your kitchen area or restroom. This will allow the cozy air from your heating unit to distribute there. Consequently, you prevent these subjected pipelines from cold. Doing this little trick can maintain your pipelines warm as well as limit the potentially unsafe results of freezing temperature levels.
Take Some Time to Wrap Exposed Piping
One awesome and also easy hack to heat up icy pipes is to cover them with cozy towels. You can additionally utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply don't forget to wear protective handwear covers to secure your hands from the warmth.
Attempt a Hair Dryer or Warmth Weapon
When your pipes are virtually freezing, your reliable hair dryer or heat gun is a godsend. If the warm towels do not aid displace any kind of working out ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air directly right into them may assist. You may finish up damaging your pipelines while attempting to melt the ice.
When Pipes are Frozen, close Off Water
If you observe that your pipes are totally frozen or nearly nearing that stage, turn off the primary water valve quickly. You will normally discover this in your cellar or laundry room near the heater or the front wall closest to the street. Turn it off immediately to avoid additional damages.
Don't fail to remember to shut external water sources, as well, such as your connection for the yard house. Doing this will certainly avoid additional water from filling out your plumbing system. However, with more water, even more ice will accumulate, which will at some point result in break pipes. If you are not sure concerning the state of your pipes this wintertime, it is best to call an expert plumber for an evaluation. Taking this proactive method can save you countless bucks in repairs.
All home owners that live in warm environments must do their finest to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can mean calamity like frozen, broken, or burst pipes. If the hot towels do not aid displace any kind of resolving ice in your pipelines, bowling hot air straight into them might assist. Turn off the primary water valve immediately if you see that your pipelines are totally icy or practically nearing that phase. With more water, more ice will stack up, which will eventually lead to rupture pipelines.
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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