Learning Pipe Winterization: Five Key Hacks to Use in Frigid Temperatures
Learning Pipe Winterization: Five Key Hacks to Use in Frigid Temperatures
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Just how do you actually feel in relation to Winterizing Your Pipes?
All property owners who live in warm climates must do their best to winterize their pipes. Failing to do so can spell disaster like icy, cracked, or burst pipes.
Turn On the Faucets
When the temperature decreases and also it seems as if the cold temperature level will last, it will assist to activate your water both inside your home as well as outdoors. This will keep the water moving through your plumbing systems. Furthermore, the motion will decrease the freezing procedure. Significantly, there's no need to transform it on full blast. You'll end up wasting gallons of water by doing this. Rather, aim for regarding 5 declines per min.
Open Cupboard Doors Hiding Plumbing
When it's cool outside, it would certainly be practical to open up cupboard doors that are masking your pipelines. For instance, they could be someplace in your cooking area or shower room. This will allow the cozy air from your heater to circulate there. Therefore, you prevent these revealed pipes from cold. Doing this tiny method can keep your pipelines cozy and limit the possibly unsafe outcomes of freezing temperatures.
Take Time to Cover Exposed Piping
One easy as well as awesome hack to warm up freezing pipes is to cover them with warm towels. You can cover them first with towels. After securing them in position, you can pour boiling water on the towels. Do it gradually to let the towels absorb the liquid. You can also utilize pre-soaked towels in hot water, simply do not fail to remember to wear protective handwear covers to protect your hands from the heat.
Try a Hair Dryer or Heat Gun
When your pipelines are virtually freezing, your dependable hair clothes dryer or heat weapon is a blessing. Bowling hot air straight right into them may help if the hot towels do not assist remove any settling ice in your pipes. Do not make use of various other items that generate direct fires like an impact torch. This can cause a larger calamity that you can not regulate. You may end up damaging your pipelines while trying to thaw the ice. And over time, you might even end up melting your residence. Be careful!
Shut Off Water When Pipelines are Frozen
Shut off the primary water shutoff quickly if you see that your pipelines are completely frozen or almost nearing that phase. You will usually discover this in your cellar or utility room near the heating unit or the front wall surface closest to the street. Turn it off immediately to prevent further damage.
With more water, even more ice will pile up, which will at some point lead to burst pipes. If you are unsure concerning the state of your pipelines this winter, it is best to call a professional plumber for an assessment.
All home owners that live in warm climates have to do their ideal to winterize their pipelines. Failing to do so can spell disaster like frozen, cracked, or ruptured pipes. If the warm towels do not assist displace any type of working out ice in your pipelines, bowling warm air straight into them might help. Transform off the major water shutoff quickly if you discover that your pipelines are entirely frozen or nearly nearing that stage. With more water, more ice will certainly stack up, which will ultimately lead to rupture 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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