Cold Weather Means Frozen Pipes and Other Household Issues - Here Are Some Prevention Tips

In the US, over a quarter of a million families every winter find their schedules disrupted and their expenses inflated when they discover that their pipes have frozen. Unlike residential damage due to blizzards and other natural calamities, frozen pipes can actually be prevented, if you take a few simple precautions.

Although there are ways to fix and deal with frozen pipes, prevention is always the best measure.

What to Do During the Warmer Months

Sometimes it's hard to focus on problems such as frozen pipes, especially at the height of the summer season. But you need to keep in mind the motto of House Stark: winter is coming. While it's still warm, here's what you should do to lessen the chances that your pipes may freeze:

• Seal the leaks near your pipes that let in the cold air. Check for these air leaks around the pipes, the dryer vents, and the electrical wiring. Use insulation or caulk to seal out the cold. When the weather becomes extremely cold, even a small hole can allow sufficient cold air to freeze your pipes.

• Insulate the pipes in the attic and crawl spaces in your house. Your pipes are more protected the more insulation you use. Pipes, which are exposed, are the ones most likely to freeze, so insulate them even though your home is located in a climate where freezing is rare.

• You can wrap your pipes with thermostatically controlled warming cables or heat tape. Check that these products bear the mark of approval from the Underwriters Laboratories Inc. or from similar independent testing groups. Make sure that you comply with the manufacturer's instructions regarding the installation and use of these products.

• Just before the coming of winter, disconnect your garden hoses. If you can, use an indoor valve to shut off and drain the water from the pipes leading to your outside faucets. By doing this, the short length of pipe just within your home is less likely to freeze. (This may not be necessary if your house is relatively new and you have frost-proof outdoor faucets. With these faucets, turning the handle outside the home to the "off" position actually turns off the valve inside the home.

Additional Preventive Measures

Basic preventive measures may not be sufficient, especially if you live in a climate where conditions can become severe. Here are additional preventive measures you can adopt:

• Allow warm water to drip overnight. Ideally, this warm water should come from a faucet located on an outside wall.

• Maintain a constant temperature setting for your thermostat for both day and night. If you tend to turn down the heat right before you go to sleep, keep in mind that the temperature often plummets while you are asleep; this may catch you unawares and cause your pipes to freeze.

• Keep your cabinet doors open to enable the heat to reach the uninsulated pipes under the sinks and under the appliances near the exterior walls.

If you are traveling south for the winter, have a friend check your home regularly to see that it is warm enough to prevent your pipes from freezing. If your home does not use a sprinkler system for fire protection, you should also shut off and drain your water system. You can probably enjoy your vacation more with the knowledge that you've done all you can to prevent your pipes from freezing.