Many people love the winter season, but without question, the freezing temperatures put a serious strain on your home that can result in expensive damages if you don’t take the proper precautions. No part of your home is more vulnerable to the ravages of the season than your plumbing, where frozen pipes and other mishaps can bring your home life to a halt and lead to expensive repairs.
Prevention and preparation are key to helping your plumbing through to the spring so you can enjoy the parts of winter you love. We offer plumbing service in Silver Spring, MD, and have a long familiarity with winter plumbing problems, so we know what measures to take to winterize your home to avoid a seasonal nightmare. Follow us below for our winter plumbing preparation guide.
How to Winterize Your Plumbing
Okay, let’s get to it. Here are the principal steps you need to take to protect your plumbing during another of our cold winters.
- Insulate exposed pipes: We put this step first because these exposed pipes are the weak link in your plumbing during winter. Pipes located in areas of your home that aren’t heated can easily freeze. You can insulate pipes using several methods, such as insulation sleeves or heat strips. You can also call our plumbers to handle the job.
- Drain and detach hoses and shut off outdoor faucets: Another weak spot in your home’s plumbing during winter is outdoor faucets. If you have hoses attached to the faucets, you must drain them completely of water, detach them from the hose bib, coil them, and store them indoors. If water freezes in a hose attached to a faucet, the ice will go straight into the indoor pipes. We also recommend you insulate the hose bibs for winter so they won’t crack.
- Have the heating system maintained: “Wait, what does this have to do with my plumbing?” Plenty, actually! If your indoor heating system fails during winter, your family won’t be the only ones feeling the cold—the plumbing is in danger of freezing. If you haven’t scheduled heating maintenance this fall so far, please call us to schedule it. It protects you and your home in multiple ways.
- Let water flow through the taps: You may have a few taps around the house you don’t use often. Stagnant water in the pipes for these taps can freeze, so allow a small amount of water to flow from them. We recommend doing this weekly throughout the winter for these little-used taps (such as in guest rooms).
- Set the thermostat correctly: If you have a programmable thermostat, make adjustments to it so that even if you’re not home for long stretches, the heating system will at least keep the indoor temperature at 55°F or above. This helps prevent pipe freeze on the coldest days.
If you want assistance with your winterization efforts, or you run into a winter plumbing emergency (prevention can’t stop all problems), call on our plumbers for assistance. We’re the professional problem solvers!
At Tuckers Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing, we pledge to exceed expectations at every turn. Contact us for plumbing service to help your home through winter.