Lots of snow and winter weather presents a great opportunity for a fun day sledding down the highest hill or snowball fights in the neighbor's yard. However, winter weather can be hard on your home. Severely cold conditions can encourage the water lines in your plumbing to freeze and burst, which can result in serious water damage and enduring negative effects.

Once your pipes are frozen, you should contact a plumber in New Castle to resolve the issue. However, there’s a lot you can perform on your own to keep this from happening – and even just a bit of prevention can go a long way.

What Pipes Are at a Higher Chance of Freezing

The pipes at the largest risk of freezing are uncovered water lines. Common locations for uncovered pipes are within attic crawlspaces, near exterior walls, in the basement or even running under a modular home. Water lines that are not appropriately insulated are at the greatest risk.

How to Keep Pipes from Freezing in Your Home

Thoroughly insulating exposed water lines is a solid first step to keeping your pipes safe. You’ll often locate most of these materials from the local plumbing company, and might also already have some inside your home.

Try not to wrap up other flammable insulation materials where they may light on fire. If you don’t feel comfortable insulating the pipes yourself, get in touch with your local plumbing services professional in New Castle to handle the job.

If you do decide to insulate the pipes by yourself, popular insulation materials for pipes consist of:

  • Wraps or roll insulation: Multiple plumbers, hardware stores and national retailers offer insulation – typically fiberglass, foam wraps or pipe sleeves – that you can wrap or fit around your pipes. They are sold in numerous lengths and sizes to suit the needs of your home.
  • Newspaper: In a pinch, newspaper can be used as insulation. If the weather is getting colder and you aren’t able to put in more insulation soon enough, try wrapping uninsulated pipes in this.
  • Towels or rags: If you don't have the chance to add insulation and don’t have any newspaper close by, wrapping particularly vulnerable pipes with towels or clean rags as a final effort could be just enough to keep the cold air from freezing the pipes.

Another preventative step you can attempt to prevent pipes from becoming frozen is to seal any cracks that can allow cold air into your home. Pay close attention to window frames, which can allow in surprisingly strong drafts. This not only will help to keep your pipes from freezing, but it will have the extra benefit of making your home more energy efficient.

Five More Ways to Keep Your Pipes from Freezing:

  • Open the cabinet doors. Opening the cabinet doors underneath the sinks and other rooms of your home with pipes will permit more warm air from the rest of the room to reach the pipes.
  • Letting water drip. Letting water flow by letting your faucets drip even just a little can help avoid frozen pipes.
  • Open interior doors. By opening doors between rooms or hallways, your home can be heated more equally. This is mostly important if you struggle with a room that is frequently colder or hotter than the remainder of your home.
  • Close the garage door. The exception to the open doors recommendation is the garage door, which you should keep shut – namely if your water lines are installed under the garage.
  • Keep the heat steady. Experts suggest setting the thermostat at a constant temperature and leaving it there, rather than letting it get colder at night. Set it no colder than 55 degrees.

How to Keep Pipes from Freezing in an Unused Home

When you’re in your own home, it’s not difficult to realize when something goes wrong. But what added steps can you try to keep pipes from freezing in a vacant home or vacation home when the damages from a frozen pipe can remain unnoticed for some time?

As with a primary residence, placing extra insulation around any exposed water lines, opening interior doors in the home and winterizing the vacant home are the first steps to attempt first.

Extra Steps to Prevent Pipes from Freezing in an Unused Home:

  1. Leave the heat on. Even though you won't always be home, it’s best to leave the heat on – even if you turn the thermostat down lower than you would if you were there. As with a primary residence, experts encourage keeping the temperature at no cooler than 55 degrees.
  2. Shut water off and drain the lines. If you’re going to be away for a long time or are winterizing a seasonal cabin or cottage, switching the water off to the house and emptying the water out of the water lines is a good way to prevent pipes from freezing and bursting. Remember to drain the water out of your appliances, including the hot water heater, or the toilets. See to it that you empty all the water from the pipes. If you’re unsure of how to clear out the water from the pipes, or don’t feel comfortable doing it on your own, a plumber in New Castle will be delighted to assist.