Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
Is Your Home Ready for Winter?
===============================
Pre-Winter Preparation
- Disconnect garden hoses
- Consider installing covers on all outside faucets. These typically cost less than $5 each at your local home and garden store.
- Insulate outside walls and unheated areas of your home.
- Don't forget attics and crawl spaces.
- Wrap pipes nearest exterior walls with pipe insulation or heating tape.
- This can prevent freezing, especially for interior pipes that run along outside walls.
- Identify the location of the main water valve and the valve on your water heater.
- If a pipe breaks, you'll need to know how to turn these off.
- Seal windows and leaks.
- Look for air leaks around electrical wiring, vents, and pipes. Use caulk or insulation to keep the cold out and the heat in.
During Winter
- Keep your house temperature at 68 degrees or higher.
- Even if you're leaving the house for an extended period of time.
- NEVER turn the furnace off in a vacant home.
- Keep your basement heated.
- It doesn't need to be 70 degrees, but make sure it doesn't drop below 50 degrees.
- Allow a faucet to drip slightly.
- Use lukewarm water, particularly during cold spells.
- Open cabinet doors below sinks to allow heat from the home to circulate.
- Principally at night or during an extended cold spell
- Keep doors to unused rooms open.
- At least enough to let some warm air circulate.
- Monitor freezing pipe conditions.
- The first sign of freezing is often reduced water flow from a faucet.
- Check basement daily for water.
- Be aware of temperatures and prepare your home accordingly.
- If you're away from home, ask a friend or neighbor to check your house daily.
- Ask them to make sure it's warm enough to prevent freezing.
If a Pipe Freezes
- Shut off the main water valve to your home.
- Call a licensed plumber.
- If the pipe has released water into your home, contact a disaster restoration company.
- Be aware that if more than 1-2 gallons have leaked, the water has likely travelled behind walls and other inaccessible areas.
×
