Frozen pipes can mean no running water for a while at best or a burst pipe that causes a ton of damage at worst. Here’s what you can do to prevent frozen pipes in your home.
Insulate Pipes
The best thing that you can do to keep your pipes from freezing this winter is to insulate them in the fall, before temperatures drop too much. Pipe insulation is inexpensive and you can pick it up at your local hardware store. It comes in a few different varieties, including fibreglass, foam, and polyethylene. Insulate all exposed pipes in your home and you will significantly reduce the likelihood of having to deal with a frozen pipe this winter.
Open Cupboard Doors
Regularly open the cupboard doors beneath sinks in your home during cold days. This allows the warm air from the rest of the house to reach the pipes under the sink and helps prevent them from freezing.
Let the Tap Drip
On nights when you know that the temperature is going to drop significantly low, leave your tap on slightly so that it drips through the night. Keeping this small flow of water going through your pipes overnight will help keep them from freezing when the temperature hits its lowest in the middle of the night.
Keep Garage Doors Closed
Garages tend to be cold, and exposed pipes in the garage are some of the most common places where we see frozen pipes in the winter. If your garage is unheated, make sure that you keep your garage doors closed as much as possible during the colder months. This will help to keep warmer air inside the garage and cold air out, which will lower the risk of exposed pipes freezing solid.
If your pipes do freeze, give us a call right away at 403-295-3028 and we’ll take care of it for you.