St. Louis Plumbing Problems in the Cold
When you live in extreme cold temperatures, there are many different things that can happen to your pipes. Most of these problems will have to be fixed by professionals. Here at St. Louis Plumbing we want to educate you on the precautions homeowners can take thought to prevent very expensive repairs. If you follow these steps during the winter, you will not only save you a lot of grief but also a lot of money.
- If you must use your hose outdoors, make sure to completely disconnect it when done. If you leave the hose connected, the water left inside of it may freeze and then expand. Once this happens, it could cause faucets and pipes inside of your home to also freeze and possibly even break.
- Always make sure that any faucets outdoors are not leaking. Not only will this save you money on your water bill, but it will not cause them to freeze.
- When your pipes do freeze, be careful with your water pressure. This water pressure can cause the pipes to crack which could waste up to 250 gallons of water in one day.
- If your home has interior shut off valves that lead to faucets outside, close and drain the water from them.
- You should cover all faucets that are outside with a faucet insulation kit. These kits are available at any home center.
- To help pipes from freezing, you should insulate them. The pipes you should do this to are in unheated areas such as crawl spaces or garages. You can insulate them with heat tape or thermostat controlled heat cables.
- Make sure that all doors and windows are sealed to prevent any cold air drafts in the home.
- When it is cold outside, your water heater will work much harder. You should clean out the water heater of any sediment that may have built up before it starts to get too cold outside. This will help lengthen the life span of it and keep it as efficient as possible.
- You should set your water heater's temperature at 120 degrees Fahrenheit for it to perform at its best.
- Make sure that all of your gutters are clean of all debris and leaves. This will make it easier for all water to drain out rather than freeze in them.
- If you plan on going on a vacation in the winter, you should turn off the main water valve and drain the system. You can do this by opening the faucets at the highest and the lowest points in your home. You should also make sure that your thermostat goes no lower than 55 degrees. This is to ensure that if there is any water left in the inside faucets that it will not freeze.
If you follow these tips, you should not have to worry about your pipes completely freezing over. Of course, things do still go wrong. If temperatures are very extreme then anything can really happen. If you do have a problem, feel free to call your local residential plumber who would be happy to help you out.
