Frozen pipes are no laughing matter in northeast Ohio. Frozen pipes can result in serious indoor flooding, which can add up to thousands of dollars in property damage. You can’t control the weather, but you can protect your pipes against freezing.

While many pipes are protected inside the walls, where they are well insulated, plenty of homes still have exposed pipes in the attic, crawl space or other areas. Also, even pipes that seem to be protected can be at risk. External walls often have holes for television cables, phone lines and other necessities, but they may also let through cold drafts that can freeze pipes.

When Should You Beware Of Frozen Pipes?

Different pipe materials freeze at different temperatures, but in general the freezing process begins for exposed pipes when temperatures drop to 20 degrees or below.

What Can You Do To Prevent Pipes From Freezing?

  • Assuming your pipes are accessible, wrap them in insulation. When you’re insulating pipes, higher R-values are better. Make sure not to leave gaps in the insulation. Any hardware store should carry fiberglass or foam rubber insulation, and plumbing specialists should have pipe-specific insulating sleeves.
  • Seal any cracks in the exterior of your building with caulk. Look for penetrations of wiring, cables, piping and plumbing.
  • To prevent frozen pipes under sinks, keep cabinets open to allow warm household air to circulate in the space. A cabinet door may be thin, but it’s still effective at keeping out heat.
  • If your pipes do freeze, turn off the main valve for the water, which is probably found near the water meter, and call a plumber.

Frozen pipes can be catastrophic, but are preventable. Call Stack Heating & Cooling if you’d like us to help protect your pipes from Jack Frost this winter. We’re happy to help.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about avoiding frozen pipes and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Stack Heating services Cleveland, Ohio and the surrounding areas. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!     

Freezing pipes image via Shutterstock

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