The risk of frozen pipes is enough to make any homeowner dread winter. Not only are frozen pipes inconvenient, but they can also cause thousands of dollars in water damage if they burst. That’s why so many homeowners want to know how to avoid frozen pipes in winter.
Insulate your pipes and the nearby walls to protect them from freezing temperatures during winter. Patching leaks is essential, or else cold air can quickly enter your pipes and freeze them at 20-32-degree Fahrenheit temperatures. You can also avoid frozen pipes if you open your cabinets, disconnect hoses, and cover hose bibs.
It’s also worth buying heat tape to wrap your pipes with on particularly cold days. Follow along as we explore how to avoid frozen pipes in winter to save the hassle of burst pipes.
How to Prevent Frozen Pipes
1. Run Your Faucets
Run your faucets during extreme cold weather to prevent frozen pipes in winter. The water from your faucet is warmer than the cold air outside. That is enough to raise the pipe’s temperature and prevent ice from forming within it.
You don’t necessarily need to run the faucets at full blast. Even a trickle is often enough to protect your pipes. Especially focus on faucets connected to pipes on and near exterior walls. That’s because those pipes are the most likely to freeze.
2. Patch Leaks
There’s no better time to fix pipe leaks than during or before extreme winter weather. Cracks and leaks in your pipes make them much more susceptible to freezing during winter. That’s because they’re more exposed to cold air.
You can patch minor leaks with pipe wraps and epoxy putty. However, it’s worth enlisting professional help to repair big leaks. That way, you can reduce the risk of frozen pipes and help prevent water damage.
3. Remove Your Hoses
Many homeowners regret leaving their garden hoses connected throughout winter. That’s because hoses retain water, which can eventually freeze when temperatures plummet. This causes ice to form within the pipes, and the problem can spread.
Ideally, you should disconnect your hoses during fall or early winter before the weather reaches freezing temperatures. It helps to cover the hose bibs to keep cold air out of the pipes as well. Set a reminder each year to remove your exterior hoses before temperatures plummet.
4. Apply Heat Tape
Many homeowners use heat tape to prevent frozen pipes. Heat tape especially comes in handy for pipes on exterior walls with little insulation. Quick and convenient, heat tape runs on electricity and heats whatever surface you wrap it around.
This makes it easy to wrap heat tape around pipes that are especially prone to freezing. It’s also a great long-term method to prevent frozen pipes as heat tape lasts up to 5 years. You can get plenty of uses out of heat tape in that time.
5. Insulate Your Walls
The better insulated your walls are, the less likely your pipes are to freeze. That’s especially true in basements, attics, and rooms with thin exterior walls. Insulation makes the pipes connected to such walls much less likely to freeze.
The padding that insulation offers helps walls and pipes retain water temperatures for longer. Insulation will also help you save a small fortune on gas and electric bills. That’s because you won’t lose warm air during winter nearly as fast, so you won’t need to crank the furnace so high.
6. Drain Your Sprinkler
It’s essential to drain and winterize your sprinkler system before temperatures plummet. Many people do this in the fall or early winter, but it’s best to do it as soon as possible. Ideally, you should call your sprinkler service to winterize your sprinkler system.
It typically costs $60 to $150 to professionally winterize your sprinkler system. Otherwise, you can do it without help if you drain each zone individually.
7. Open Your Cabinets
Pipes beneath kitchen and bathroom sinks are prone to freezing when the cabinets are closed. You can minimize this risk if you open your cabinets to increase airflow. That way, warm air from throughout the house can circulate and heat the pipes.
This is also a great time to let your faucets drip for a while. Keep your cabinets ajar until the temperature rises above 20 to 32 degrees Fahrenheit.
8. Run the Heat
Running the heat throughout freezing temperatures can make your home more comfortable and prevent frozen pipes in winter. While high heat bills aren’t fun during winter, they’re better than the cost of fixing water damage from burst pipes. Your home must stay at 50 degrees Fahrenheit or higher during freezing outdoor temperatures.
However, you should set the temperature to 55 degrees or higher if you’re going to be away for a while. This helps account for extreme temperature drops that may occur while you’re gone.
9. Close Your Garage Door
Leaving your garage door open is a big mistake when the temperature is 32 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. This can significantly increase the chances of frozen pipes in your home. Cold air can quickly make the walls leading to your home’s interior much colder.
It’s also worth putting weatherstripping under the door that leads from your garage into your home. This will help reduce the cold draft beneath the door.
How Quickly Do Pipes Freeze?
It only takes 6 to 8 hours for pipes to freeze during winter when the temperature drops below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Pipes can even freeze if it’s only 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but this takes longer. In that case, it takes up to 12 hours for your pipes to freeze if you don’t act quickly enough and they aren’t insulated.
Prevent Frozen and Burst Pipes With Queen B Plumbing
At Queen B Plumbing, our vast plumbing and HVAC experience helps us save fellow NJ homeowners a fortune. When pipes freeze, they can burst, and that is a household emergency. We help our clients avoid this by insulating their pipes and quickly responding to emergency calls about frozen pipes. Call Queen B Plumbing at (908) 633-1333 for all your HVAC and plumbing needs this winter.
