“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”
“Nip it in the bud”
“The best offense is a good defense”
All these cliches about stopping problems before they happen apply perfectly to the scene in the picture above. Frozen pipes have the potential to cause horrendous problems during record cold weather like we’re going thorugh in New England right now.
With a few of the simple tips listed below, you can easily avoid frozen pipes in your house, and a lot of unnecessary property damage. Here’s what you should do…
- Insulate all water pipes from cold moving air and keep them dry.
- Use either heater tapes wrapped around the pipes or a heated reflector lamp in a dry enclosed space.
- If electric power is unavailable or is lost, let the water run no faster than a slow constant drip; this is cheaper than repairing it.
- Remember to insulate and heat the drain lines in crawl spaces and cold basements.
- To thaw frozen pipes, first check the pipe in the area of the freeze.
- It is far better to heat the area around the frozen part with an electric space heater, a hand-held hair dryer, or a heat lamp in a reflector to prevent a fire.
- Always disconnect your water hose from your outdoor spigot in the winter, or before the temperature in your area drops below freezing.
- Use a temperature-controlled thermal convection powered hot water recirculation valve (which does not require electricity to operate) to continuously circulate warm water throughout your hot and cold water lines anytime the temperature is below the user chosen set point 77F-140F.
- Use a product called ICE LOC which prevents pipes from rupturing by taking up the expansion of the frozen water.
- Use a RedyTemp, a device which utilizes an internal water contacting temperature probe to monitor the temperature of the water inside the pipes.
If you have a busted pipe call a plumber, but if you have cold spot in your house, or no longer need to heat your whole house, but only the rooms you use, give us a call, click below to get a phone call from one of our certified home comfort specialists, or download the Mitsubishi H2i Hyper Heat brochure to see your options.
Read here how to keep your heat pump pumping and your home warm during the Boston area’s record snowfall of 2015.
