We thought frozen pipes had been a fear we’d left behind by transferring to Florida, however final month’s arctic blast despatched our temperatures plummeting into the low 20s for 3 nights in a row (with an all-time low of 18 levels, which they’re calling a once-in-a-century occasion right here in Northwest, FL).
This was particularly regarding as a result of Florida houses in our space aren’t all the time constructed with this climate in thoughts. Frozen pipes are unhealthy information as a result of water expands when it freezes, doubtlessly inflicting pipes to burst or crack, resulting in leaking or flooding.
Fortunately, with a number of simple prevention steps we efficiently saved our pipes from freezing! Which, sadly, isn’t one thing a variety of our neighbors can say. Many individuals we all know had a problem with a pipe or two bursting – so we’re extraordinarily grateful that the steps we took saved ours protected. Listed here are 5 issues that labored for us, together with a tip from a neighborhood plumber that saved our out of doors bathe!
Tip 1: Establish Your Downside Pipes
The very first thing to do is assess the plumbing in your house for spots which can be particularly susceptible to freezing. This step lets you prioritize your efforts and tells you what areas it’s best to maintain a detailed eye on as soon as the temperatures drop. This consists of however isn’t restricted to:
- Out of doors plumbing fixtures like hose bibs or out of doors showers
- Pipes in unconditioned areas like garages, attics, or crawl areas
- Plumbing on exterior partitions
- Pipes closed off from warmth sources, like in indoor cabinetry or closets
- Pipes uncovered to wind, like on docks
- Uninsulated pipes wherever
For us, our major concern was our exterior plumbing – particularly our water heater (seen above), outdoor shower, and hose bibs. We had been much less involved about our inside plumbing as a result of we had been unlikely to lose energy/warmth (because of our whole-house generator & the peace of thoughts that provides us), and shedding inside warmth is often what endangers indoor pipes. However listed here are some suggestions for preventing frozen pipes when your heat goes out, simply in case.
Tip 2: Add Insulation To Your Pipes
A few of our exterior pipes had been already insulated, just like the water heater proven above. However a lot of them weren’t together with an extended part of copper pipe working to our out of doors bathe (you’ll be able to see it uncovered in this post). In order quickly as we noticed the forecast, we beat the push to the shop and purchased a number of lengths of self-sealing foam tubular pipe insulation. They’re simple to put in and solely value about $3 for a 6-foot tube. Simply you should definitely decide up some elbows and tees as wanted too
It took us about quarter-hour to put in the froth tubes on any uninsulated out of doors pipes. In spots the place we couldn’t match a full tube, we used a few of this adhesive insulating tape as an alternative. This labored effectively on among the knobby sections of sure hose bibs or the place some pipes had been put in snugly to the siding.
Lastly, we additionally double-checked among the plumbing in our attic to verify it was sufficiently coated in insulation. Now we have blown insulation up there and a few of it had gotten moved off of a bit of pipe, so we simply brushed it again over. We learn again and again that even when your plumbing is inside, if it’s uninsulated and in an attic, basement, or storage it might probably nonetheless freeze and burst (in actual fact my aunt in Richmond had that problem with a pipe in her storage final yr when it received further chilly up there).
Tip 3: Drip Your Taps
This tip is an oldie, however a goodie. Shifting water can’t freeze as shortly as stagnant water, so forcing your pipes to maintain flowing – even only a trickle! – is an effective way to stop frozen pipes. Simply don’t overlook to drip each your chilly and scorching water strains. We learn fairly a number of articles that stated you simply have to drip the chilly, however that undoubtedly tripped up a few our neighbors they usually had the new water strains burst! So we undoubtedly had a totally profitable consequence by barely dripping each.
It was simple to drip the cold and hot water strains inside. Within the rest room, we simply turned each the new & chilly levers on barely. And within the kitchen, we set our faucet midway between scorching & chilly and opened it to a tiny trickle.
Our out of doors bathe was a bit trickier as a result of partaking the new water would imply turning the bathe on to a full spray, which was not one thing we had been wanting to do for 3 days straight whereas it wavered between lows of 18 and 22 levels. Fortunately, a neighborhood plumber gave us the tip to take away the showerhead and put a cap on it as an alternative. Buuuuuuut, as an alternative of screwing the cap on tightly, simply hand-tighten it in order that slightly little bit of water can nonetheless leak out. This allowed us to set the bathe to a center temperature (which ensured that water was barely transferring by the new water and the chilly water line), however nonetheless solely let it drip as an alternative of absolutely spraying 3 nights in a row. Certainly one of our associates had their out of doors showers break through the deep freeze and he later realized he had solely let his chilly water drip, so the new water line was the one which froze and burst. And our neighbor throughout the road didn’t drip something exterior, so each of her bathe strains burst.
Simply to be protected, we saved all of our inside and exterior fixtures very barely dripping for the complete 3 days of our chilly snap. We repeatedly checked our out of doors fixtures to verify they had been nonetheless calmly dripping and there wasn’t any ice build-up or blockage. We even put indicators on our indoor sinks to remind our youngsters (and ourselves!) to not flip issues off in an early morning haze or late-night bout of forgetfulness.
And whereas it could really feel like a giant “waste” of water to depart taps on for thus lengthy, dripping ought to have negligible results in your water invoice. I learn a number of articles that stated it was round 2-5 cents per sink per day. And consider it this manner: it makes use of rather a lot much less water than having a giant leak that floods your own home or yard!
Tip 4: Flip Your Water Absolutely Off
An alternate technique is to simply absolutely flip the water off to your private home or parts of your private home. As an illustration, if we had had a separate shut-off for our out of doors bathe, we seemingly would’ve accomplished that as an alternative. It’s not like anybody was going to bathe exterior in that climate! It’s additionally an amazing possibility should you’re leaving city and received’t be house to maintain your taps dripping or to observe for leaks. We truly flip off our important water anytime we go on a visit as a result of burst pipes can occur in any climate (we’ve a pal who got here house to a flooded first flooring in the summertime! AWFUL!).
Simply do not forget that after shutting off the water, you continue to have to launch the strain of the water that’s nonetheless sitting within the pipes. Discover your lowest plumbing fixture (often an out of doors hose bib) and open it for a number of seconds till the circulate slows down. This was a tip from a plumber pal in Cape Charles who informed us that typically folks flip off the water however don’t keep in mind to alleviate the strain they usually nonetheless come again to frozen pipes which have burst.
Tip 5: A Pool Seems Susceptible However Can Sometimes Deal with It
Like many Floridians, we’ve a pool that we use year-round. It’s not coated or winterized or the rest that’s typical in colder climates (an open-year-round pool is the norm right here). This was our first vital chilly snap since our pool was completed so we had been fairly nervous at first. We noticed a variety of EXPOSED and UNSINULATED plumbing round our pool gear. Gulp.
However after talking with our pool cleaner (who’s from Kansas, so he is aware of chilly), we had been assured that our system could be high quality. Our Hayward controller has a built-in “Freeze Shield” mode that mechanically engages at any time when the air temperature drops beneath 36 levels. This retains the pumps, fountains, spa jets, and pool heater working on steady cycles to make sure that the water by no means sits too lengthy or will get too chilly. Plus, he reassured us, that if the controller had been to fail, it could take a very long time for our giant PVC pipes to freeze absolutely by and crack. Even older swimming pools with out “Freeze Shield” can often simply be manually set to cycle water and use the pumps to maintain issues from freezing, in order that’s good to know.
Whereas we’d by no means advise you to not fear about your pool in any respect, we discovered a variety of consolation in watching our pool maintain itself protected through the chilly climate. We did completely nothing and it simply kicked issues on and off and moved water round for 4 stable days. We nonetheless checked on it to verify we noticed the fountains flowing and spa effervescent periodically – but it surely was fully self-sufficient and did an amazing job. So undoubtedly verify your system or seek the advice of your pool firm earlier than chilly climate to know what to anticipate out of your specific pool, but when it has considerably current know-how (like Freeze Shield) OR you’ll be able to simply manually flip it on to maintain water flowing, it’s best to hopefully be all good. Oh and it actually helps to make sure that you’ll seemingly keep energy. Plenty of folks have back-up turbines right here for that peace of thoughts.
Tip #6: Nothing’s Foolproof…
Typically, the following tips might not be sufficient to cease each single attainable downside with pipes freezing relying in your specific scenario and climate occasion, however we’re extraordinarily glad we took these precautions they usually undoubtedly helped us really feel rather a lot higher about going into this newest arctic blast and, for us not less than, they saved us from experiencing any plumbing points in any respect.
Extra Freezing Climate Preparations
Along with prepping our pipes for this unusually chilly Florida climate, we additionally took a number of steps to protect our plants from freezing. You may learn the 6 steps we took, together with which of them labored higher than others right here in this post.
And once more, should you occur to expertise your warmth going out, we’ve written a publish all about how to prevent frozen pipes when your heat goes out.
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