If you’ve been wondering what to do with that pile of threadbare and tattered socks taking up space in your drawer, the day has come. Press them into action by wrapping your household pipes with them so that your pipes don’t freeze and possibly burst during a cold Mid-Ohio winter. Avoiding frozen pipes will save you substantial inconvenience and money.
Insulation is available at hardware stores for this project, but your old socks will work just as well. Focus on those pipes that are closest and most vulnerable to cold air, including those positioned near outside walls, in the crawl space and in the attic. If you’re in doubt as to whether to wrap a pipe, simply touch it. If it feels cold, don’t take chances; wrap a sock around it and then tie it snugly with string.
Avoiding frozen pipes is especially important when the temperature – with or without the wind-chill index – dips to 22 degrees or below. There are other preventive steps you can take, too, including:
- Seal holes and cracks in outside walls, especially those closest to the pipes. It doesn’t take long for a strong blast of cold air to rush through even a tiny opening and freeze a pipe.
- Leave cabinets that abut an outside wall slightly ajar so that the warm inside air offsets the cool air inside the cabinet. It may be difficult to do this during the day, but leaving these cabinet doors open at least overnight will go a long way toward avoiding frozen pipes.
- Set your faucets so that a slow trickle of water moves through the pipes when temperatures hit the critical 22-degree mark. Even a slow drip of water will help relieve pressure buildup in your pipes.
- Have ample insulation in your attic, basement ceiling, crawl space and walls, to provide a barrier between that frigid outside air and your living space.
If you return home one winter day to find that no water is coming out of your faucet, turn off your water at the main shut-off valve and call us at Joe Behr Plumbing and Heating, Inc. Frozen pipes are a serious problem that you want to place in expert hands. We provide quality HVAC services to the Mid-Ohio area.
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