As the days get shorter and colder, many people are discovering that their heating isn’t quite working the way they’d expect. However, what most people don’t realize is that there is another area of their home which they ought to be concerned about as the temperature outside drops: their plumbing. Neglected plumbing can freeze when the cold weather comes around, potentially causing burst pipes. When this happens, you need professional plumbing services in order to repair the damage. This is very expensive, and as such prevention should be your tactic. In this case, prevention means plumbing winterization.
Winterize Your Pipes
There are a few different ways to insulate your pipes during the winter. The easiest of these is to wrap your pipes in an insulating tape. Another option is to use insulating pipe jackets. These slip onto pipes easily and tape in place. Insulating your pipes traps warmer air between the pipe and the insulation, and helps keep the pipe from freezing as it gets colder.
Less effective, but better than nothing, is to wrap your pipes in cloth. If you have bare pipes, the cloth will provide at least some protection against the cooler weather. However, insulating tape or pipe jackets will give your pipes a much better chance against the elements. The use of heat tape before insulation will provide even greater protection against the cold.
Winterize Your Home
Even the best-insulated pipes will not do much good if the area they are in is drafty. Make sure that you seal off all drafts in your home using caulking and weather stripping. Stopping the draft will not only protect your pipes, but will also save you money on your heating bill during the winter months due to less heat loss.
Don’t wait until freezing temperatures threaten to burst your pipes. Call Wm. Henderson for our preventative plumbing maintenance services. We will ensure that your pipes are properly winterized, while also ensuring that you know what to do in the event of a frozen pipe. We label the various shut-off valves so that you can properly isolate the problem before it causes a pipe to burst. Call us today to get started.