How to Deal With Frozen Plumbing Pipes in Your Home

Nov 28

If you live in a colder climate, you need to know how to deal with frozen plumbing pipes in your home. Frozen pipes can lead to a lot of trouble if you are not prepared to handle them. Here are some tips to help you keep the water flowing in your home.

Seal air leaks in your home

Investing in air sealing is a great way to improve the energy efficiency of your home. The cost of sealing is minimal and can help save you money. It can also improve your comfort and make your home more energy efficient.

Air leaks occur when warm or cold air from outside enters your home uncontrollably. If not properly sealed, the warm or cold air can leak through cracks, gaps, and ductwork. These leaks can cause your pipes to get colder and freeze. They can also lead to poor indoor air quality and unhealthy occupants.

Air leaks can be found in many areas of the home, including doors, windows, ceilings, floors, and walls. You can perform a visual check for leaks or you can have a trained technician perform a home energy assessment.

The most common locations for air leaks are doors and windows. You can visually check for leaks or you can perform a test with a smoke pen or an incense stick.

Insulate pipes in the attic and crawl space

Keeping your pipes from freezing can save you money and headaches in the long run. It can be hard to determine if your pipes are at risk, but there are some tips you can follow to help prevent your plumbing pipes from freezing. This will help you avoid needing pipe repair.

You can use spray foam to seal the cracks around your pipes. Sealing the openings on your doors and windows also helps to keep cold air out of your home. Also, consider installing insulation around your pipes and in other places that might have cold air flowing in.

Insulating your attic and crawl space is one of the best ways to keep pipes from freezing. This can keep your pipes from freezing, as well as prevent condensation from forming in your attic. It is also a good idea to install additional attic insulation to improve the energy efficiency of your home.

You can also install a thermostatically controlled heat tape. This is an inexpensive solution for insulating your water lines and ductwork. It is a UL-listed product that turns on automatically when the temperature reaches a certain level. It can be purchased for between $50 and $200, depending on the length.

Apply heat to frozen pipes using a hair dryer

Using a hair dryer is one of the most efficient ways to thaw frozen plumbing pipes. However, there are a few things you should keep in mind before you use this device.

First, you should avoid using an open flame. Open flames produce carbon monoxide and can be very dangerous. If you're worried that your hair dryer might cause a fire, you can use a heat deflector such as aluminum foil.

You can also use a portable space heater. However, it's important that you don't leave the heater running unattended. A heating pad is also a great way to thaw frozen plumbing pipes. A heating pad is a portable, electric device that can be wrapped around a frozen pipe. It provides gradual warm heat.

Another option is to use a heating tape. You can attach the tape to a frozen pipe using electrical tape. The tape should have a heat sensor that is placed directly on the pipe.

Keep water running

During cold weather, pipes are more likely to freeze. A frozen pipe may burst and cause flooding and thousands of dollars in damage. To avoid this, you should keep water running in your home to keep pipes from freezing.

If you find that a pipe is frozen, you should turn off your water supply. Then, you should use a hair dryer to warm the area of the frozen pipe segment. If you use an electric heating pad, you should keep it away from anything that could burn. If your pipe is exposed, you can also use a heat blanket or heat tape.

If you are unable to shut off the main water supply, you should try to turn the water supply clockwise to the "off" position. If this does not help, you can hire a licensed plumber to fix the problem. However, you should not drop the temperature in your home at night or during the day, as this can cause pipes to freeze.

If you all else fails, find a quality local plumber to assist with the problem.

Cheektowaga Plumbers
63 Celina St
Buffalo, NY 14206