How to Prevent Freezing Pipes – Some Advice
The recent extreme cold weather can cause major problems if water pipes in the home freeze. Any exposed pipes, inside or outside your home, may be at risk from freezing and splitting in cold weather.
Preventing frozen pipes
- Insulate external pipes and any internal ones that are exposed to freezing, paying attention to corners and elbows of pipework as these tend to be the most exposed
- Turn off any indoor valves on pipes leading to taps outside your home. Then open the outside tap and leave it open to let any water drain. This will ensure there’s no water in the pipes to freeze.
- In cold weather, check all your taps in your home from time to time. If little or no water flows there may be frozen water in the pipes.
- If you are going to be away your home during the winter, ask someone to check your home – this should help ensure burst pipes are spotted early and any damage is kept to a minimum.
Preventing water leaks
- Know where to find your stopcock and use it to cut off the flow of water if a pipe starts leaking.
- Fix any dripping taps as soon as possible to avoid a more a serious escape of water.
Central heating
* If you are away from home in the winter, set your central heating to come on for a short period each day to prevent freezing. Don’t turn the heating off while you’re away.
Loft insulation
- Apply foam insulation to pipes in your loft and make sure joints and bends are covered. Lay the foam on top of the pipes and not beneath them.
- Make sure your water storage tank is well insulated, particularly if you think it’s in a position where it may be at risk from freezing in very cold weather.
- When the weather is particularly cold, open the loft hatch to allow warmer air from the rest of your home to circulate in the loft.
