How To Prevent Frozen Pipes
Written on: February 20, 2023
Avoid This Winter Headache!
This winter has already dealt New England some bitterly cold days. Those cold temps aren’t just uncomfortable, they can put your home and property at risk if you’re not sufficiently prepared. When the temps really drop, you need to worry about frozen pipes. Having frozen pipes is bad enough, but since water expands when it freezes, frozen pipes can also lead to burst pipes. And that’s an even more serious problem that could be very costly to fix.
If you live in Central Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire and need professional plumbing services, look no further than Brideau Energy. Our master plumbers can handle just about any plumbing job or plumbing emergency, including frozen pipes.
Even though Brideau Energy is here for all your plumbing needs, frozen pipes are something we’d like to see our customers avoid. Keep reading to find out how.
How to Avoid Frozen Pipes
You can’t stop winter in its tracks, but there are some things you can do to make it less likely that your pipes will freeze on those really cold days. Here are some tips for avoiding frozen pipes:
- Always have fuel. Having a fuel run-out is a common reason homes go cold. In addition to putting the health and safety of your family at risk, having a heatless house on a cold winter day can leave you with frozen pipes. Avoid that by making sure you always have enough fuel to keep your heating system up and running. If you’d like, Brideau can take responsibility for making sure you always have enough fuel. Just sign up for automatic delivery. It’s a free service we offer both our propane and heating oil customers.
- Use a whole-house generator. A lot of communities across the country have already gone without power this winter thanks to severe weather. Homes without another source of power or heat end up in the cold—cold enough for the pipes to freeze. A propane whole-house generator can help prevent that. Whole-house generators start working in mere seconds when there’s a power outage. And they can keep every appliance and device in your home running—including your HVAC system. So even if you’re asleep or out of town, everything in your home will keep running as it’s programmed to, and your home should remain sufficiently heated to prevent your pipes from freezing.
- Perform Seasonal Pipes & Hose Care. Long before the first day of winter, you should attend to the pipes and hoses outside of your home. Turn off the water supply for your outdoor valves and drain the water from the pipes. Disconnecting outside valves—or upgrading to frost-free spigots—will also make a difference.
- Insulate your home. A home that is well insulated is better able to retain heat. Adding insulation to your home will help keep your pipes warm enough not to freeze all winter long. It will also make your home more energy efficient and save you money on your energy bills all year long.
- Open your cabinets. Keep your kitchen and bathroom cabinets open to help the warm air in your home circulate around any exposed pipes.
- Use your thermostat. During the winter months, set your thermostat no lower than 55 degrees Fahrenheit. If you start noticing your boiler or furnace isn’t keeping your home warm enough, call Brideau Energy for service.
- Open your faucets. If a particularly cold day is in the forecast, keep a small amount of cold water running from your faucets. Running water doesn’t freeze as readily as still water does.
We’re Plumbing Experts
As a family-owned, top-quality fuel company, Brideau cares about your family’s comfort and safety. When you call us to your Central Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire home, we’ll complete all our work to the highest safety standards in the industry. And we’ll guarantee our work will be done correctly and in a timely fashion.
Contact Brideau’s plumbing team today to learn more about the services we offer or to request an estimate.
