HARSH winter weather has wreaked havoc in some homes – including freezing pipes – thanks to Storm Fern.
But plumbing experts have shared useful hacks to help protect faucets from failing to work, or even bursting.
The aim is to have water dripping at a rate of one drip every three secondsCredit: Getty
The insurance industry is preparing for claims following Winter Storm FernCredit: Getty
Ice-related damage can flood your home, destroy your precious belongings, and lead to huge repair bills, warned Tom’s Guide .
“The critical threshold is 20°F — the temperature where pipe freezing becomes a real threat,” it added.
Tom’s Guide and Southern Living have shared useful tips to stop the threat of frozen faucets in winter.
And their key advice is to drip them at a rate of one drip every three seconds – but not too much as it’ll waste water.
HOW TO PROTECT PIPES
- When temperatures are forecast to drop to 20°F or below for several hours, start dripping faucets. This keeps water moving through pipes, making it harder for ice to form, and prevents pressure buildup, so they’re less likely to suddenly burst.
- Hot/cold water? Drip the cold faucet that’s farthest from your hot water heater as cold water is more likely to freeze than hot water. “If your faucet has separate hot and cold handles, crack both open slightly so water flows from both the hot and cold lines,” said Tom’s Guide.
- How much water? You don’t need to drip every faucet in your home. Barely turn the faucet, so you can see individual drops forming and falling rapidly.
- Which faucets? Drip faucets most likely to freeze, such as exposed pipes in unheated garages or basements or those on exterior walls.
“Ignore faucets on interior walls or in consistently heated areas of your home,” recommended Tom’s Guide.
Southern Living added that opening cabinet doors enclosing exposed plumbing inside your home helps warm air to circulate around them.
When water freezes and expands inside a pipe, it creates an ice plug, said Tom’s GuideCredit: Getty
INSULATE
Ideally, you should insulate exterior pipes, for example with special foam tubes which are split to open and wrap around them.
But, if you don’t have these to hand, a workaround is to instead cover them with foam pool noodles cut in half or towels.
Power outages could lead to a rise in frozen pipe claims, warned Andrew Siffert, senior meteorologist at BMS Group, reported the Insurance Business .
Winter Storm Fern has brought snow and ice to the United StatesCredit: Getty
The magazine said on Sunday that insurance analysts have predicted that will generate insured losses well into the billions of dollars.
The U.S. Sun has this month shared information on a $14 Home Depot item to this winter.
And here’s advice on a common $2 household item to banish frozen driveways.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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