Landscaping and Gardening.info

If the temperature inside a house gets below 0 Celsius, it’s likely that the water supply pipes and the drain traps will freeze. When water freezes it expands 9 percent, and if there is no room for expansion it’s possible that the pipe will burst.

When the ice thaws the pipe will leak, and in the supply system this leak could occur anywhere. Fixing a burst pipe can be expensive, but the damage from uncontrolled water leakage can easily reach into the thousands of dollars.

To save your home plumbing system from freezing during winters, it is advisable to get your home properly insulated. It is also important that you home should be built according to the current building codes, then under normal conditions(i.e. the heating system runs properly, the electricity supply stays on, and the furnace fuel supply never runs out.), you will never face this problem.

So, the best solution to avoid any such situation is to build the house properly. If an older house has insulation problems, this can be fixed during remodeling. If the work involves removing drywall, then the wall cavities can be insulated properly. Foam insulation can be added to the inside face of the studs, or to the outside walls before siding is replaced, or both.

Insulating the attic space is also beneficial. All these changes will protect your plumbing system but apart from that they will also minimize the home’s heat loss and therefore helps in saving energy.

But major changes are not in everyone’s budget. A common solution is to apply electric heat tape around the vulnerable pipes. Some of these products are thermostatically controlled so they only operate when the temperature is cold enough to pose a freeze hazard.

If a house is known to have a problem with freezing pipes, the simplest solution is to leave the water running when the temperature is cold enough for pipes to freeze.

Allow the faucet run with a stream of water with a diameter same as that of a pencil. If your house has hot and cold water lines that are vulnerable to freezing, then the stream needs to be warm water. Yes, it is wastage of water and energy but sometimes this the only solution left.

Tags: garden, gardening