Preparing for a deep freeze event means more than just keeping warm and comfortable. It also means saving you from costly home repairs and wasting resources. Before winter begins in earnest, take some time and spend a little money to get you and your home ready for any possible weather disasters. Your efforts now will pay off compared to what you’d spend cleaning up after a water or fire disaster in your home.
During a deep freeze, your pipes can burst. In addition to wasting lots of water, this floods your home causing massive and expensive damage. Not only should you know where your shut off valve is located, but it’s extremely important you know how to turn it on and off. Sometimes a special tool is required. Sometimes the valve is buried in mud or very hard to turn. Find your water shut off valve main and familiarize yourself with how to operate it BEFORE you have an emergency. Consider planting a stake near the switch to find it later if it gets buried in snow.
If you opt to leave your main water valve open, drip your faucets to prevent the pipes from bursting. Be sure to save the water that accumulates under the faucet. It can add up to a lot over a few hours. If conditions worsen and your water stops flowing, that saved water can be used for drinking, cooking, washing, or flushing toilets.
Some people shut off their main water line and drain their pipes BEFORE a deep freeze. This is done to ensure that no pipes will burst. The water won’t freeze and crack your plumbing if there’s no water there to begin with. While it may sound like an extreme way to prevent potential damage from busted water pipes it is just one of the many options homeowners have. This is especially useful if you have an unoccupied property or if you’ll be away from your home during a freezing event.
It’s a lot like shopping for gifts on Christmas Eve. If you wait until the last few hours before a storm arrives to stock up on faucet coverings, you’re going to find empty bins at the store. Everyone will have already purchased them. Buy your faucet coverings now and keep them in a place where you can easily access them when the next freeze event occurs. Save yourself a last-minute trip and a lot of worry. Not to mention, it will save your outdoor faucets from bursting and spewing water uncontrollably.
Hire a chimney sweep to clean out your fireplace and chimney. It removes the soot and, more importantly, the creosote buildup that can start a dangerous house fire. A clean fireplace will also improve the air quality in your home when you enjoy a cozy fire during a cold evening... or a dangerously frigid night.
If you’ve been trimming your trees, it’s likely you have extra firewood stored away--and you’ve kept it out of a landfill. If that wood is cured (dried), it’s ready to be used for fuel. What better time than now! Be sure to store that wood in a dry place so it doesn’t get soaked by the rain/snow. A good fire will also lessen the need to crank up your heater. Heaters use electricity which can be scarce during extreme events. Reducing your electricity usage will benefit your community.
Many garages aren’t climate controlled or insulated, so they get pretty cold during a freeze. However, you should still keep your garage door closed as much as possible. Think of it like one more wall between you and the outdoor elements. This will save a little bit of heat and energy at a time when you need it most.
Keep a few cases of bottled water on hand. If you lose water pressure, you’ll be very glad you have extra drinking water readily available. It’s better to have too much than not enough water, so stock up accordingly.
If you have a bathroom or kitchen sink fixed to an exterior wall, open the cabinet underneath it where the plumbing is exposed. Doing so will allow your home’s warm air to circulate around your plumbing, giving your pipes an extra warm breeze to stave off the freeze.
The adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is certainly applicable in this context. A little preparation for extreme cold events will make enduring it a lot easier. Not only will you save water, electricity, and keep your indoor air a little cleaner, these tips will likely save your home from getting damaged and incurring costly repairs.
Learn more on this subject by reading our blog Ten Tips to Stay Warm and Cut Costs.
