We don’t really have to explain why frozen pipes are seriously bad news—they can cause everything from leaks, to flooding, to irreparable damage to your plumbing system that requires extensive repairs. However, they’re not something you need to work incredibly hard to avoid. In fact, preventing freezing pipes is simple so long as you take the right precautionary measures. If you want to avoid letting your home fall victim to the devastation that frozen pipes can cause, this blog is for you.
Here are three valuable tips you can follow to prevent frozen pipes and keep your home safe and stress-free all winter long. As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to our expert South Jersey plumbers if you have any questions or need help with frozen pipes!
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The overwhelming majority of your plumbing lines are either buried underground or run through your walls where they are protected from the worst of the cold. However, there are still small portions of your plumbing that may be exposed to the worst of the elements, and those are the spots that are the most likely to freeze. Lines that connect outdoor faucets to your water supply or carry water from underground lines into different areas of your home are by far the most at risk.
These are the areas that need to be insulated. Plumbing insulation is a type of foam or other insulative material that wraps around a plumbing line to keep it protected from the bitter cold of winter or scorching heat of summer. This is designed to prevent heat loss in your plumbing line, keeping the water from freezing over and thus preventing the possibly catastrophic damage of a burst pipe. Plumbing insulation is available at most home improvement stores for just a few cents per foot and is extremely easy to install with a roll of duct tape. Make sure your plumbing insulation is the right size; insulation that’s too small won’t completely cover the pipe and insulation that’s too large will leave an air gap. In both instances, the pipe will still freeze over.
Outdoor faucets are also made of metal and are attached to a metal pipe that’s packed with water, so logically they can freeze over as well and freeze over the water inside them. However, many people seem to forget about these fixtures during their home winterization process. Doing so can have costly consequences. Because these taps have a direct connection to a line that often feeds directly out of your walls, freezing over can cause a pipe to burst inside your walls, resulting in potentially serious damage to your home.
The solution is simple: much like you cover your exposed plumbing lines, also cover your exposed outdoor taps and faucets. When you’re picking up your plumbing insulation for your exposed pipes, also pick up a few faucet covers. They’re generally just a few dollars each and come in a variety of sizes to accommodate all sizes of outdoor faucets. Attaching them is simple: place the loop inside the cover around the handle of your faucet and then pull the strap from the outside and the cover should hold itself in place.
Freezing conditions rarely come on without warning. In fact, more often than not we usually have at least a few days’ warning as to when freezing conditions should be making their way through. This should give you plenty of time to not only make sure your pipes and taps are covered but to make sure that you set your taps and faucets to drip during freezing nights. Water that’s continually moving has a much more difficult time freezing, so keeping water flowing through your plumbing lines when freezing conditions are expected helps prevent the water in the lines from freezing at all.
You don’t have to leave your water running fast—even a slight drip will do the job. While it’s usually best to do this overnight, you may even need to keep the drip going during the day if conditions are expected to remain below freezing for the duration of the day as well. It may waste a little bit of water, but the cost of doing so is significantly better than the cost of having to replace a good chunk of your plumbing and a considerable part of your home should a line freeze over.
Got a burst pipe that needs an urgent fix? Has a frozen pipe created a leak somewhere in your home? Trust EnviroSafe Plumbing, Heating, Air Conditioning, Water Treatment to come to you and get it fixed. Call now!
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I highly recommend !! Andrew was very professional, respectful, and knowledgeable. He explained what needed to be done and even took pictures to show me and then provided me with the cost. He took his time and made sure everything was done properly. Andrew is a fantastic… Read more
I used envirosafe two years ago when I bought my house, they have been excellent from the moment I called them. Gage and Micheal were the technicians that came to my house to service my water softener system and these guys were awesome. They answered every question and… Read more
Andrew was absolutely professional and worked diligently to find a balance with the boiler system. It is very difficult system because one boiler heats four apartments. Andrew and his helper put new air pressure gauges on the radiators and made sure that all the radiators were… Read more
Andrew and Shawn were friendly, knowledgeable, informative and very genuine. Air was in the lines they needed bleeding and maintenance so that my heat could be properly working for the winter season. It was a pleasure having these gentlemen service my boiler so that me and my… Read more
I had a great experience with them today! Yesterday I realized our water heater wasn’t working. The trouble shooting was beyond my experience. I called them and the dispatch was helpful and had two technicians arrive within a couple of hours. The technician(s) were very… Read more
EnviorSafe came out to my home to repair a busted water pipe due to the cold weather within 3 hours of me calling them. Andrew, the technician who came to my home was very professional, knowledgeable and friendly and did a great job at a very reasonable cost. I highly… Read more
We have a well and our resin tank is over 16 years old. We thought the resin tank was failing. Fred and Sean showed up on time and were great. after inspecting the resin tank in only need maintenance, they did an amazing job. They were honest, very personable and the price was… Read more
I was referred to this company by my sister who had service done at her home for the first time. I called to get a repair/replacement (plumbing:overflow panel) tub wouldn’t drain out.One thing I love about the company, they were initially more concerned to fix the less cost… Read more
Jake and Marquan are excellent, and if you get either of them to provide service to your home, they’re both very professional, as well as great to converse with. The work done was handled properly, and I now have an all electric water heater with a tank, that is going to save… Read more
Avery was the technician that came out to service my softener system. super polite, very informative, and very quick. super friendly and made my first experience well worth it. will definitely be repeating business!
This is my second time using this company. I found them by luck (googling for someone that works with water softeners). Both times Gage our technician came to the house and repaired our water softener, replaced the pipe going from our well to the bladder and also fixed a leaky… Read more
I had Mike and Avery install a water softener and an RO system on my water system. From the very first visit I’ve been impressed with their knowledge, experience, professionalism and disposition. It’s been a long time since I’ve been impressed with any home service people. But… Read more
We used Envirosafe for several different projects from HVAC and a new boiler/hot water heater to replacing almost all of our plumbing lines. We did a few projects at a time over several months and the whole time Envirosafe was great to deal with. They made the process so easy,… Read more
Jake was very thorough, communicated and explained everything throughout the service process and was very professional. Even offered to clean around ac unit outside of service, all of this in the rain! Would definitely recommend Envirosafe to a friend.. ask for Jake! He’s great!
Avery stopped out to conduct our yearly maintenance on our water treatment system. He is a phenomenal employee. Not only was he training a newer employee, but he took the time to show me some things about our system that I did not know. His customer service and both guys over… Read more
We have always had a good experience with EnviroSafe. Bryan provided excellent service with our air conditioning repair. He was extremely knowledgeable and responsive to our needs.
Our relationship with EnviroSafe began in July, from installing a brand new unit, to a challenge with our dishwasher and more recently a hot water tank issue. Each and every representative we have dealt with has been professional, knowledgeable, timely and accommodating… Read more
I have used Envirosafe on several different occasions. Most recently I used them to tune up my boiler prior to the winter season. He discovered some leaks in a few other pipes related to my heating system and was able to fix it the same day. Would recommend for anyone who is… Read more
Envirosafe meets all our water and plumbing needs. They respond promptly and arrive prepared. Fred Perry is one their friendly hard working knowledgeable technicians who gets the job done with a smile and thoroughly explains the service. Envirosafe is our go to company for… Read more
From the original phone call where we were provided same day service, to Jeff and CJ arriving when they said they would. The whole experience was excellent. Jeff and CJ diagnosed and repaired the problem quickly and efficiently. We would use Enviro Safe again.
First, Emma was the greatest assistance in guiding me regarding service, scheduling and follow-up regarding addressing my problem with my heater. Next, Nate came the same day and diagnosed and repaired the problem quickly and efficient. Lastly, both individuals were so… Read more
Fred and Calvin showed up on time, were great communicators regarding our plumbing issue, possible options, the state of our repair during the job, and how much it would cost. They were friendly, conversive, and efficient in completing the job. Can’t recommend them highly enough.
Pleasant experience. Everything went as planned. All employees were courteous and professional especially Chris, Jake, Devin and the first technician whose name I can’t recall. Job well done
My technician was Jeff H. from Envirosafe. He was terrific. He fixed my problem and also spent time checking everything out. He was knowledgeable, kind and helpful. He asked if I had questions or needed anything else addressed. I only wish every service tech was this helpful… Read more
