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Discover How to Prevent and Thaw Frozen Pipes

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Discover How to Prevent and Thaw Frozen Pipes

winterize_your_homeThis winter, when the coldest days and nights come to Allentown, will the pipes in your home be at risk of freezing? When ice forms inside a pipe, it expands and creates a great deal of pressure.

With nowhere to go, the ice will eventually crack the pipe, triggering flooding inside your home. The result can be a costly mess and the loss of precious items.

We know that you want to prevent that from happening where you live, so we’ve assembled these simple instructions that will help prevent ice from forming inside your pipes as well as what to do if your pipes do become frozen.

Run the Hot Water

When you allow hot water to run from your taps, you’re also heating up the pipes, thus preventing the formation of ice. You can also run cold water to move standing water away from particularly cold areas.

Keep the Doors and Windows of Your Garage or Attic Closed

Some homes have plumbing that runs through parts of the house that aren’t heated or insulated very well. Those pipes are at greater risk of freezing. These areas include crawl spaces, attics, and garages. Be sure to do what you can to keep cold air away from those exposed pipes by keeping outside windows and doors closed at all times.

Install Heating Tape on Your Pipes

Heating tape can help maintain a good temperature in your plumbing and effectively prevent them from freezing. With an electric filament inside, heating tape is wrapped around the pipe and plugged into an electrical outlet to generate heat.

How to Thaw a Frozen Pipe

heating_efficiency_winterize_homeIf you’re faced with a pipe that has frozen in your home, you need to melt the ice inside it as soon as possible before it can expand further and damage your plumbing.

If you’re worried that the pipe may burst at any time, you may want to turn off the water supply to your home to limit the amount of washer that would come gushing through the broken pipe.

You can then turn on some taps in the house to relieve some of the pressure inside the pipe. Blow hot air from a hair dryer on the frozen pipe to heat it up and thaw the ice within.

You can also use space heaters or heat lamps to warm up the surrounding area. The use of a blowtorch should be left to a professional because the presence of flammable objects nearby makes it a fire hazard.

If you’re looking for some expert assistance in dealing with your frozen pipe headaches, the friendly pros at Schuler Service in Allentown, PA are here to help. Call us today at 610-434-7103.

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