When the temperature drops, your pipes are at risk of freezing and bursting. The pipes that are usually most at risk of freezing during cold weather are those in unheated interior spaces such as attics, basements, and garages.

Even pipes in heated spaces such as your cabinets can freeze and burst if they’re exposed to extreme cold temperatures. The good thing is that it's easy to prevent frozen pipes. If you follow the advice below, you can avoid the damage and hefty expenses caused by burst pipes.

Tips to Prevent Frozen Pipes before a Freeze

Before the arrival of cold weather, you can prevent frozen pipes by following these tips:

1. Drain water from swimming pools and water supply lines. Remove and store hoses used outdoors.
2. Drain the inside valves for the hose bibs before cleaning them.
3. Make sure the outside air is flowing into the house. If there’s still water in the pipes during cold weather, it will freeze and expand, causing the pipes to burst.
4. Add insulation to your attic, basement and crawl spaces to help keep those areas warm.
5. Check around the home for other areas where water supply lines are located in unheated areas. Look in the garage, and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets. In this area, both hot and cold-water pipes should be insulated.
6. Consider using pipe sleeves or similar materials for exposed water pipes to increase their insulation and prevent frozen pipes in general. Also, consider installing heat tape, heat cables, or similar materials on exposed water pipes, especially in cold weather.

How to Prevent Frozen Pipes during a Freeze

As the temperature drops, you should follow these tips to help prevent frozen pipes and keep them warm and running. Research from the Building Research Council at the University of Illinois shows that the “temperature alert threshold” is 20° F. When it comes to using energy-saving methods in your home, it is often cheaper to spend a little money by turning up the heat to save a lot of money that would be spent fixing a burst pipe.

Here’s what to do to prevent frozen pipes: