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Winter Tips To Stay Warm – Extreme Cold Temps, No Heat and Frozen Pipes

It’s another extremely cold winter day.

Cold temperatures with blowing snow, it can be a disaster for your home’s Plumbing and Heating!

1. Go out and dig ALL the snow away from all Heating vents – Furnace, Water Heater, Dryer, Fireplace.

2. Some vents have a little screen in them (to stop critters from climbing up in) this can freeze over with the condensate exhausting from the furnace, if it does just pull it out and ensure the vents are completely 100% clear.

3. Prevent your water from freezing by running all your taps consistently over the day to keep water running through the pipes or leave a tap running. Especially if you have washrooms you rarely use.

4. If you do not have a heated basement get a heater for the mechanical room – A small room heater that is meant for indoor use will help!

5. Its too late – your pipes have froze…
– Leave the cupboard doors open so heat can get to the pipes.
– Insulating your pipes will help as well or putting a piece of hard foam insulation at the back of the cupboards.
– Place a small heater close to the pipes – be very careful not to leave it in the cupboard and unattended – do not create a fire risk. If you do not have a small heater, a lamp will help provide extra heat.
– Open your taps so that the water has somewhere to expand to, if it does not this is when pipes will burst.
– It is essential to have heat in your mechanical room.
– Wherever your water pipes are outside do not drive over this area as it can push the frost down and cause pipes (and even sewage/septic lines) to freeze!

6. Please do NOT leave your pets out in these temperatures!

7. It’s way too cold for children to play outside – make it a board game movie day or check out public skating.

8. Vehicles will need to warm up even just for a few minutes before driving.

9. Clear all the snow and ice away from all doors to ensure a proper latch for them to stay properly closed. In temperatures like this it won’t take much to cause problems!

10. It’s Family Day, if you really do not need to go out, Don’t! Enjoy the day with your family and stay cozy warm!The sun is shining brightly but its darn cold out there!

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Worried about your pipes freezing? |Winter Plumbing

Worried about your water pipes freezing?

Thankfully the sun has been shining today and it is nice and warm. However the frost is still causing issues with water lines freezing.

1. Let your cold water tap run a slow continuous stream. This will ensure the lines stay open with flowing water and if you have a water pump, this will force the pump to come on more preventing any freezing.

Our plumbers have been extremely busy the first month and a half of the new year with frozen water lines and even some sewage lines.

2. If you are living in a home which has an unfinished basement, ensuring you have some heat in your basement is necessary for winters like this.
These two tips are especially important if you are planning to be away at any time during the winter. Arrange to have someone check on your home once or twice a day (when its really cold), run water, flush toilets.

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With this cold weather comes frozen pipes… Some tips to keep your water flowing!

JJ McLellan

JJ McLellan – Broken Pipe – Froze and burst!

When water freezes it expands, this is why if your pipes freeze they can and will burst – such as in the photo!

Open your cupboard doors – If you are worried about your pipes freezing and the potential of bursting… If you have pipes/taps on outside walls, open your cupboard doors to allow heat from your home in.

Heat from a lamp – If that doesn’t help plug a lamp in and put it under the sink (safely… not near anything flammable!) the heat from the bulb will help.

Run water – If you are really concerned, turn on the tap and let it run, a small consistent stream will help prevent freezing.

Insulate – If your home is very old and does not have a lot of insulation in the walls you could add some foam board insulation to the back of your kitchen cabinet to help prevent freezing.

What if I dont have a basement? If you live in a mobile home or a home with a crawl space, ensure you have heat tape for your pipes and that the underneath of the home is properly insulated and sealed! If your home was built on a slab on grade most likely you will have in floor heating, ensure the heating system is kept at a consistent temperature and have your system maintained regularly.

Getting away from the cold – If you are going away ensure you have someone checking on your home at least once a day – twice in cold weather like this.

Consistency – When the weather turns cold it is very important to keep your thermostat at a consistent temperature even during the night. Set your thermostat at a comfortable level and leave it.

Its too late… what should you do?

If your pipes have froze you can try to thaw them yourself. First open your taps, second use a heat source such as a hair dryer or a small portable heater. Be very careful to ensure you remove anything flammable prior to applying heat – especially in the kitchen if there are cleaners in the cabinets.

If you are not able to get your pipes thawed its time to call the professionals. Our plumbers have dealt with many frozen pipes! Either way once you get your problem solved – ensure you will be ok for the next deep freeze with proper insulation such as wall insulation, floor insulation, pipe insulation and heat tape.

Do not wait until you have issues to take preventative action. Ensure you have proper wall insulation, ensure the underside of your home (this includes basements) is insulated properly. If you are already planning a renovation pipes can be re-routed to lessen the chance of freezing. Unless you are considering gutting an older home back to the studs to completely re-insulate the home, sometimes in an older home re-routing the plumbing is the best option to get the pipes off of an outside wall. The costs for preventative maintenance will be well worth the costs you could face if your pipes freeze and burst!

Unsure of what you should do? Feel free to give Mike our Comfort Advisor a call he would be happy to recommend some options for you to ensure your home is safe!

Stay Warm!!!

Ensure You and Your Home Stay Warm In The Cold!

The good people at Lennox have offered some excellent tips to “Stay Bold Against The Cold” in their recent Comfort Matters post! Check out their great tips for you and your home to stay warm in this cold winter weather.

As always please remember to ensure your furnace filter is clean or changed regularly.

When the temperatures drop OR we get a lot of snow, checking your heating vents is very important. When it is very cold outside (like today), when your furnace vents the vapour can crystallize over the vents when it hits the cold winter air. Be sure to check the vents at least once a day to ensure they are clear, twice if you are experiencing issues with your system. The same when we get a lot of snow, ensure your vents are clear.

Why is it important to keep the vents clear? The heating system has to breathe, if it cannot bring in fresh air and exhaust the stale air your system will not be able to work properly and will shut down.

What do the vents look like? If they are out the side of your house they will look similar to this…

Furnace Vents Cleared 20140107_124106_resizedThe pipe pointing down is the intake, the pipe straight out is the exhaust. They do require a minimum of 12″ all around them to work properly with the heating system.

When in doubt, once you’ve made sure your filter is clean, your vents are clear and have tried to reset your system… give us a call at 1-866-565-5513.