When temperatures stay below freezing:
- Prevent pipes from freezing. Keep water moving through the pipes by allowing a small trickle of water to run. Consider collecting the water for later use, like watering plants. Also, the cost of a short-term trickle is much less than the repair of a burst pipe.
- Keep your pipes warm. Open cabinet doors to expose pipes to warmer room temperatures to help keep them from freezing.
If your pipes do freeze:
- Shut off the water immediately. Don’t attempt to thaw pipes without first turning off the main shut-off valve.
- Thaw pipes with warm air. You can melt the frozen water in the pipe by warming the air around it with a hair dryer or space heater. Be sure not to leave the space heater unattended and avoid the use of kerosene or open flames.
- Be careful turning the water back on. Once pipes are thawed, slowly turn the water back on and double-check for any additional cracks and leaks.
