How to Prevent Four Common Ocean City, NJ Winter Plumbing Issues
Your home’s plumbing faces some particular difficulties throughout the winter. The effects of cold temperatures on your pipes’ water might result in a variety of pricey issues.
Fortunately, by taking a few simple precautions, you can avoid needing an emergency plumber.
We’ll discuss the calls we field most frequently throughout the winter in this article, along with tips on how to avoid them.
Four Typical Plumbing Issues in the Winter
The four most frequent plumbing calls we receive in the winter are listed below:
- Iced Pipes
- Obstructed kitchen sinks
- The water Heater is Not Working
- Deterioration Near Outdoor Drains
About some of them, we’ve gone into further depth in other areas. So let’s quickly review this article.
Iced Pipes
Even if they are not the most frequent call, frozen pipes can undoubtedly be the most dangerous. If a pipe bursts after the water has been backed up for too long, it can quickly result in damage that costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Obstructed kitchen sinks
Due to the mix of low temperatures and holidays, we frequently witness this. When entertaining in the early winter, people cook a lot more. Therefore, there will be more grease, fat, and food particles going down the drain.
When they all group together, coagulate and freeze in the cold, it eventually results in a blockage.
The water Heater is Not Working
The phrase “your appliances are more prone to break down when they’re working their hardest” is frequently used in reference to furnaces and boilers, but it also holds true here.
And that’s the winter for water heaters (as well as furnaces and boilers): when they’re battling the freezing temperatures.
Deterioration Near Outdoor Drains
This frequently occurs following rain or snowfalls. Fall leaves have a tendency to group together, and after rain, they wind up next to or near a drain.
This may prevent water from properly draining. Or, a blocked drain freezes over leaving standing water inside.
At that time, the pipe may become broken or you may experience flooding in your basement as a result of standing water outside the pipe that leaks inside.
Four Steps to Prevent Typical Winter Plumbing Issues
Here are four simple steps to avert those typical winter plumbing issues:
- Keep the temperature on your thermostat higher than 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Use Caution Around Your Kitchen Sink
- Make Your Water Heater Insulated
- Keep the outside drains open.
Keep the temperature on your thermostat higher than 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
Setting your thermostat far higher than that is not difficult. And when you do, you significantly lower the likelihood that your pipes will freeze when it becomes significantly colder overnight.
But if you’re leaving for a few days in the winter, you might be tempted to turn off the heat. Or perhaps you’re taking a few months off from using your beach house.
Even when you’re not there, keep the house warm. Every season, you could have to pay a few dollars more. However, one pipe burst wipes out much more than you would otherwise save.
Use Caution Around Your Kitchen Sink
Next, be careful with what you flush down the toilet, especially if you are feeding a large crowd.
Don’t rely heavily on your waste disposal in the cold, even if you have one. Those food fragments will eventually group together.
Additionally, be careful not to pour any grease down the drain. While it may be tempting to wash everything at once, be sure to pour any oil or grease into a container and discard it.
At any time of year, a blockage can be caused by food and grease. But throughout the winter, there’s an increased chance that those substances will freeze over and obstruct the flow.
Make Your Water Heater Insulated
After that, take certain actions to make sure your water heater is prepared for the next cold season. Adding insulation around it for the winter is one common tactic.
The idea behind it is rather straightforward: The more the appliance has to work, the colder it is.
Additionally, because heat is drawn to colder regions, the water heater must work harder to maintain constant warmth in a tank of water.
By including insulation, you can lessen its strain. More of the heat generated by your system remains in the tank as a result. Therefore, it will have to do less work.
Keep the outside drains open
If you haven’t already, spend an hour or two cleaning up after autumn. The grass waste and leaves close to drains might harm the pipes that run beneath your home. Even your basement may suffer as a result.
By keeping the waterways open, you can prevent water from collecting and leaking into your house.
Clean up the debris around your drains by raking and picking them up. Also, remember to check on things sometimes.
Water will move dirt, trash, and yard waste toward the drain when it rains or melts the snow.
Finally, periodically check down the sink. See any standing water there, sir? If so, a clog most likely exists.
This may cause an ice blockage and further issues later on.
When to Contact a Specialist
You’ll probably get through the winter without any of these four issues if you follow these four instructions.
That’s not always a given, of course. Additionally, other things can go wrong.
So, if you see water accumulating before draining, have a professional inspect your system.
Similarly to that, it’s a good idea to have someone look things over and determine whether you need to take any additional measures to avoid your pipes from freezing over.
You can make an appointment with Oak Lawn HVAC at any time in the counties of Oak Lawn by calling or emailing them. We have a long history in the community and a stellar reputation.
