5 Tips to Protect Your Plumbing Fixtures from Cold Weather
Now is the time to prepare your outdoor fixtures for the colder weather. Follow these simple tips to prevent costly plumbing emergencies.
1. Insulate your exterior water heaters and tankless systems
Insulate pipes with insulation sleeves, wrapping, or slip-on foam pipe insulation. Do not leave any gaps without insulation as cold air can affect the pipe in these spaces. Plastic piping is more tolerant of freezing than old copper or steel water pipes.
2. Disconnect your hoses and drain to protect hose bibs
Hose bibs are normally left unattended and are at risk of bursting in freezing temperatures. Drain hose bibs and insulate with covers. Once this has been completed, deactivate bibs at the shutoff valve.
3. Winterize your outdoor shower
When the cold of winter arrives, freezing temperatures may burst pipes and damage the shower’s hardware unless your outdoor shower is winterized. Include the garden shower on your list of outdoor maintenance tasks for late fall. With thorough preparation, you’ll be ready to return your shower to full use within minutes when warmer weather returns in the spring.
Step 1: Locate the valves on the hot- and cold-water pipes that run to the outdoor shower. Turn each valve handle to the left until the handle won’t move any further to shut off the water supply.
Step 2: Turn the shower faucet handles to the “on” position. Let the water run freely, draining the pipes. Leave the faucet in the “on” position to prevent any remaining moisture in the pipes from accumulating and expanding to burst the pipes under freezing conditions.
Step 3: Remove the showerhead by gently twisting it off the overhead pipe. Invert the showerhead to drain out any water. Store this piece of hardware indoors until spring when you set up the outdoor shower again.
4. Have a Professional Install a whole-home plumbing monitoring system, such as the Flo by Moen
Monitor for leaks and have the peace of mind to turn off your water completely remotely. This system is perfect for homeowners of multiple residences. The shutoff monitors your home’s entire system for water pressure, flow rate, and area temperature. Everything is controlled through the Flo by Moen app.
The system has unique artificial intelligence that learns the water footprint of your home in order to identify any issues that may arise such as pipe leaks, frozen pipes, foundation leaks, shower leaks, sink leaks, and toilet leaks.
5. Winterize your backflow preventer
A backflow device, which is required by state and local code, is to protect your family’s tap water from harmful contaminants present on the lawn.
Step 1: Turn Off the Isolation Valve
After locating your isolation valve step one is simply turning it off. Simply turn the valve handle clockwise until it is hand tight.
Step 2: Open the Bleeders
Using a small flat-head screwdriver, face your pressure vacuum breaker and focus on the test-cocks. The test-cocks are a pair of tiny nozzles that are used to test or drain the main cavity of the backflow. Each of these test-cocks will have a small screw in the center.
As with the ball valve, those screws are open when the slot of the screw is in line with the flow of the metal fitting they are attached to and closed when the slot cuts across it. Use your screwdriver to turn each of the test-cocks one-quarter of a turn so that they are open. Water may shoot out of the test cock with some pressure, but it will quickly subside. This allows the water inside the backflow to drain from the backflow preventer.
DO NOT turn the screws more than a quarter of a turn or remove the screws from the test-cocks. When the water draining from the device diminishes, give the device a few delicate shakes to get a little more water out of the device. You just created an empty cavity in the device so when the water left inside the PVC legs freezes and expands, it has a place to go, so it will not fracture the device or the pipes.
Step 3: Handles at Forty-Five Degrees
Once the draining water begins to slow, you can finish the winterization process. Leaving the test-cocks open to drain, simply turn each of the ball valve handles on the backflow device to a forty-five-degree angle (meaning that the ball valve itself is half open/half closed inside of the unit). There will be one ball valve at the bottom of the backflow and one ball on the side of the backflow. It does not matter which ball valve handle you turn first. This concludes the winterizing process for your backflow preventer.
For your peace of mind, Atlantic Plumbing Services can get you ready for the colder weather with our Winterizing Service. Please call 843-884-9444 to schedule.
Source 1 // Source 2 // Source 3