Use These Cold Weather Tips to Winterize Your Home's Plumbing

There are pipes and a faucet outside with a layer of frost on both. With the first snow of the season already on the ground, winter has come. Before the serious cold sets in for the season, don’t forget about your plumbing while getting the rest of your home ready for the frosty times. Winterizing your pipes will help protect them from freezing over during the frigid weather to come. Nature is unforgiving, so make sure to get it done!

Winterizing your plumbing is important because water expands when it freezes. This expansion in your pipes can cause them to burst, damaging the surrounding area with the immediate, powerful moment and the water damage that may set in.

Take a few minutes to follow our plumbing cold weather tips to winterize your pipes. When you are done with these steps, the only chores you’ll have to do are draining your pipes and water heater then filling your fixtures with anti-freeze.

1. Main Water Valve

First things first, turn off your main water valve. This shut off will include your water pump and water heater. This step will prevent your heating elements from getting damaged.

2. Open All Drains

Open all your drains and taps. When you skip this step, there is a vacuum inside your pipe that holds water. Water in the pipes could lead to cracked pipes. Don’t just open and shut these, make sure your taps and valves stay open until the spring.

3. Get Rid of the Extras

There might be extra water in your pipes. Use an air compressor to get rid of all the moisture.

4. Drain Your Water Heater

You will need to open the drain valve on your hot water heater tank so it can empty completely. Do this to avoid damaging your expensive unit.

5. Empty Your Toilets

Flush your toilets until the bowls and tanks are near empty. You can mix anti-freeze with the water to stop any potential freezing.

Choose a Professional Plumber to Winterize Your Home

When it comes to your plumbing, make sure you prepare now to stop bigger problems from happening later in the season. After you take these steps, have a trustworthy professional plumber check out your system to ensure your home is all set for the cold. Heaney Plumbing & Heating has been helping Detroit’s tri-county area with plumbing problems since 1969!

Give the team at Heaney Plumbing & Heating a call today at (586) 649-6300 to schedule maintenance or a repair.

Top 4 Reasons Why You Should Consider a Whole-House Humidifier with Your New Furnace

Winter has a tendency to turn your home into a desert. The cold season outside demands you to turn the heat on inside and all that heated air means dryer air. It can be difficult to balance between the heat and the humidity in your home. No...

Importance of Cleaning Your Sewer Line Before Spring

Although it may be cold outside at the moment, it won’t be long until the spring is upon us. When seasons change, we also need to adapt our approach to cleaning and maintenance. One thing that you need to do ahead of the spring is to carry out...

4 Steps to Maintain Your Hot Tub During the Winter

With the last few snowfalls, winter is in full swing in Michigan for the season. Not only has the winter weather come, but we still have many months to go. Finding ways to keep warm seems to be a constant struggle during the winter months. If you...

Benefits of Installing a Programmable Thermostat

Do you want things in your life to be easier? We thought so. Finding the tips and tricks around your house to make things more efficient can save you time, money, and the headache of forgetting things. You should also be comfortable in your home....

What is Radiant Heating and the Top Reasons to Choose this Heating System

Imagine a warm sunny day. Sitting beside the pool, you feel the warm rays of the sun shining down on you, heating your skin. You take off your slippers and take a dip in the pool. After, you go for a walk on the asphalt pavement and can feel the...

5 steps to optimize your furnace for energy efficiency

Raise your hand if you like to throw money away. Crickets...Yeah, that’s what we thought. Running an efficient household helps keep money in your pocket by stopping you from spending what you don’t need to spend. Energy-efficient...

Outdoor Home Maintenance Checklist for the Fall

The return to school has begun and the days of summer are starting to become shorter. Fall is in the air and that means it's time for some chores around the house. Fall maintenance can help you reset after the summer and get your property...

Cleaning Your Exterior AC to Prep it for Winter

We are still feeling the heat of summer. July was mild this year, but August tends to bring the heat. Escaping the heat by getting into a nice, cool, air-conditioned home makes everything seem a bit more manageable. Even before it starts to cool...

4 Signs That You Have Poor Indoor Air Quality

The world doesn’t breathe as easily as it used to breathe in the past. There is much more congestion and smog in urban areas. Even suburban neighborhoods feel the weight of more constricted air. This thickness of the air is true outside, but...

Take These 5 Steps Before Turning on Your Air Conditioner for the Summer

Weather can be a fickle thing. It can blaze one day then freeze the next. This year, we even had snow in May! But now the warmer weather seems to be here to stay, so air conditioning went from the last thing you probably wanted to necessary. Your AC...

Post-Winter Furnace Shutdown Checklist

The weather has been going up and down and all around in the last month or so. We’ve seen snow, thunderstorms, and bright, sunny days. At this point, the snow should be behind us, with only warm weather coming for the next few months. As we...

We are Open for Emergency Plumbing and Heating Needs During COVID-19

It seems as if rules are changing on a daily basis since the COVID-19 pandemic began to take effect. The guidelines from local and national governments have caused many people to need to stay home with their families and away from work. But what...

4 Ways to Improve Air Quality This Spring

The stale winter indoors now draws to a close, and the fresh air is on the way. The spring showers and temperature shifts can send the humidity through the roof in your home. Nature also is waking up and coming to life again. As beautiful...

How to Properly Use Your Fan in the Winter Months

Staying cool and a fan go hand-in-hand. If someone gets overheated, one of the first offers to help them come by “fanning” the person, either with your hand, a piece of paper, or whatever is handy. Ceiling fans are a great way to keep...

7 Best Tips for Winterizing Your Plumbing

The cold is here and here to stay for the next few months. Even if you got behind on your prep work, there is still time to get your home up to par for the coming cold weather storms. While you get your home ready, make sure to prep your plumbing...

Keep Your Heating Bills Low During the Holidays with These 5 Tips

The end of the year holidays are a busy time with many friends and family traveling and visiting. The more guests you have, the higher your utility needs will be. You will need to keep everyone warm by keeping the temperature up - guests may forget...

Final Fall AC Maintenance to Shut Down Your System Right

Now that the weather has begun to shift, the long days of summer will come to an end for the year. The leaves have already begun to change colors and before you know it, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the end of year holidays will be...

5 Tips to Keep Your Utilities Bill Low While Running Your AC this Fall

The kids are back at school, and Sundays are back to being football days. Though the days have begun to get cooler, Michigan is notorious for having surges of hot days left in its system. Most people won’t turn off their AC units yet. Though...

Top 3 Advantages of Hydro Jetting for Your Clogging Issue

Clogged drains and sewers are common for homeowners everywhere. Debris going down the drain can get stuck or build up until the flow of water is slow or completely blocked. There are many fixes for blocked drains and sewers, but none are better than...

Page: 12 3 4 5 - All