Winter survival guide 3 – a simple way to prevent burst pipes

Just like part two of the winter survival guide, which dealt with solving boiler problems, this blog deals with problems caused by the cold. The difference here is that very few people know about this problem, until it’s too late. The great thing is that preventing burst pipes has the simplest solution. It’s also the shortest blog post!

During freezing weather conditions, the pipework for the water supply is vulnerable to freezing, if a property is not adequately heated. With the Christmas break coming up, it’s tempting to leave the heating off when your house is vacant to avoid paying for the heating during this period. But this may result in pipes freezing and then bursting once they defrost again.

The pipes are put under pressure as the joints get stretched as the water freezes and expands. When the water defrosts, this can cause leaks.

The best way to prevent burst pipes is to ensure that a programme is set on your boiler to keep the property at a reasonable temperature while you and your housemates are away.

If your boiler has a timer then you can programme it to come on a different times during the day. The best thing to do is set it to come on for seven hours a day, over three spells – morning, midday and evening. These two and a bit hour blasts should be at a temperature of 20°C.

If you you’re not sure how to programme your heating, putting the make and model of the programmer or boiler into Google will help you find a user manual.

Alternatively, you could leave the heating on at 15°C. The heating will kick in every time the thermostat registers the temperature dropping below this.

Also, when you leave for the holidays, open the doors of your kitchen and bathroom cabinets. This will allow warmer air to circulate and reach pipes under sinks and in adjacent outside walls.

See, simple!

Part one of the winter survival guide covers preventing mould and mildew

Meanwhile part two covers solving boiler problems