Part One in an Ongoing Series on Home Winterization

State Farm, by way of the Insurance Journal, has a good heads up on winterizing your home’s pipes.

Pipes freeze and burst, State Farm says, when outside temperatures drop below 20 degrees.

The damage from even a minor break in your pipes can be devastating: “A one-eighth inch (3-millimeter) crack in a pipe can spew out more than 250 gallons of water a day.”

Here are a few verbatim tips from State Farm, handily organized into list format by yours truly:

1. Disconnect outside garden hoses.
2. Wrap exposed pipes with insulating sleeves or tape.
3. Seal foundation cracks that let arctic air freeze pipes in crawlspaces.

If the mercury is dropping fast and you want some quick, temporary fixes, State Farm suggests the following:

1. Open cabinet doors to allow heat to get to piping under sinks and vanities near exterior walls.
2. Run a small trickle of water at vulnerable cold and hot faucets.

And if I may add a postscript to that last tip, particularly for those people who live in the arid west, place a bucket under the trickling faucet and water your house plants with the water. (Water is scarce!)

Are you energy and/or money conscious? Don’t be too quick to cut the heat in your home. If you live in a perpetually cold winter climate, the Red Cross recommends keeping the thermostat above 55 degrees.

(There are better ways to conserve energy and save money: get storm windows and doors and add insulation to thin areas to prevent heat loss.)

If your pipes do burst, the first order of business, before you call a plumber, is to turn off your water supply. Now would be a good time to learn how to do this (and teach everyone in your household how to as well) if you don’t already know.

Stay tuned for more winterization tips…