How to Prevent Frozen Pipes in Winter

When the temperature drops below freezing, the water inside your pipes can freeze, expand, and crack the pipe wide open. A burst pipe can dump hundreds of gallons of water into your home in a matter of hours, damaging walls, floors, and belongings. The good news is that preventing frozen pipes is mostly about preparation, and most of the steps are simple enough for any homeowner to handle before the cold weather arrives.

Start by identifying the pipes most at risk. Pipes that run through unheated spaces are the prime candidates for freezing: basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages, and exterior walls. Outdoor hose bibs and pipes in kitchen or bathroom cabinets along exterior walls are also vulnerable. Once you know where your at-risk pipes are, wrap them with pipe insulation sleeves or heat tape. Foam sleeves are cheap, available at any hardware store, and slide on in minutes. For pipes in truly bitter-cold spots, electric heat tape wrapped around the pipe provides extra protection.

Inside your home, one of the simplest and most effective tricks is to let faucets drip during extreme cold. Moving water is much harder to freeze than standing water. You do not need to run every faucet — a slow drip from the faucet farthest from where water enters your home is usually enough to keep water moving through the whole system. Opening cabinet doors under sinks lets warm household air circulate around the pipes, which is especially helpful in kitchens and bathrooms on exterior walls.

Your thermostat plays a bigger role than you might think. Never lower your thermostat below 55°F, even if you will be away for days or weeks. It is tempting to turn the heat way down to save energy while traveling, but a single burst pipe can cost far more than the energy savings. If you are leaving for an extended trip during winter, consider shutting off the main water valve and draining the pipes entirely — a plumber can do this quickly if you are unsure how.

Outdoor preparations matter just as much. Disconnect garden hoses from exterior faucets in the fall and drain the faucet afterward. If you have a frost-proof sillcock, make sure the hose is removed so the faucet can drain back and avoid freezing. Close the shut-off valves to outdoor water lines and drain the lines if your home has interior shut-offs for them. Irrigation systems should be winterized — either blown out with compressed air or drained — before the first hard freeze.

Even with the best preparation, pipes sometimes freeze. If you turn on a faucet and get only a trickle or nothing at all, a frozen section is likely blocking the line. Keep the faucet open and apply gentle heat to the frozen section — a hair dryer, heating pad, or towels soaked in hot water all work. Never use a blowtorch or open flame, which can start a fire or damage the pipe. Work from the faucet end back toward the coldest section so the melting ice has somewhere to go. If you cannot locate the frozen section, or if a pipe has already burst, shut off the main water valve and call a professional. Frozen pipes can be tricky, and a licensed plumbing professional can locate the blockage safely and check for damage you might miss.

The cheapest frozen-pipe repair is the one you never need. A weekend of preparation in the fall — insulating exposed pipes, sealing air leaks in crawl spaces with caulk, and checking that your heating system is working — pays for itself many times over. If your home has a history of frozen pipes, it may be worth having a professional evaluate your plumbing layout and heating system together. Sometimes relocating a single exposed line or adding insulation to an attic solves a problem that has recurred every winter for years.