Cold weather
General advice
- Check that pipes and tanks in your roof space are lagged. If they are not lagged please contact us. We will arrange for it to be done.
- Never insulate under a water tank in the loft. It needs heat from the house to come up from below.
- If you are going away for some weeks during the winter contact us for advice on how to prevent a freeze up. If you can, it is a good idea to leave the heating on all the time on a very low heat.
- In very cold weather keep your heating on all the time on a very low heat. You may want to open the loft hatch to allow heat into the loft. This will help prevent pipes from freezing.
- Know where your stoptap is. It is where the water pipe enters the house, usually under the kitchen sink. Once a year you need to check that you can still turn it.
- Know where the gate valves for the hot and cold water tanks are. They are usually by the hot water and cold water tanks.
What to do
Frozen pipes
- Turn off the water at the main stoptap.
- It is probably best to leave the pipes frozen but you may try to thaw them using hot water bottles.
- If the hot water system is frozen, turn off any water heaters.
Burst pipes
- Turn off the water at the main stoptap.
- Turn off any water heaters.
- Turn on all taps to drain water from the system. This may take about 15 minutes.
- When the water stops running, turn all taps off.
- If electrics are getting wet, do not touch. Do not switch anything on or off.
