Winters in Texas can vary from unseasonably warm (with few or even no days below freezing), to having multiple days where we don’t even get above freezing (such as 2022). Because of that variability, we always need to prepare for the worst. Here are some tips on how to get your home ready.
Anytime there is a forecast of temperatures below freezing, take these steps to help protect your home.
1. Cover outdoor faucets. You can pick up faucet covers at Home Depot or Lowes. Make sure the cover fits snuggly against the wall of the house. If it doesn’t, you may need to wrap the faucet with insulation and wrap with duct tape to hold it in place.
2. Keep the temperature of your house at least 68 degrees. Usually many of your water pipes are located in the walls, and you can expect the temperature inside your exterior walls to be somewhere in the middle of your house temperature and the outside temperature. So if it drops to 15 degrees outside and your inside temperature is 68 degrees, hopefully your pipes are staying above 32 degrees.
3. If the sinks/faucets inside your home are located on an exterior wall, open the cabinet doors. This relates to No. 2 above. You want your warm inside air to get to all the pipes. If the cabinets are closed, the air inside the cabinet may get colder than the rest of the house and the pipes in that location of the house might freeze.
4. Drip faucets. This is especially important if you are experiencing a hard freeze, where temperatures will be below freezing for more than 24 hours. For any faucet on an exterior wall, open it just enough so it is slowly dripping. Remember hot water pipes can freeze too if they aren’t being used. So be sure you are slightly opening the cold and the hot water.
Note: Be sure you know how to turn off the water supply to the entire house. If you have a pipe freeze and burst, it can cost thousands of dollars in wasted water and worse, thousands of dollars in damage if inside your home. You must know how to do this before you need to know. If you wait until you have a leak in the house, it’s too late to learn. Generally, the cutoff is near the front sidewalk in front of your house. Usually having a good pair of pliers or a water meter valve key on hand is best to help open/close the main valve. Make sure you know the location and try it a time or two to make sure you know how the valve works.
