Cold Weather Plumbing Protection.

Make sure your plumbing is safe.

• Check behind your dryer for excess lint which could mean you have a loose or damaged vent hose. This affects the humidity of your home which could lead to mold. Gas fired dryers can spew deadly carbon monoxide into your home.

• Before freezing weather arrives, disconnect your garden hose from the hydrant to prevent trapped water from freezing and breaking the hydrant.

• If your hydrants aren’t “frost proof” be sure to protect them from freezing.

• It’s important to have your water heater professionally checked proper operation. An improper flue connection could lead to carbon monoxide build up in your home.

• Colder weather means colder water. If your water heater can’t keep up with the demand, consider increasing its capacity. Warning: Raising the temperature to compensate for colder water will increase your risk of scalding!

• Now is a good time to check your smoke detector. Change the battery if you can’t remember when it was last checked.

• If you have outbuildings such as a guest house, pool house or pump house, make sure to keep heat on. If no heat is available, shut off and drain the water piping and protect fixture traps with bio-degradable antifreeze.

• Turn off lawn sprinklers in freezing weather to prevent accidents on slick ice.

© 2005 Service Roundtable