Preparing your home for the winter - Serviceteam
t may very well be that you don't have to do much to your home to prepare for the winter - but start by imagining your home is as vulnerable to the winter as an old person!
Every winter, thousands of properties in London suffer from burst pipes bringing misery and inconvenience to you, as a householder or tenant and double misery as landlord or letting agent.
Most pipe bursts can be avoided by taking a few simple precautions. Here are some of the things you can do to make your home less vulnerable to the cold weather and less likely to make it a miserable winter.
1. Have a look for the cut-off tap that turns off the mains supply of water your home. It's usually somewhere on the ground floor, in a storage cupboard, under the sink in the kitchen or under the stairs. When you've found it make sure the tap works because if you do get a burst pipe during the winter you'll need to turn that tap off pretty quickly to prevent water flooding out and wrecking the place.
2.Get any dripping taps repaired. Why? Because if the weather is cold enough drips can freeze up before they drain away causing pipework to block and then burst.
3.It's amazing how many people don't know how to use their heating system efficiently. Check your boiler manual or go online and find some advice from the manufacturer. Remember, Turn down your room thermostat by one degree and you can save around £55 and prevent 230kg carbon dioxide from being released into the atmosphere every year.
4.Keep the heat in the pies in the first place by ensuring that exposed pipes are properly insulated. They can be insulated with fibreglass pipe - a simple job but if you need to we can provide a handyman for this service.
5.If you you're going on holiday this winter - and who can blame you - and you know it's going to be a cruel, cold winter, we have some more extreme advice. To prevent pipe bursts, turn off the water supply and drain the plumbing system - if you're really keen. If you can't do this - and it's a little extreme, leave the heating on to come on twice a day on a very low setting while you are away. You can also pour salt down sinks and baths as this will help prevent freezing. If you have any, ask a friend to visit your home while you're away to help prevent possible damage. Open your loft hatch to help keep the loft area, water tanks and pipes in it warm enough to prevent freezing.
6.If your pipes do freeze you can try to thaw them out by using warm air or warm water. If this doesn't work call a professional - don't start messing around with that blow torch you have in the garage or your electric hair dryer - unless you're looking to save money on heating your home with a prolonged stay in the hospital!
7.If your pipes burst turn off the main water supply tap. Turn on the taps in your kitchen and bathrooms, switch off the boiler or the immersion heater and turn out the fire. Now go give Serviceteam a call 0n 0800 599 9750 and we'll send a professional gas safe engineer and plumber to help you out!
8.Finally, check that your house contents insurance policy provides cover against damage from cold weather.
We provide a plumbing services in London.
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