How to: Prevent water pipes from freezing

By ROXANNE McROBERTS | Staff Writer

Here’s what you need to do to keep water supply pipes from freezing when the temperatures dip to that blue area on the thermometer outside your kitchen window. — Roxanne McRoberts

• Wrap them up: Surround copper pipes with insulated pipe jacketing, which looks like the foam noodles kids use in swimming pools. Slip the split side around the pipe. Some jacketing hash a two-way adhesive on the edges of the slit opening. To keep sections closed from end to end, wrap with duct or electrical tape.
• Heat it up: Use heat tape in areas exposed to extreme cold. Plug the tape directly into a nearby GFCI-receptacle, and a small current keeps the pipe warm enough over a short distance to prevent freezing. Layer pipe jacketing over the tape. The tape’s thermostat will kick on when the temperature dips below freezing. Remember: Heat tape should never overlap itself.
• Light = heat: For a more immediate solution near an exterior, uninsulated wall, hang a utility construction light with a bulb that will generate heat near the pipe but not close enough to anything flammable, such as old wooden joists. To prevent dangerous temperatures from developing, block exterior wall penetrations and insulate areas that are creating the problem.
• Keep moving: Still water freezes faster than moving water. Inside, leave the faucet dripping slowly into a sink. Outdoors, turn off the interior shut-off, if there is one, but open the faucet outside to make sure any standing water between the shut-off and the exterior hydrant won’t freeze.
• Save for spring: Remove hoses from exterior hydrants.