Welcome back to ‘What’s Your Eddy IQ?’ This week we asked: Proper insulation around the home is important to avoid frozen pipes – True or False?
The answer is … True.
As you are aware, winter weather tends to take a toll on buildings and the infrastructure within – causing pipes to freeze and possibly rupture, leading to flooding and ultimately, devastating (and expensive!) water damage to your home. Weak insulation is a key factor when it comes to pipes freezing. In addition, if you live in a poorly insulated home, you could potentially rack up thousands of dollars on energy bills during the winter.
So, with that in mind, you may be wondering about how can you beef up your insulation and eliminate the risk of frozen pipes this winter. Here’s our Eddy DIY Winter Insulation Guide that you can follow this February:
- Look for insulation weak spots by checking the water supply lines in unheated areas. For example, you should check your garage as well as under kitchen and bathroom cabinets for vulnerabilities.
- Insulate all exposed pipe surfaces, including tees or valves. Leaving these surfaces exposed can lead to localized freezing. In addition, remember to insulate both the hot and cold water lines in your home.
- Add insulation to your attic, basements and crawl spaces. This will help maintain higher temperatures in these vulnerable areas.
- Make sure there are no insulation gaps at bends, valves or fittings, and that you use a suitable insulation material. So, use a pipe sleeve or install UL-listed heat tape, heat cable, or similar materials on exposed water pipes. Failing that, you can also use old newspapers to provide some degree of insulation and protection to the exposed pipes.
Quick tips on how to winter- proof your home
Suffice it to say – pipes don’t like the cold. For further information on frozen pipes and their devastating consequences, take a look at our most recent blog post, “Avoiding Frozen Pipes this Cold Season – Are You at Risk?” .
About Eddy
Eddy is an industry leader in leak protection and water visibility solutions. Our suite of smart products offers a comprehensive water management system for homeowners that protects, controls, and conserves. Our products have saved thousands of customers millions of litres of water by continuously monitoring water usage in their home, and if something unusual is detected, alerting them to the issue. For more details, please contact us at 1 877 388 3339 or email info@eddyhome.com.
