What’s Your Eddy IQ? Water freezing inside a pipe will cause it to burst – True or False?

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Welcome back to ‘What’s Your Eddy IQ?’ This week we asked: Water freezing inside a pipe will cause it to burst – True or False?
The answer is … False.
Contrary to the common misconception, water freezing inside the pipe doesn’t lead to pipe bursts! Think of a can of soda, if it’s put in a freezer to chill and forgotten what would happen? Yes, you thought right – it will explode! Because when water freezes, it expands.
Similarly, when water inside the pipes freezes, they expand. But it’s not the actual ice expansion that causes the source of the leak. Yes, you read that right! Then, what causes these ruptures? It is the inside pressure from the unfrozen water between the ice and the closed faucet that is the primary culprit. So when the pressure gets too high for the pipes to contain, they rupture, which causes  water flooding and some possible interior water damage; leading to expensive repairs for the homeowners.
Going away on nice long vacation this winter and don’t want to come home to a flooded home?
When you are going away from your home during the winter, don’t lower the heat too much. Although lower temperature may save on the heating bill, but when a cold spell strikes – pipes that normally would be safe might freeze and burst.
Ideally, the best-case solution in this scenario would be to drain the water system. With no water in the pipes, there is no freezing and no bursts.
Quick tips on how to winter- proof your home
Don’t forget to also read our most recent blog post, “Avoiding Frozen Pipes this Cold Season – Are You at Risk?” . With these tips you can easily determine what pipes are most likely to freeze and what you can do to prevent your pipes from freezing.
Thanks again to all who played, and tune back on our Facebook page next week to play again!
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.
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