Alabama Freeze Warning: Keep Home Warm and How to Prevent Pipes from Freezing

The National Weather Service in Huntsville has issued a cold weather advisory for north Alabama because of single digit temperatures and sub-zero wind-chill. Severe cold is dangerous for people, pets and homes. The best way to protect people and pets is to stay inside the home. Here is a guide to protecting your home from severe cold.

Cold weather will test your home’s thermal performance three ways — air leaks and drafts, insulation, and heat system. The biggest risk for homeowners is frozen pipes and the potential for thousand of dollars worth of damage caused when home water pipes freeze and break.

The short-term solution to prevent pipes from freezing:

• Let water trickle from faucets connected to pipes that run through an unheated or unprotected space.
• Do not use heat tape on water lines because of fire risk
• Keep cabinet doors open under sinks to allow warm air to circulate around pipes (can you feel cold air draft when reach into the space?)

Why the short-term solution is a drip
To be most effective in preventing pipes from freezing during extreme cold, you need to drip hot and cold water from every faucet inside and outside the home. Why? Because you can’t always tell which pipes are fully protected from cold. You may be able to identify pipes located in an open crawl space, but even pipes located in walls or floors may be poorly insulated.

Outside air leaks into the home can freeze pipes even if surrounded by wall insulation. Opening cabinet doors under sinks can help keep pipes warm by allowing warm air to circulate through holes cut in the wall when the pipes were installed.

The price of this short-term insurance policy is the cost of wasted water and heat loss. Also, you don’t always know when freeze damage can occur. Wether forecasts are not precise and conditions at your home are usually different from the weather office.

Many apartment complexes post signs asking residents to keep the heat on and let faucets drip to prevent frozen pipes. This places a financial burden on the renters because, in most cases, renters pay for utilities. In effect, the apartment owners are asking renters to pay for insuring the property owner’s risk!

Cold comfort for homeowners
Heat pumps work by “pumping heat” from outdoors to inside the home, but that’s hard to do when outdoor temperatures are extremely cold. Heat pump performance during extreme cold is  compounded by the need for even more heat, so back-up “AUX” heat is used. The the AUX light comes on, the system is using electric resistance heat strips, which costs 3 to 4 times more money per degree. So, in the battle to prevent pipes from freezing, we waste precious heat that could be better used to keep us warm and comfortable. Ouch!

The permanent solution is based on Home Performance analysis
The right way to prevent pipes from freezing will also make your home more comfortable and lower utility bills by properly insulating and air sealing your home to insure all pipes are located within the thermal boundary – both insulation and the air barrier. AlabamaWISE contractors are experts at identifying where your home lacks insulation and leaks air to prevent pipes from freezing without wasting water and heat. This also keeps the home warmer and more comfortable by reducing drafts and heat loss, especially for homes with heat pumps.

Certified building analysts in the AlabamaWISE program use diagnostic tools to locate and improve weak spots in your home’s thermal performance and install air sealing and insulation in locations where it will be most effective. Solutions may include crawl space encapsulation, attic encapsulation, blower door directed air sealing, wall insulation and pipe insulation.

Homes need a continuous layer of insulation and an air barrier to prevent pipes from freezing during extreme cold weather. Fixing the thermal performance of you home will improve comfort year ’round and save money, too.