Have you thought about the brief preventive measures you can take to your plumbing system to make sure that you do not return home to any problems? if you follow this brief guide it should go some way to making sure you don’t come back to any catastrophes. If, however, you’re not comfortable doing any of the things that we outline in this guide then it’s best you get a professional from a company like Plano Plumbers Elite to come in and do it for you.

 

One reason it is important to do these checks is that if you have gone away and there is a plumbing problem it could be going on for a long time before you find out about it. You could return home to some very extensive damage.

 

The first thing we need to do is make sure that our house heating system is set up to protect the house from freezing. At the same time, we do not want the heating system running all the time so it uses a lot of heating fuel. This is especially important to do in a cold time of year and you are lucky enough to get away for some winter fun.

 

What you will need to do is to turn the thermostat down or, if you have a programmable thermostat set it to adjust itself 5 to 7 degrees lower than normal.

 

The next thing you need to do is find your programmer or heating system control and switch that to constantly on 24 hours a day seven days a week. Obviously different kinds of programmer manufacturers have different ways of changing their settings so always refer to the instructions beforehand.

 

Next thing we need to consider that is often forgotten by most people is to think about the cold-water storage tanks in the loft. If you go away for a while and the heating’s turned down low then it will get cold up in there and they will definitely be susceptible to freezing.

 

So far we’ve turned our heating system so it’s constantly on 24 hours a day seven days a week and then only ever come on if the house temperature goes below five or seven degrees. Additionally, if we prop the loft hatch open just a bit, it will allow the warmth from the house to travel up into the loft area and protect the water storage tanks from freezing. By setting up our heating system in that manner it provides a peace of mind knowing the home is protected from freezing while at the same time not running the heating system constantly. Keep in mind that some programmer manufacturers also have a holiday setting on their systems as well. It is always best to check the systems instructions to make sure that does not get in the way of any manual settings you make.

 

Now let us say you want to be extra careful should you do end up with a frozen pipe. In case of a frozen pipe you want to minimize or avoid any damage by making sure no water comes out of a frozen pipe. To do that you will need to find where the master shut off valve is to the home. Its some time can be found under the kitchen sink but in reality it could be almost anywhere in the home. It is worthwhile knowing exactly where your shut off valve is located regardless of whether you are going on a holiday or not. When you find it try to loosen and turn it off. Then you should be able to open the lowest cold valve on the system to dissipate the pressure. No water should come out but for added piece of mind, a professional plumber could install an automatic water hammer arrestor with a stopcock.

 

You should be aware there are some insurance companies out there that will not cover damage that may occur from a frozen water pipe burst if you have not taken these protective measures to begin with. Peoples homes are often their biggest asset. Be sure and protect it when going away with these measures. It is always best to be safe, than sorry.