With temperatures below freezing the last few days, Chaveirim of Central Jersey is seeing the result of it with numerous calls for frozen and busted pipes.
The emergency volunteer organization tells TLS they’ve received over a dozen emergency calls this wee alone for such incidents, some which have resulted in floods.
Here are steps you can take to avoid such issues:
When temperatures stay below freezing, residents should:
- Prevent pipes from freezing. If you have pipes that are vulnerable to freezing, allow a small trickle of water to run overnight to keep pipes from freezing. Capture this in a container for watering indoor plants and other uses.
- Open cabinet doors to expose pipes. Opening cabinet doors exposes pipes to warmer room temperatures to keep them from freezing.
If pipes freeze, you should:
- Shut off the water immediately. Don’t attempt to thaw frozen pipes unless the water is shut off. Freezing can often cause unseen cracks in pipes or joints.
- Apply heat to the frozen pipe by warming the air around it, or by applying heat directly to a pipe. You can use a hair dryer, space heater or hot water. Be sure not to leave space heaters unattended.
- Do not use kerosene heaters or open flames to thaw pipes inside your home.
- Once the pipes have thawed, turn the water back on slowly and check for cracks and leaks.
When you are away, you should:
- Have a friend, relative or neighbor regularly check your property to ensure the heat is working and the pipes have not frozen.
- Set your thermostat at 55 degrees to prevent freezing.
- Consider purchasing a freeze alarm. The alarm will call a user-selected phone number if the inside temperature drops below 45 degrees.
Temperatures are expected to remain below freezing throughout the week.