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Preparing Your Home For The Cold

Posted at 6:14 AM, Jan 29, 2019
and last updated 2019-01-29 18:00:53-05

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18)– It’s the time of year when we can expect it to be cold, but this week “cold” is a bit of an understatement.

With temperatures below 20 degrees, pipes throughout your home are at risk.

“The cold air getting into spaces such as crawl spaces, or any plumbing fixtures that are on an outside wall, they are more prone to freezing. Water lines can freeze and they’ll break while they’re frozen and you won’t know it until they thaw out.”

To be proactive, plumbers say it helps if you leave a faucet dripping overnight. They also recommend you open cabinet doors so heat can reach your pipes, or buy insulation to wrap around your pipes.

Another issue you might have is a laboring HVAC system if temperatures go below 10-13 degrees.
That can lead to outright failures or, at the very least, higher bills.

Experts say it’s best to pre-heat your home before the cold arrives and let sunlight in your windows.

When it comes to your thermostat, turn off those fancy settings and lock it in on one temperature.

“The number one service call in all of heating and cooling is a dirty air filter,” said Jamie Clark, owner of Synergy Home. “That’s something a homeowner can take on themselves and not have a service professional come out and do.”

If you don’t prepare, you could be looking at a costly consequence.

“Just for your standard three-bedroom, two bath ranch-style house, we’ve seen it go anywhere from $3,000, $3,500 on up to…$7,000 just for the mitigation, which mitigation is the cleanup, getting the water and and getting everything dried,” said Kelly Bone, of SERVPRO.