Thus far Winter temperatures have been running above normal but all that is about to change.
An artic air mass has worked its way into our area and overnight temeratures in the Broad Channel area will drop to about 17 degrees (F) with a NW wind blowing about 25 mph with an accompanying wind chill temperature of 0 degrees (F).
Now is the time to start thinking about how to avoid the problem of waking up tomorrow morning and discovering that one (or more) of your domestic water lines has frozen up, or worse, burst.
There are a few things you can do to prevent the problem of freezing pipes....
Leave the faucet drip slightly as a trickle. The dripping water will keep the water in the pipe from freezing.
Open sink base cabinets and let warmer room air circulate.
Open sink base cabinets and place a small portable heater near or in it to heat the pipes
Wrap the problem pipe with electrical heat tape.
Insulate the problem pipes with foam insulation wrap, especially those that run through unheated spaces.
Temper a currently unheated crawlspace by placing a heater in the crawlspace. You just need to elevate the crawlspace temperature to modestly above freezing, about 40°F.
The good news is that the artic air mass which has moved into or area will recede quickly and by Friday our temperatures will be at or above normal again.
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