Two Ways To Prevent Frozen Pipes

One of the most unpleasant things that can happen to a homeowner is waking up on a cold winter day only to realize the faucets aren’t working, the shower isn’t working, and the toilet flushed once, but then no water came to fill it up again. This isn’t running out of water, this is a frozen water pipe no longer sending water to taps and toilets, and it often requires plumbers in Bowie, Crofton, MD to come and take care of the problem.

However, there are ways to avoid having your pipes freeze, and all it requires is a little investment and perhaps some help from plumbers in Bowie, Crofton, MD.

Insulated Pipes

This is often the first solution that should be tried and usually ends up being all property owners need. Insulation is a “sleeve” that slides around water pipes and adds an extra layer of protection to keep in heat in and the cold out. These are usually made from foam rubber or fiberglass and are wrapped around the pipe.

Fortunately, the sleeves aren’t usually required for every water pipe throughout a building. In most cases, a pipe freeze will occur only at specific points of a pipe network, usually where the line is most exposed to cold temperatures, so insulating this area will do the trick.

Heat Tracer

A more extreme but still effective solution is a heat tracer. This is like a high-tech version of an insulation sleeve. Instead of passively protecting the water pipe with an added layer to keep heat in, a heat tracer requires plugging into an electrical source to radiate its own heat.
This means that no matter how cold it gets, as long as the heat tracer is turned on, the pipe will always be exposed to heat to absorb and keep water in its liquid state.

Talk to your plumbers in Bowie, Crofton, MD, about which solutions make sense for you.