Preparing your home for winter weather
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Cold weather is coming. And here in Mississippi, these extreme temperatures are not something most people build for.
Benton’s Military Hardware and Home Improvement is preparing to help people protect their homes.
Owner Robert Benton said the first line of defense is taking care of your outdoor faucets.
“Cover them up. Get them covered up with one of these faucet protectors that we carry here in the store. Put that on. That’s the first line of defense. That’s the most vulnerable aspect,” said Benton.
The next thing to think about is exposed pipes and pipe installation is helpful.
“Wrap them,” Benton said. “There are different layers. There are different sizes. Get that on there. This will help keep the cold off of those pipes and try to keep the wind off. The wind chill they talk about, well, it does the same thing. These might be 32, but the wind chill says 17. That means this water in here is going to see that and start to want to freeze.”
And heat lamps are great for those who have animals outside or a good pump.
“It’s called a thermostatic switch. When it gets down below around 35 degrees, it will automatically turn whatever you plug into it on,” said Benton. “Start giving you heat. It warms up like our crazy Mississippi weather is, it’s going to warm up in a few days. It shuts it off. For some things, we’ve got this new little device. This is called a freeze miser device here. And what will go on outside faucets in places like that in there, threads on there. And it’s another thermostat. No power. You don’t have any electricity here, just screws on there. And it will thermostat actually open up and allow that outside faucet to drip. The colder it gets, the more it drips.”
Another layer of protection is heat tape.
“It has a sensor right here, a thermostat sensor. So what it does when it gets down about 35 degrees, is it turns on, heats, puts a gentle heat through this black part, which is on your pipes, and it will give heat to your pipes. And what you can do with the heat tape is put the pipe insulation. It is like you put a blanket on a heater and it will keep those pipes warm. It turns on and off. So you’re not wasting power and stuff when you don’t need it,” said Benton.
Benton also suggests warming the house up with the heat a little higher.
He says it may make the bill slightly higher, but it will be better than dealing with busted pipes.
“For two reasons, first of all, you’re going to keep those outside walls that maybe have plumbing in them from getting cold and that extra heat will get in there,” said Benton. “Open your cabinets underneath your sinks, your vanities, where there’s plumbing under there. Open those doors up. Also, if we lose power, your house will start at a warmer temperature than it would have. And that extra heat will help you till they get the power back on to not only stay warm yourself but also to keep that cold from getting into those pipes and freezing them because busted pipes are expensive.”
Any heater you use during the cold needs to have an oxygen depletion sensor on it. It’s also recommended to have a carbon monoxide detector in your home.
If you do end up with a busted pipe or your water freezes, turn the water and water devices off, call the city or county water s,ystem and let them know. You can also call your plumber.
If you have questions, you can call military hardware.
