7 Home Tricks We Use to Save Money (and Headaches) During a Cold Snap

We’re already seeing unprecedented snowstorms whipping up this year, and some of us may not be prepared. If you’re expecting surprise freezing conditions in an area that rarely gets them, it’s important to take a few steps to protect your home.

Below, we’re covering the top safety tricks to use before temperatures drop like an anvil, even if you don’t typically do much winterization. These practices will help keep your pipes, energy bills and sanity whole.

Read More: Rising Energy Costs Push Inflation Up Again. Ways You Can Save This Winter

Cover exposed pipes

When your water supply pipes are exposed, they’re more susceptible to freezing and bursting, especially if they’re located along exterior walls or in unheated spaces like a basement or attic. To prevent this, it’s a good idea to protect pipes with insulation.

Covering your exposed plumbing is one of the cheapest and easiest ways to prevent burst pipes. Your local hardware store will have several materials that can be used to insulate your pipes, including foam and fiberglass insulation. You can even use newspaper to cover exposed pipes if you live where freezing temperatures only happen occasionally.

Insulate unheated areas

When plumbing runs through an unheated basement, attic, garage or crawl space, the pipes don’t get as much warmth as they would in a heated bedroom or living room. By insulating the unheated areas in your home, pipes will stay warmer and be less likely to burst. Plus, well-insulated homes contain heat more effectively, which can save you money on winter heating bills.

If you’re the DIY type, you can add insulation on your own. Otherwise, you can hire a professional to complete the task. Either way, it’s a cost-effective and energy-efficient way to protect your pipes and keep your home at a comfortable temperature.

Keep a tap running on cold days

You might be surprised to learn that something as simple as running a tap can help prevent frozen pipes. But in reality, it’s one of the most effective things you can do. You don’t need to leave your tap running at full blast, just make sure it has at least a slow drip.

For the best results, choose the faucet that’s furthest away from your water source. Doing this will force the water to run through a large portion of your plumbing system, keeping it active and less likely to freeze. Similarly, if you have any taps that are served by exposed pipes, it’s a good idea to keep them trickling as well.

Open bathroom and kitchen cabinet doors

Another small (but useful) strategy to prevent burst pipes is to open the cabinet doors under your kitchen and bathroom sinks. By doing so, the heated air from your home will circulate beneath your cabinets and warm the pipes.

It’s particularly important to open your cabinet doors if they’re located along an exterior wall of your home. As you might expect, pipes in these areas are more likely to freeze since they’re closer to the cold outdoors.

Don’t adjust your thermostat

You may be familiar with the Department of Energy’s recommendation to adjust your thermostat during the winter to save energy, but that guidance doesn’t apply during a cold snap. 

Instead, you should keep your thermostat at a constant temperature throughout the day and night. Doing so will help your pipes stay warmer, making them less likely to freeze and burst. Plus, maintaining a steady temperature will put less stress on your furnace, which is important during periods of extreme cold.

Seal leaks and drafty areas

Patching up the drafty areas in your home is a final tip to prevent burst pipes this winter. When you have gaps or leaks between the inside and outside of your home, it’s possible for cold air to penetrate, lower the temperature around your plumbing and cause pipes to burst.

The good news: it’s easy to seal these leaks. Get started by taking a quick walk around your house to identify any places where air could sneak in, including window and door frames, electrical wiring and dryer vents. Once you’ve determined the problem areas, use insulation or caulk to seal them up.

Use a leak detector or water sensor

It can be difficult to know what parts of your home are in danger of frozen pipes, overworked boilers and other issues if you don’t get freezing weather very often. But there are smart ways to watch over your home, including with leak detectors. These detectors can connect to your phone and warn you the second it detects puddling or dripping water in the area. The cheapest versions are only $10 to $15.

You can put these detectors under sinks, in crawlspaces, beside water heaters and much more. Some also double as temperature sensors, letting you know if area drops below freezing when it needs to be warm.

The bottom line

Even if home maintenance isn’t your strong suit, tackling all of these repairs in a single weekend should be simple. It may seem inconvenient, but making these minor upgrades is a small commitment that can prevent serious headaches and expensive future repairs.

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