Pipes In Attic Freeze

There are number of steps you can can take when learning how to keep pipes from freezing in the first place.

Pipes in attic freeze. Surprisingly both hot and cold pipes can be at risk. Because most attics are unconditioned a hard freeze that plunges attic temperatures into the mid 20s for any length of time can cause a burst pipe. Cold temperatures can cause water pipes to freeze. A inch split in a water line caused by freezing can potentially unleash 600 gallons of water per hour when the pipe thaws.

Let s start insulating to protect our pipes from freezing. The three central causes of frozen pipes are quick drops in temperature poor insulation and thermostats set too low. Exposed pipes are most susceptible to freezing. The best prevention against frozen pipes is to keep them warm enough to stay above the freezing point.

The best pipe insulation for your situation will depend. Insulate pipes in your home s crawl spaces and attic even if you live in a climate where freezing is uncommon. It is important to insulate pex pipe in an attic particularly in cold weather areas. When running pipes from a slab to an attic use an inside wall.

Safe for potable water pex is the red and blue flexible tubing that s used to make gentle bends around obstructions in your attic and is perfect for adding water supply to hard to reach locations. Placing water pipes in outside walls greatly increases the risk of frozen and burst pipes in cold climates. Insulate pipes located in the attic and crawl space using pipe insulation even if the climate where you live does not often have hard freeze conditions you can also wrap pipes in heat tape or heat cables with a thermostat control. Field tests of residential water systems showed that for uninsulated pipes installed in an unheated attic freezing began when the outside temperature fell to 20 f or below.

You can do this with any one of six simple steps or. Cross linked polyethylene tubing better known as pex pipe has revolutionized plumbing installations in new home construction and remodeling. Freezing in a pipe creates a lot of pressure inside the pipe and can cause the pipe to burst and likely lead to serious flooding especially when there s no one around to turn off the water.