Texas – North Texas is expected to see some winter weather and extremely cold temperatures this week.
Experts say, anytime the temperature drops below 30-degrees for multiple days, there’s some precautions you need to take to protect your home and keep your pipes from freezing.
First, they say to disconnect your hoses and wrap the outside faucets with whatever towels or t-shirts you have on hand.
“If you’ve got hoses connected to those outside faucets you wanna go out there and disconnect that,” said David Crow, General Manager of Benjamin Franklin Plumbing. “Just grab a towel, if you don’t already have a device, and just wrap that thing up.
On the inside, they say to turn your heat up.
Then, anywhere in the house where there is plumbing on an outside wall, open the cabinet doors, and let a single faucet drip.
“You’ve got two things working in your favor, you’ve got the heat that you’ve raised in the home that’s getting back beneath these cabinets, and you’ve got water flow on an outside wall. Those will keep the pipes from freezing and busting,” Crow said.
And though these tips may save you some money, there’s some things the Fort Worth fire department says could save your life.
“In the winter time we definitely see an increase in fire activity and a large majority of those are going to be heating type fires,” said Mike Drivdahl, PIO for the Fort Worth Fire Department.
They say, be careful how you choose to stay warm.
“If you’re using your oven to heat your home, that’s not what its designed for,” Drivdahl said.
And more importantly, they say to check your smoke detectors before cranking up the heat.
“We really like to stress smoke detectors, I know that doesn’t necessarily have to do with heat and cold, but it does have to do with safety in fires, because of the heat and cold,” Drivdahl said. “Smoke detectors give you vital minutes to get out of your home, in case of an emergency.”
