Winter Weather Advice

12 January 2017

Below are some helpful maintenance tips that can help you protect your home during winter.

Find your stopcock

The stopcock is a valve for turning off and on the cold water system in your home. When you turn the stopcock in a clockwise direction the water supply will be cut off. You can turn the water supply back on by turning the stopcock in an anti-clockwise direction.

Set your central heating to come on for short periods throughout the day to make sure the temperature in each room is reasonably high.
Lift the trap door slightly from the roof space to allow hot air from the main house to get into the loft.
Open the doors to the sink unit to allow warmer air to circulate round the pipes.
Allow warm air to circulate round the house by slightly opening the doors to the individual rooms.
If your home will be empty during the colder weather ask someone to go in and turn the heating on for a short time and check for frozen pipes or drain down the cold water tank.

Most frozen pipes are found in the roof space and below sink units.
Turn the water supply off at the stopcock.
Thaw along the pipe starting from the end nearest the tap.
Put hot water bottles or a thick cloth soaked in hot water over the frozen pipe. Be careful not to warm them too quickly or they may burst.
Don't use a blow lamp or any naked flames, this may cause damage to your pipes or lead to a fire in your home.

Turn off the water supply by turning the stopcock clockwise.
Try and block the escaping water with thick cloths like towels.
Drain the system.
If the water has come into contact with electrical fittings the electricity should be turned off at the mains.

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