Protecting Your Indoor Appliances From Winter’s Fury
It may be still warm outside, but winter’s cold will soon be upon every household in the region. In fact, you might have just completed a refrigerator repair for your home, so you want to keep it as pristine as possible even when howling winds take over outside. Protecting and winterizing your appliances involves plumbing and pipe care to reduce possible leaks from cracking materials.
Keep Your Heater Activated
One of the simplest ways to winterize your appliances is maintaining a uniform indoor temperature. In most cases, you’ll have the heater on when you’re at home for personal comfort. If you leave for work or even on vacation, it’s critical to leave the heater on. Simply turn it to a lower temperature, such as 55 degrees Fahrenheit. Internal appliance components and pipes won’t contract with this relatively warm temperature, so no cracks can arise. Leaving the home to freeze while you’re away only creates stress on all metals, and this strain often leads to refrigerator repair problems and other issues.
Seal Up Your Interior
In the fall, it’s a smart idea to walk around the home’s perimeter with a caulk gun. Use the caulk to fill any cracks or gaps that allow drafts into the home. Even extend your walk into the home’s interior to fill gaps in these areas. Additionally, install insulation within the attic and possibly inside the walls. When the home isn’t subjected to cold drafts and freezing temperatures, the appliances can remain stable and damage-free throughout the winter.
Wrap Those Pipes
Most of the home has plumbing pipes that are hidden within walls, so they’re relatively safe from any freezing harm. However, it’s critical for you to seek out those pipes that do extend out of crevices and walls. If any pipes servicing your appliances, such as dishwashers and refrigerators, are exposed, then significant freezing damage can occur. Ideally, we should wrap those pipes with insulating materials to keep them as protected as possible. Both residents and contractors can locate these areas to thoroughly service the property before freezing temperatures arrive.
The Open Door Trick
At times, even indoor appliances can succumb to cold temperatures with the thermostat set to a comfortable level. As a solution, open doors within the home and even along cabinet walls. When indoor air can circulate freely among all of the pipes and appliance components, the overall temperature will remain stable. Even if a thermostat is set to 55 degrees Fahrenheit, all of the items exposed to the same air mass will resist extreme temperature fluctuations. Our professionals can help you pinpoint the best open door policy for your property at a future appointment.
Our repair experts can look over each appliance and its corresponding piping to ensure a safe winter season. By the time spring arrives, every appliance will still be in prime working order for reliable service every day.
Photo by Flammingo (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
