One of the primary reasons people have to call emergency plumbing services during the winter is to repair and clean up from a frozen pipe burst. When you are home, you can prevent issues with frozen pipes by leaving a faucet dripping, opening cabinets under sinks, and covering outdoor faucets. The real problem is when you are not in town due to travel or vacation and a deep freeze sets in.
One of the easiest way to avoid pipe damage while you are away from your home is to shut off the water to your house and drain the pipes. The challenge most home owners have with this is that shutting off the water to a house generally requires accessing the covered main by the street and using a specialized tool to shut off the water. This is cumbersome. However, you can have a simple shut off installed closer to your house in a housing that is much more accessible. A simple shut off doesn’t require tools.
Home owners with simple shutoffs have a two step process to quickly prepare their house for freezes while they are away. The first is to shut the water off which takes less than 1 minute. The second is to turn on a faucet in order to let the pipes drain. This process takes less than a minute to do and you simply want to come back and close the faucet after about 10 minutes when most of the water has drained. This simple process will relieve the water pressure from the house.
Once you return from your leave and turn the water back on, you will want to take a walk around the house to make sure that no pipes have broken and that no fixtures (toilets, sink units, etc) have broken or are leaking due to a washer or other issue that could have been affected while you were away.
The next time you have a plumber at your home for a service call, inquire into installing a simple shut off to put your mind at ease while traveling during the winter months.