Three consecutive nights of below-freezing temperatures could bring some unwanted plumbing repairs.
Joseph Spieker is the owner of Cookeville Plumbing and Electric. He said folks can prevent frozen pipes by closing crawl space openings and keeping the heat on when away from home.
“Your house still needs to be conditioned to protect it from the weather,” Spieker said. “If you leave for a weekend and turn the heat off, the temperature could change and then your house doesn’t have any protection. There has been a few incidents in the past where people turned the heat completely off and we’ve had to re-pipe the whole house.”
Spieker recommends keeping the thermostat at 70-degrees during cold weather. Residents should also disconnect outside hoses and close off any large holes around their homes.
Despite the current cold spell, Spieker said his company has not seen many frozen pipes this year.
“We haven’t’ had a whole lot of problems, maybe one or two for the entire winter so far,” Spieker said. “Most people have been tightening up their crawl spaces and closing the vents.”
Spieker said he usually sees more frozen pipes when the wind combines with consistent below-freezing temperatures.
According to the National Weather Service, low temperatures are expected to stay below-freezing through Thursday evening.
