Cold weather tips
Burst pipes
To prevent burst pipes in cold weather you can:
- Try to keep your home fairly warm at all times even when you are not there - leave the heating on a low setting
- Know where your stopcock is and make sure you can turn off the main water supply if you need to
- Make sure outside taps are lagged and if they have separate stopcocks turn them off in winter
If your pipes do freeze or burst:
- Turn off the main stopcock
- Switch off your immersion heater if you have one
- Switch off your heating and hot water system
- Turn on all your taps to drain off as much water as possible
- Try to find out where the water is coming from and contain it if possible by putting rags or a bucket under it
- It is important that you do not use your lights if water is dripping through a light fitting
Condensation
Condensation is one of the main causes of mould in your home. It can easily be controlled with a few easy steps.
Condensation starts as moisture produced from cooking, washing, and drying clothes on radiators. As the moisture rises and cools on cold surfaces - such as ceilings, walls, tiles and windows - it turns to liquid and can form mould.
You can help control condensation and mould by:
- keeping your property at a temperature of at least 18C
- closing kitchen and bathroom doors to stop steam going into other rooms
- opening kitchen and bathroom windows when cooking or washing to let steam escape
- opening windows in rooms for a while each day to let in fresh air
- wiping down surfaces when moisture settles to stop mould forming
- not blocking air vents
You can help reduce moisture by:
- drying clothes outside whenever possible
- covering pans (and opening windows) when cooking
- venting tumble dryers outside
If you would like one of our hygrometer-thermometers to help you measure temperature and humidity to prevent mould, please contact us.