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.