Baton Rouge and the surrounding areas are about to experience a freeze we haven't seen since the late 1980s. The weather experts predict lows in the teens, and we will not discuss the wind chill factor. Brrrr! We may not even go above freezing for a day or two. We are Southerners and do NOT know how to handle this!
Here are a few tips to help you keep your pipes from freezing...
1. Insulate your exterior hose bibs.
2. Disconnect the hoses from the outside spigots. This won't necessarily help your pipes, but it will keep you from purchasing new hoses in the Spring!
3. Open interior cabinet doors in rooms with pipes running along exterior walls.
4. DO NOT run a steady stream of water in your sink when you go to bed. Instead, keep a slight drip on the hot water side. Running a stream will potentially cause a decrease in water pressure if everyone does it. (Not good for the firefighters if they need to help someone.) A slight drip is good enough to keep the water moving through the pipes and much cheaper on your water bill as well.
5. When the temperatures get in the teens, it may even be a good idea to open the attic access a few inches so that the heat from the house can enter the attic. This will help with the pipes in the attic.
6. If you have a dishwasher with a delay start feature, set it to run a load in the middle of the night. This will keep the water moving while you are resting from being glued to the weather channel all day. What?! You know you will be watching to see what's going on!
Now that you have the pipes taken care of don't forget the people. Check on your neighbors and make sure they have their pipes taken care of and they have a reliable source of heat. Plumbers will be overwhelmed as things start freezing, so do what you can to help those that need it.
Make sure the pets are taken care of as well. I know you care for your pets like your people, with all the love. Lots of us have strays that come around that can typically take care of themselves. This arctic blast will be too much for them. Set up a place where they can snuggle up and stay warm until this passes.
Last but not least, take care of those plants! Put your container plants in a storage room or garage. If you can't do that, put them as close to the house as possible; under a patio is even better. The plants that are too large to move or planted in the ground will need to be covered with a sheet or plastic. The Louisiana Department of Agriculture has a few tips as well.
We won't see a white Christmas, but we will definitely have a COLD Christmas! Keep warm and enjoy!
Posted by Kristina Cusick on
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