General advice for Council tenants in winter
Freezing temperatures can cause damage to pipes and heating systems. We have useful information for Council tenants during the winter months.
If you need advice please call the Repairs Contact Centre on 0800 0196 444.
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Make sure pipes and tanks in your roof space are lagged. Never insulate beneath the water tank in the loft. It needs some heat to penetrate from below.
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If you are going away for some weeks during the winter, leave the heating on all the time on a very low heat
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In very cold weather keep your heating on all the time on a very low heat. You may want to open the loft hatch to allow heat into the loft. This will help prevent pipes from freezing.
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Know where your stop-tap is. It is where the water pipe enters the house, usually under the kitchen sink or in the bathroom
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Know where the gate-valves for the hot and cold water tanks are. They are usually by the hot water and cold water tanks
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Make sure that you can easily turn all taps and valves
What to do
Frozen pipes
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Turn off the water at the main stop-tap.
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You are probably best to leave the pipes frozen but you may try to thaw them using hot water bottles
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If the hot water system is frozen, turn off the water heater
Burst pipes
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Turn off the water at the main stop-tap
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Turn off any water heaters
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Turn on all taps to drain water from the system. This may take about 15 minutes
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When the water stops running, turn all taps off
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If electrics are getting wet, do not touch . Turn off electricity at the consumer unit (fuse box)
Our latest tenants newsletter (PDF 203Kb) has useful winter advice too.