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Cold weather advice for tenants

Freezing temperatures can cause damage to pipes and heating systems. 

If you need advice please call the Repairs Contact Centre on 01294 310000.

  • 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.
  • If you are going away for some weeks during the winter, leave the heating on all the time on a very low heat .
  • 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.
  • Know where your stop-tap is. It is where the water pipe enters the house, usually under the kitchen sink or in the bathroom.
  • Know where the gate-valves for the hot and cold water tanks are. They are usually by the hot water and cold water tanks.
  • Make sure that you can easily turn all taps and valves.

What to do

Frozen pipes

  • turn off the water at the main stop-tap
  • you are probably best to leave the pipes frozen but you may try to thaw them using hot water bottles
  • if the hot water system is frozen, turn off the water heater

Burst pipes

  • turn off the water at the main stop-tap
  • turn off any water heaters
  • turn on all taps to drain water from the system (this may take about 15 minutes)
  • then the water stops running, turn all taps off
  • if electrics are getting wet, do not touch, turn off the electricity at the consumer unit (fuse box).

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