MILWAUKEE — Overnight temperatures — and most daytime temps — will remain well below freezing throughout the week, raising the risk of water pipes bursting.
Simple steps can save you a lot of money this Christmas if you're a homeowner or a renter. And who better to walk us through their well-insulated basement than a plumber?
“I’ve had these pipes in here for 30 years and as cold as we’ve got, it’s never frozen," said Al Kabinski, owner of Al's Discount Plumbing.
For anyone with an exterior wall, he said, you need to be insulating your pipes, especially in the basement.
Kabinski uses affordable foam tube insulation that slips over copper pipes, which keeps off the cold air. Proper insulation in your basement sills will also keep the cold air out, he said.
Kabinski says every homeowner should know how to turn off their water from inside the home in the event of a pipe break. And, it's important to properly manage sinks along exterior walls.
"The most important thing you can do during cold weather is open the [cabinet] doors to get some air circulation in here," said Kabinski.
It's still early in the season, but water pipes and water meters can freeze within a few hours of exposure to cold air, according to Milwaukee Water Works.
"This will get progressively worse," said Water Works Superintendent Patrick Pauly.
During the winter of 2013-2014, city crews responded to 154 frozen service calls and replaced 509 burst water meters. That was extreme. Last year, they only performed eight frozen service calls but still replaced 137 burst water meters.
Water Works recommends keeping the inside temperature above 32 degrees and allowing a trickle of water to run from a faucet to prevent freezing.
Superintendent Pauly said if you plan on leaving for the winter for an extended period, you should call his department for a seasonal service turnoff.
“And all the piping internally should be drained to ensure that if for some reason the building does lose heat, that the pipes don’t freeze and cause even more damage," Pauly said. "As you can imagine, burst meter, frozen pipe internally can cause significant damage to the foundation and basement of a home."
With strong wind gusts up to 55 mph anticipated for later this week, there is also the chance for power outages. Kabinski said there's not a lot you can do if in an outage.
"There is heat tape for outside walls, but if your power is out, that's not going to do you any good," he said. "That's why keeping ahead of the game, and keeping your house a little bit warmer, so if you do have a temporary outage, your walls and everything are warm."
We Energies said if gusting winds do damage power lines, crews may have to wait for winds to subside to make repairs. Though, a spokesperson said, they don't always need to go up in a bucket truck.
They said consumers should be reassured that they'll have crews on standby and workarounds to reroute power if needed.
