Getting Your Home Ready for Winter In The Okanagan: A Plumbing & Heating Checklist
Winter in the Okanagan can bring freezing temperatures, snow and plenty of cold mornings. Before winter arrives, a little preparation can help protect your home's plumbing and heating systems and catch potential problems before they become emergencies.
Here are a few things worth checking before the temperatures drop.
Check Your Outdoor Water Connections
One of the simplest things you can do before winter is prepare your outdoor plumbing.
Disconnect garden hoses and make sure outdoor hose bibs are properly shut off and drained where applicable. Leaving water in exposed plumbing can increase the risk of freezing and damage when temperatures drop.
If you have an outdoor water connection that has been leaking or isn't working properly, fall is a good time to have it looked at before winter arrives.
Know Where Your Main Water Shut-Off Is
Do you know where the main water shut-off valve is in your home?
If a pipe bursts or you suddenly have a significant plumbing leak, knowing how to quickly shut off the water can help limit the amount of damage.
If you're unsure where your main shut-off is located, take a few minutes to find it and make sure it can be turned off easily.
It's also worth making sure everyone in the household knows where it is.
Check for Signs of Plumbing Leaks
Small leaks can become bigger problems, especially during colder weather.
Take a quick look around areas where plumbing is visible, including:
Under sinks
Around your hot water tank
Around toilets
Near exposed pipes
In unfinished basements or utility areas
Around outdoor plumbing connections
Look for dripping water, moisture, staining or signs of previous water damage.
If something doesn't look right, it's better to have it assessed before it turns into a larger problem.
Check Your Hot Water Tank
Nobody wants to discover their hot water tank has failed in the middle of winter.
If your tank is older, leaking, making unusual noises or struggling to provide enough hot water, it may be worth having it assessed before winter.
Depending on the condition of the system, a repair may be all that's required. In other cases, replacing an aging tank before it fails can help you avoid an unexpected loss of hot water.
If you're considering an upgrade, fall can also be a good time to look at tankless or instant water heaters.
Make Sure Your Heating System Is Ready
Your heating system is going to be working hard once the temperatures drop.
Before winter, turn your heating system on and make sure it's operating properly. Pay attention to unusual noises, inconsistent heating or rooms that aren't warming up as they normally should.
If your heating system hasn't been maintained recently or isn't performing the way it should, getting it checked before the cold weather arrives can help prevent an inconvenient breakdown.
Don't Forget About Heated Floors
If you have hydronic heated floors, make sure the system is ready before you need it.
If you're considering heated floors for a renovation or new construction project, fall is also a good time to start planning. Depending on the project, heated floors can be incorporated into certain renovations and new home builds.
Check Exposed Plumbing in Unheated Areas
Pipes located in garages, crawl spaces, unfinished areas or other colder parts of the home can be more vulnerable to freezing.
Make sure these areas are properly protected and that doors, windows or other openings aren't allowing cold air to reach exposed plumbing.
If you're concerned about a particular section of plumbing, a plumber can assess the setup and help determine whether anything should be changed before winter.
Thinking About Renovations?
If you're planning a renovation over the fall or winter, it's worth thinking about your plumbing and heating before the project gets underway.
Changing the location of a sink, adding a bathroom, moving appliances or installing heated floors can all affect your existing plumbing and heating systems.
Planning these changes early can make it easier to coordinate the work before walls and floors are closed up.
A Few Simple Checks Can Go a Long Way
You don't need to completely overhaul your home every fall. A few simple checks can help you catch potential problems before the cold weather arrives.
Check your outdoor plumbing, know where your water shut-off is, look for leaks, make sure your hot water system is working properly and confirm that your heating system is ready for winter.
And if something doesn't look right, it's better to have it looked at before a small problem becomes a winter emergency.
Plumbing & Heating Services Throughout the Okanagan
Betteridge Plumbing & Heating provides residential plumbing and heating services throughout Vernon, Lake Country, Coldstream, Armstrong, Lumby, Oyama, Kelowna and surrounding Okanagan communities.
From hot water tanks and plumbing repairs to heating systems, renovations and heated floors, we're here to help homeowners prepare their homes for winter and keep things running smoothly throughout the season.