In a typical year Westminster has about 143 days at or below 32°F. Choose a town and the place your pipes run, and the checker rates how exposed they are on a cold night.
You get a risk level and the steps that help before a cold night.
We look at two things. The first is the average January low where you live, taken from ten years of daily weather. The second is where the pipes run. Pipes in an attic, a crawl space or a garage lose heat faster than pipes in a heated inside wall, and pipes on an outside wall or an outdoor spigot are the most exposed.
Each one adds points. A low score reads as low risk. Higher scores read as moderate, high or severe.
January is cold in every town in the picker, so the weather part of the score sits at or near its highest step wherever you choose. The result then turns on the pipe location. A line in a heated inside wall scores lower than one through a garage or crawl space, and an outdoor faucet scores highest.
An average is a typical figure and not a forecast. A single cold night can be colder than the January average, so the steps in the result are worth doing once and leaving in place.
Know where the main water shut-off valve is. Drain and disconnect garden hoses and cover outdoor spigots before the first freeze. Insulate pipes in unheated spaces. On a freezing night, a slight drip at a faucet and open cabinet doors on outside walls help. If you will be away, keep the heat on or have the plumbing drained. A plumber can look at any run you are unsure about.
Westminster’s average January low is 20°F, and a typical year has about 143 days at or below freezing. Outdoor faucets, garage and crawl space lines and pipes in unheated rooms are the ones at risk. Each town in the picker shows its own figures.
Water freezes at 32°F, but a pipe needs several hours of cold to freeze through. Pipes in an unheated space or on an outside wall are the first to go.
A slight drip keeps water moving through the pipe, and opening cabinet doors lets warm air reach pipes under sinks on outside walls. Both are simple steps for a night that drops below freezing.
It is usually where the water line enters the house, in a garage, a utility room or on an outside wall near the meter. Find it before you need it, and make sure everyone in the house knows where it is.
Keep the heat on at 55°F or higher, or have the plumbing drained before you leave. A plumber can drain the system and tell you how to bring it back.
Climate figures: Daymet daily data 2015 to 2024 for each place.
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