Do it Yourself: How to Winterize Your Water Heater, Pipes and Ducts

The Winter is the hardest time of the year for homes and apartment pipes, ducts and joists in the Northern tier of the United States. It is equally hard on our neighbors to the North, Canada. Many do it yourself projects can turn out to be a nightmare. These simple projects are ones that even a monkey could do. A monkey with a credit card, that is. For a small investment of time and money anyone can reduce energy loss and possibly reduce the horrible experience of a broken pipe in the middle of Winter.

At the least you may reduce your energy use and increase energyefficiency . All of these products may be purchased locally at Ace Hardware and Home Depot or any building supply company. You will generally find store personnel very helpful if you have any questions.

Living in this region you may find tremendous variations of temperature in the Winter months. The occasional Chinook may bring days 50 degrees above with the next day 30 degrees below Celsius. Many a day I have seen local plumbers and cleaning crews parked in the old neighborhoods during the Winter. The usual problem is a broken pipe or frozen pipe often times in the basement, resulting in flood, and a myriad of other habitation problems. Home dwellers may prevent these plumbing disasters from occurring by following some very simple and low cost do it yourself maintenance in the basement.

Insulate the Water Heater and Water Pipes:

There are various do it yourself web tutorials I can recommend and will do so in the resource section of this article. The first step is to prevent heat loss and prevent cold air from entering through exposed areas of your basement. The water heater is a prime suspect in the area of heat loss as well as the water pipes that are attached to the water pipe. There are insulation blankets you may purchase or craft yourself. One item that is very cost effective is Ace Hardware's Water Heater Insulation Jacket.