Shut Your Window!

Opening windows in the dead of winter can cause water pipes to freeze and subsequently, to burst. This isn't news to anyone who's lived in a colder climate, or anyone who's seen the damage of burst pipes. In my review of Mama's Pizza, I mention that the restaurant was at the time, closed for repairs due to a water main explosion. The restaurant, I'm happy to say, has now reopened but only after 11 months of hard work and a complete gutting of the interior. While the issue with the restaurant was caused by an old building with poor insulation on the pipes, the number one cause of burst pipes is actually open windows.

As a freshman in college, the 'shut your windows' lesson was taught to us the first day of dorm life. We lived in historic buildings on campus, lining Grand and Summit Aves in St. Paul. Our buildings were considered landmarks and as such, there was little new about them. While most of the buildings have been upgraded in the past 10 years, all still have steam heat or radiator heat. These forms of heat use water as the main source of power and the heating pipes that run through the rooms have pressurized hot water running through them. Even if we didn't understand why, we all knew that we had to "shut your windows!" as soon as it became a little chilly outside.