How Do You Thaw Frozen Pipes?

With cold weather hitting many parts of the country, homeowners are facing the possibility of pipeline freezing.

This may not be just an inconvenience - frozen pipes may burst and flood your house, resulting in major floods that may not be covered by your homeowner's insurance.

We are sharing our favorite tips on how to thaw a frozen pipe before it becomes a burst and big problem!

Which pipes are frozen?

The first thing to do - before thawing the frozen pipe, you must find out where it is! This may not be obvious. Turn on all the taps in the house. If there is little or no water, the pipe leading to the faucet may have frozen. If you have exposed pipes in your house, you may just need to look at them to know which pipes are frozen - they may swell or frost.

Before attempting to thaw the pipe, open the hot and cold handle of the faucet connected to the frozen pipe. We recommend starting the thawing process as close to the faucet as possible to allow the melted ice to escape from the faucet. Otherwise, the ice may be blocked behind the blockage and the pipe may break.

Please remember to observe all safety precautions to avoid accidental fire.

Thaw visible pipe

Obviously, it is much easier to unfreeze easily accessible pipelines. You can try the following methods:

Turn on the blower: a simple way to thaw the frozen pipe is to use the blower to blow hot air onto the pipe, and start again from the part of the pipe closest to the faucet!

Use a hot towel: wrap it around the pipe with a hot towel, which will help thaw the ice.

Pick up the portable space heater: if you have a portable space heater or heating lamp, turn it on and place it next to the pipe (and remember to keep it away from water!)

Use the electric heating band: placing the electric heating band on the frozen pipe will spread the heat throughout the pipe and cause the ice to melt.

Thaw closed pipes

Thawing the pipes you can't see is a bit tricky, but there are some effective ways to solve the problem:

Turn your heat up! Depending on how much ice there is in the pipe, raising the thermostat may thaw the pipe.

Use infrared light: take an infrared light and put it on the part with freezing tube in front of the wall.

What if your pipe bursts

If the pipe bursts when you try to thaw, you should immediately close the main water pipe. If you don't know where it is, here's a quick guide to how to find it.

Prevent pipe freezing

You should still take measures to prevent the pipeline from freezing, especially if you live in a climate where the temperature is often lower than the freezing point. The heating cable with thermostat can read the temperature of the pipe and turn on the heat when the temperature is too low, which is a good solution. You should use heating cables in conjunction with duct insulation, especially in non heating areas such as crawling spaces, attics, and garages.