Caring for your plumbing

 

Frost protection is the area where a little care is most likely to save trouble and expense.

 

If you have an outside tap, turn off the inside stopcock in November and open the outside tap to drain it.

 

If you are going to be away at Christmas and/or New Year, make sure your heating is left on, on a low setting. 

Many boilers, programmers and thermostatic radiator valves show a snowflake symbol for this.

 

If you have not already done so, spend a bit of time in the summer months checking that your pipework is properly insulated. Also check that you know where to find stopcocks for use in an emergency. It is a good idea to turn them once a year to prevent sticking but sometimes people do this with the wrong valve and wind up with problems.  An alternative is to have a wall switch fitted which will turn off the mains water (see our repairs and servicing page).

 

In the event of a leak, turn off your main stopcock, and if you have a tank system, run taps to empty the tank (a cold bath tap is best).