While our friends in the Midwest and north mock us Texans for the deep freeze we are about to endure, we need to do some prep work. Since our homes and pipes aren't insulated for this temperature differential here are some things to do to keep your pipes from bursting [THREAD]

1) With single-digit temps we are way past dripping faucets: the hot and cold faucets need to ** RUN IN A STREAM** on ALL interior faucets on exterior walls. Dripping will not cut it! If your home is NOT built on a slab foundation, you need to do this on ALL interior faucets.

If you have a tankless water heater, streaming that water is especially important.

2) Leave cabinet doors open so that warm air can get inside to warm up pipes below sinks.

3) On exterior hose bibs: fold a towel long ways, wrap *loosely* around hose bib, duct tape, then wrap a garbage bag around that, add more duct tape. You want some air inside to keep it warmer, hence the not wrapping as hard as you can.

4) If your washer and dryer is on an exterior wall in your garage or other unconditioned area, this is a point of danger. A clamp on heat lamp directed at the valves is a good idea. Be careful that it doesn’t touch anything!

5) If your home is VACANT consider draining water lines to the house. Turn off water at the curb & open all facuets to drain. Turn water heater to “vac low” (vacation low) so it doesn’t turn on. LEAVE taps & cabinets open (and re-cover your hose bibs once they’re drained).

Our last big power outage in Texas was 2011 during a deep freeze that wasn't as cold & didn't last as long. A lot of coal & natural gas plants shut down in the cold so we had rotating outages. This time we have more wind to provide power, but blades can ice over. Good luck! [END]