Why your home's plumbing needs a winter 'exhale'
In short: Leaving your house empty during winter creates a high-stakes gamble between energy costs and catastrophic water damage. If the heat stays off, pipes can freeze and burst, potentially costing thousands of dollars. To protect the infrastructure without running the furnace, you have to systematically evacuate every drop of water.
Preventing frozen pipes in an unoccupied home requires a two-part strategy: removing water from supply lines and protecting what must remain. According to plumbing expert Richard Trethewey, the process begins at the lowest point of the house. By opening the lowest faucet, homeowners can initiate a gravity drain of the entire supply system. However, simply opening faucets is often insufficient for deep interior lines; using an air compressor to blow out remaining water from valves, dishwashers, and washing machines ensures that no stagnant liquid remains to expand and crack the pipes.
A critical nuance in winterization involves what is left behind. While supply lines must be empty, drain traps should not be fully drained. Removing this water would allow sewer gases to enter the living space. Instead, these traps are protected by pouring non-toxic antifreeze—specifically propylene glycol—into them. This same substance is used to treat toilet tanks and even the boiler in forced hot water heating systems to prevent freezing in pipes that cannot be fully evacuated.
The scope of protection extends beyond the main plumbing. For a truly secure winterization, homeowners should also drain stand-alone water heater tanks and any specific lines supplying appliances like refrigerators. By combining mechanical drainage with chemical protection, you mitigate the risk of thousands of dollars in damage while keeping the home's interior safe from both ice and sewer odors.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: How to Drain Pipes for the Winter | This Old House
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