Avoiding Frozen Pipes

The Washington Post has an article on what to do if your pipes freeze. Not a current worry here, but worth filing away for the future.

Here's some of the advice that I left:

Let's throw some extra pointers out there . . .
1. Leave the sink base cabinets open to allow better air flow, especially in older homes with poor wall insulation.
2. Make sure you don't have any hoses hooked up outside and that the hose bibs are protected with insulating covers.
3. If your house is vacant, call a friend/realtor/somebody to check on it and make sure the heat is on.
4. If you have a crawlspace, close the vents for the time being. Ideally, any plumbing line in the space should be insulated.
5. If you have a basement look for water lines that are in contact with concrete. Put a piece of insulating material, even some rubber, behind the lines to get them off the walls and fill the air gap. Pay attention to the laundry lines in old houses.
6. Add portable electric heat to spaces where pipes are subject to freezing. Use as little heat as you can and make sure there are no combustibles nearby.

Better to go to overkill on precautions than to deal with a flood.