November 2003

In the winter months your home is at risk from damage caused by the drop in temperature and the increase in storms. Burst or frozen pipes, and floods can cause fundamental damage to your home. To ensure you are well protected from these potential hazards please look at our safety guidelines:

• Make sure you know where your mains water stop valve is and make sure you can turn it on and off.
• Repair any dripping taps
• Check where your water pipes and tank are and evaluate the insulation on them. They have the potential to freeze and need to be lagged.
• Pipes and tanks should preferably have 75mm of lagging
• Loft insulation should be approx. 150mm thick and totally secured

If your home is empty overnight during the winter:

• Leave your heating on while you are away from home. This will ensure the temperature does not reach freezing and protect your pipes.
• Open your loft trap door, to allow warm air from other parts of the house to circulate in the loft.
• Ask a friend or a relative to visit your home while you are away so that if something happens they can detect it as soon as possible and take remedial action.

If a pipe does burst, turn off the water at the mains, switch off the central heating and any other water heating installations and get professional help as soon as possible.