Winter Storm Preparedness in Austin & San Antonio

Before the Freeze: A Central Texas Checklist

Austin and San Antonio homes are built for heat, not hard freezes. Pipes run through attics and exterior walls, tankless water heaters sit in garages, and irrigation lines are often barely below the surface. When a norther drops temperatures into the 20s overnight, those are the first things to fail. Most freeze damage is preventable with an hour of work the day before.

Protect your pipes

• Disconnect garden hoses and cover every outdoor faucet (hose bib) with an insulated cover. A hose left attached traps water that freezes back into the wall.
• Insulate exposed pipes in the attic, garage, crawl space and on exterior walls with foam pipe sleeves.
• Let faucets on exterior walls drip on the coldest nights, hot and cold. Moving water is far less likely to freeze.
• Open the cabinet doors under kitchen and bathroom sinks so the room’s warmth reaches the pipes.
• Find your main water shut-off now, while nothing is leaking. If a pipe bursts, shutting it off in the first few minutes is the difference between a repair and a remodel.
• Drain and protect irrigation lines and backflow preventers, which are exposed above ground and crack easily.

Get your heating ready

The first cold night is when a furnace that sat idle all summer shows its problems: a dirty flame sensor, a failed igniter or a cracked heat exchanger. A fall furnace tune-up catches those before you need the heat, and includes a carbon monoxide check on gas systems. If you have a heat pump, expect “aux heat” to come on in a hard freeze. That is normal, but a system that runs on auxiliary heat all the time needs a look. Keep the thermostat steady rather than setting it far back overnight, and don’t let the house drop below about 55°F if you leave town.

Water heaters and tankless units

Tankless water heaters in garages or on exterior walls have built-in freeze protection that only works while the unit has power and gas. If the power goes out during a freeze, drain the unit following the manufacturer’s instructions. Tank water heaters in unheated garages and attics should have insulated supply lines. Our tankless water heater team can add isolation valves that make draining a two-minute job.

Plan for power outages

Without power, furnaces, heat pumps, sump pumps and tankless water heaters all stop. A standby generator, installed and connected by a licensed electrician (Austin area), keeps the heat and water running. Never run a portable generator, grill or gas oven indoors or in an attached garage for heat. Carbon monoxide builds up quickly, and every home should have working CO detectors.

After the Freeze: What to Do if a Pipe Bursts

1. Shut off the main water valve and, if water is near outlets or the panel, the power to that area.
2. Open the faucets to drain the remaining water and relieve pressure.
3. Don’t thaw a pipe with an open flame. Use a hair dryer or space heater kept well away from anything that can burn.
4. Call a licensed plumber. Frozen pipes often split in more than one place, and the second crack shows up when the water comes back on.

Radiant answers 24/7 through every Central Texas freeze, with the same upfront pricing at 2 a.m. as at noon. See frozen pipe repair and burst pipe repair, or call us. Our licensed plumbers and HVAC technicians serve Austin and San Antonio, and have done since 1999.