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When the weather turns frigid, you are at a high risk of pipes freezing and potentially bursting. Burst pipes are one of the most common causes of home damage in the winter months and the cost to repair both the pipes and potential water damage this can create is significant.

The good news is that you can prevent pipes from freezing by being diligent, taking protective measures and knowing the facts.

Which pipes are most vulnerable to freezing?

Some pipes in your home are more susceptible to freezing than other simply because of their location in your home. The pipes that are at the highest risk for freezing are:

• Pipes that are exposed and located in unheated areas of the home (basement, garage, etc.
• Pipes found in exterior walls
• Any pipes located on the exterior of your home

Frozen Pipe Prevention

As soon as winter approaches and temps start to drop, you should be thinking about taking measures to keep your pipes out of the danger zone for freezing. Experts suggest that the threshold to keep in mind for freezing pipes is when the temperature reaches 20 degrees Fahrenheit or below.

Here are our top prevention tips to help you beat the cold and keep the water running:

• Open the doors to your kitchen and bathroom cabinets to allow the pipes to be exposed to the warm air circulating in the room. When the cabinets remain closed, they have less of a chance of benefiting from the warm air in the rest of the room.
• Open any faucets with exposed pipes to a slow drip of cold water. Keeping water running through the pipes will help prevent them from freezing.
• Install a low-temperature sensor. When the temperature drops below a certain threshold, the low temperature sensor will notify you via your keypad, phone, email, or whatever method you have set up. Some sensors also produce an audible alarm. Install it anywhere in your home within minutes and always be in the know if your home becomes dangerously cold.
• Keep your house warm. Many people turn down their thermostats when they are sleeping or away, but it is not wise to do so in extremely cold weather. In fact, if you plan to leave your home during cold weather months, be sure your thermostat is set no lower than 55 degrees.
• The ultimate step in frozen pipe prevention is to add in insulation to the areas where pipes are prone to freezing. Ideally, this should be done before the cold weather season so you have time to ensure all the exposed pipes are covered.

What to Do in the Case of a Frozen Pipe

If, despite your best efforts, you end up with a frozen pipe, there are several steps that you can take to thaw it.

Frozen pipes need to be handled with caution, they are at a high risk for bursting and flooding your home with water. If you discover that a pipe has already broken or burst, immediately turn off the main water supply to prevent further flooding and damages.

If you have a frozen pipe, but no burst, you can do the following to alleviate the situation:

• Run water through the frozen pipe. There is usually an ice plug somewhere inside the pipe and as it starts to melt, running water through the pipe assist in the melting and break up of the ice plug.
• Apply heat to the affected pipe. There are many things you can use to apply heat to the pipe such as; a blow dryer, space heater, heating pad or there are even specialized heating tools designed for frozen pipes that you can purchase. DO NOT use any kind of heating tool that has an open flame as this is a serious fire hazard and could also melt your pipes.

Continue to run the water and apply heat to the pipe until you see that full water pressure has been restored in all of your faucets.

If you are unable to locate the source of the frozen pipe, are uncomfortable attempting to thaw it on your own or cannot access the pipe safely, be sure to call a certified plumber right away to provide professional assistance.

Unfortunately, frozen pipes in the winter are a common occurrence. Luckily, it is preventable if you take the necessary steps to prepare your home for the cold winter season.

First and foremost, if you know that your pipes are prone to freezing due to their location in your home or their lack of insulation, the best solution is to be prepared. Whether you take on the job yourself, or call a professional, the key is to do it before cold weather strikes to prevent a burst pipe.

If you live in a cold climate, you have likely seen frost accumulate on the windows in your home. While the frost may look pretty and add to the winter ambiance, it is not good for your windows.

Older homes often feature single pane windows that don’t protect against the cold as well as modern windows. Seeing frost on your windows used to be fairly commonplace, but thanks to new window technology, our windows and homes are now better protected from the cold.

Here’s how you can protect your windows from getting damaged by frost.

Why Frost Forms on Windows

Frost forming on your home’s windows requires two atmospheric conditions; cold air on the outside and moist air on the inside. When these two conditions are present, the moist air on the inside of the home is drawn to the cold windows.

When the temperature outdoors gets below the dew point, the water vapor on the windows will begin to solidify into a liquid which then will freeze making ice crystals.

Single pane windows, most commonly used in older homes, are most susceptible to developing frost. More modern windows are armed with double or triple panes which help to prevent moisture from seeping in.

Why Frost on Windows is Bad

While it may provide a picturesque winter scene, frost is not good for your windows or your home. Frost can cause damage as it melts because it transfers moisture to whatever is next to it. In the case of your windows, it is usually a wooden surface.

If left untreated, you will begin to see paint and varnish peeling and damage to your wood. Eventually, mold will start to grow, and with it, a whole new host of problems and dangers for your home.

How to Avoid Frost on Windows

There are several things you can do around your home to avoid frost – and it’s effective even on older single-pane \windows

• Make sure there are no plumbing leaks in your home. Even something as small as a slow leaking faucet can create excess moisture in your home.
• Run a dehumidifier. This helps reduce the amount of moisture inside your home.
• Make sure your home is heated properly. Keep the temperature in your home sufficiently warm at night time to reduce the possibility of frost forming.
• Don’t hang clothing up to dry indoors. If possible, put clothing in the dryer instead of hang-drying during the winter since this will add moisture to the room.
• Soak up any visible moisture on windows. If you see condensation on your windows dry it up with a towel before it can turn into frost.

If all else fails and you continue to have problems with frosty windows, your best bet is to invest in double-paned windows that will help to prevent frost and subsequent damage to your home.

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The Honeywell Lyric alarm panel responds to RF jamming by alerting you with a warning and/or contacting the central monitoring station if it detects a signal jam for longer than 20 seconds.

What makes RF jammers so dangerous?

RF jammers are designed to block of the communications devices in a small radius, preventing your alarm system from contacting the central station. These devices can exploit gaping security holes that affect most of the cheaper alarm systems out there.

Although RF jammers are illegal in the United States, the online black market makes the devices accessible to criminals all over the world. Homeowners with larger houses are particularly at risk of being targeted by more sophisticated burglaries.

Fortunately, Honeywell equipment isn’t some ordinary consumer-grade junk that’s being handed out by most of the major security providers on the market. This is professional-grade stuff.

How does the Honeywell Lyric system stop jammers?

When a device frequency range (345MHz or 2.4ghz) has been transmitting for over 20 seconds, your Honeywell alarm panel displays an alert in the form of an exclamation point followed by number code that corresponds with the affected radio frequency.

There will also be some beeping noises that you can silence by pressing any button.

If you’ve enabled trouble reporting, your device will contact your Central Monitoring Station. Once the RF Jam condition is gone, you can clear the Trouble alert with a Disarm + Code entry.

The RJ Jam feature from factory comes activated with a RF Jam Log. To modify the Lyric controller RF Jam detection settings from the Lyric Controller’s home screen select Security > Tools > enter 4-digit installer code “default is 4112” > Program > System Type > Toggle RF Jam button to your liking.

If you have other questions about our products, contact us and we’ll help you out.

If you are a homeowner with a mortgage, it is generally a requirement by lenders that you have homeowners’ insurance. While it’s not a legal requirement, it’s considered a good idea in terms of your financial plan and protection.

While most homeowners have this important insurance, very few actually know what homeowners’ insurance covers until they need to use it

Homeowners’ policies and coverage options will differ from policy to policy and state to state, here are some general coverage guidelines to help you better understand your insurance plan covers.

What Homeowners Insurance Covers

In general, a homeowners’ policy covers hazards that are specifically listed as covered events in your policy. Many homeowners experience an unfortunate accident or disaster and assume that their insurance will cover it, only to realize that a particular event is not covered by your policy.

There are four main categories of homeowners’ insurance coverage:

Coverage for the structure of your home – your policy will cover repairs or rebuilding of your home in the case of fire, hail, lightning, hurricane, or other events specifically listed in your policy.

Most insurance policies will also provide primary coverage for any detached structures you may have, such as a garage or shed.

Coverage for personal belongings – your personal belongings — clothes, furniture, appliances, electronics are covered under certain conditions. If damaged by a fire, hurricane or other disaster listed in your policy, you typically have between 50 and 70 percent of the coverage for personal belongings that you have on the structure of your home.

Expensive or valuables such as jewelry, collectibles, or artwork are usually covered in your policy, but there may be a restriction on the dollar amount. If you have a lot of these types of personal belongings, your best bet is to get the items appraised and purchase additional coverage for these valuables.

Interestingly, this coverage also includes trees and shrubs on your property. If these are damaged by a disaster that is covered under your policy, you will be covered up to a certain amount.

Liability Protection – this is coverage that protects you against potential lawsuits involving property damage or bodily injury to another person or their home.

This part of your coverage will pay for your court costs up to the amount that is stipulated in your contract. Most policies carry $100,000 of standard coverage which can be increased to meet your financial protection needs.

Your homeowners’ policy should also have no-fault coverage should a friend or neighbor get injured in your home. This is designed to reimburse them for medical bills or other injury-related expenses.

Additional Living Expenses – this coverage pays for the cost of living away from home — staying at a hotel or a relative’s home — if your property is uninhabitable due to a disaster. There are limits on this coverage, so it is essential to understand your particular policy guidelines before incurring expenses that might not be reimbursed.

What Homeowners’ Insurance Does NOT Cover

As important as it is to understand what your homeowners’ policy covers, it is equally as important to understand what it does not cover. The two big exclusions from homeowners’ policy coverage are earthquakes and floods.

Floods and Earthquakes

If you live in an area that has been deemed a floodplain, or prone to earthquakes, you are required to purchase a separate policy to cover damage from these incidents.

With some level of unpredictability when it comes to flooding and earthquakes, it may make sense to research your area and talk to a professional to consider purchasing these coverages. If you are not in a designated danger zone, the premium for these coverages should be minimal should one of these disasters ever strike.

Other Man-made and Natural Disasters

Other events that aren’t covered by your traditional homeowners’ policy include:

• Mudslides
• Landslides
• Sinkholes
• Warfare damage
• Nuclear accidents

Neglect

Another potential incident that homeowners’ insurance may not cover is damage that results from neglect. For example, if you have a failing roof that has needed replacement for years and a natural disaster exploits its structural weakness causing damage, you may not be completely covered.

Your insurance company may investigate the claim to determine the cause of the disaster. If neglect and not the storm are determined to be the cause, they may deny or reduce your claim. For this reason, it is important to maintain your property.

How Much Coverage Do I Need?

It’s not always easy to know how much coverage you should purchase for your home’s insurance. You want to make sure that you are covered for common disasters, but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg for coverage that you will never use.

Your mortgage lender will typically have minimum coverage stipulations that you must follow for your loan to be approved. But it also depends on your financial situation in terms of protecting your assets and liability levels. This is why it’s important to consult with an insurance professional who can help you determine appropriate amount of coverage based on your situation.

Insurance can be complicated but knowing the basics will prepare you to meet with an insurance professional and ask questions about what your policy covers and what is does not.

What is Asbestos?

Asbestos is a mineral substance found in rock and soil and is resistant to heat and electricity. It can be pulled it into a fibrous, fluffy consistency so for many years, it was used widely in flooring, ceilings, insulation and concrete in homes and industrial buildings.

The extremely abrasive and microscopic fibrils in asbestos are invisible to the naked eye, so you could be exposed to it without ever knowing.

Why Asbestos Tests are Important

Asbestos can be deadly when inhaled, and should you find it in your home, take steps to lower the chance of it contaminating the whole house. Asbestos has been proven to cause severe lung damage and is a known carcinogen.

For this reason, it is vital that you understand how to test for asbestos before doing construction on any property. Before any demolition project can take place, you or a professional must take steps to confirm that there is no asbestos on-site.

Since asbestos cannot be detected with the naked eye and can be in a wide variety of material on the property, it is important to test for the substance before you do any work that might disturb and release it.

Who can Test for Asbestos?

Asbestos is dangerous enough to require serious protection even just for taking samples of it. Some states in the US do not also allow you to gather the material to send for testing yourself and require that EPA certified contractors conduct all tests.

Check your state’s laws on asbestos testing and removal before attempting it as your next DIY project. If it’s legal where you live, you can purchase an asbestos testing kit for around $50.

Step-by-Step Guide to Testing for Asbestos

For your safety and long-term health, take extreme caution when testing for asbestos. If you are at all unsure of your ability to carry it out testing safely, you should have an EPA-certified contractor handle it.

1. The first step in asbestos testing involves ensuring that the air in the space where you are testing is still. Making sure to close all windows and shut off all fans, heaters and air conditioning systems.

Do not attempt to clean any area or item that you wish to test as there could be asbestos particles in the dust on the surface of the area.

2. Once you have ensured that the air in the space is “dead” and all the dust has settled, you can equip all of the necessary protective gear. Make sure that you cover your body from head to toe.

Safety gear should include:

• Face mask/respirator
• Gloves
• Coveralls or full body clothing that covers all skin surfaces
• Shoe protectors
• Eye protection (mask/goggles)

All protective equipment that you wear during testing will need to be thrown away afterward.

3. Once your safety equipment is on, you can enter the testing area and begin to prep by laying down plastic sheeting on the ground that will catch any potential asbestos particles that fall.

4. Next, spray the whole testing area down with water using some misting or squirt bottle. When all of the surfaces are wet, and the air is humid, you can ensure that any dust created will quickly diminish.

5. Working as carefully as possible, use a utility knife or a chisel to carefully break away a piece of the object or material that you wish to test. Using extreme caution will help to minimize dust residue breaking off.

6. Using your same misting bottle from before, spray down the piece that you broke off to settle any dust. Make sure that the sample size that you obtain is between 5 and 100 grams in weight.

7. Using a pair of pliers, drop the sample into a Ziploc bag and immediately seal it up. On the outside of the bag, be sure to note information about the sample including; where it was taken from, when and what it is. Slip that bag inside another zipper bag and seal that one up as well to ensure it is secured.

8. Now you can start to clean up the area. Very carefully, gather up the plastic sheeting and drop it into a plastic garbage bag and seal the top of the bag with tape to securely trap any fibers on the inside.

9. Next, vacuum the area thoroughly with a vacuum that uses a bag. (A bagless vacuum will potentially leave a residue on the inside of your vacuum and contaminate it.) Be sure to throw the used vacuum bag in a plastic garbage bag when you are done and seal it up.

You can also take another wet rag and wipe down the area where you took the sample from and dispose of that rag as well. Apply a coat of heavy duty paint directly to the area where you collected the sample. The paint will help seal in any leftover particles and prevent them from flaking off.

10. Finally, remove all of your protective gear and immediately throw into a trash bag and seal it off with tape. Take a shower to rinse off anything that may have been in contact your skin.

Submitting Your Asbestos Sample

At this point, you are ready to submit your asbestos sample to an EPA-approved laboratory for testing. To find a testing center near you, you can check the EPA’s website which will also have detailed instructions for how to safely and adequately submit your sample.

An asbestos submission by a homeowner can take a month or more to process, so it is essential that you build this time into your project deadlines as you should not start any work that could disturb the interior of the building before you have the results of your test.

If you have a tighter deadline, samples collected by professionals are usually tested within 48 hours of collection, so professional services can save you a lot of time.

If your results test positive for asbestos, contact an EPA-certified contractor to begin the asbestos removal process since removing and disposing of asbestos requires a special license in most states.