Cold weather advice for tenants
Freezing temperatures can cause damage to pipes and heating systems.
If you need advice, please call our Contact Centre.
- Make sure pipes and tanks in your roof space are lagged. Never insulate beneath the water tank in the loft. It needs some heat to penetrate from below.
- In very cold weather keep your heating on all the time on a low heat. This could also be done if you are going away for a few weeks during. You may want to open the loft hatch to allow heat into the loft. This will help prevent pipes from freezing.
- Know where your stop tap is. It will be where the water pipe enters the house, usually under the kitchen sink or in the bathroom.
- Know where the gate valves for the hot and cold water tanks are. They should be close to the tanks.
- Make sure that you can easily turn all taps and valves.
What to do
If you find that damage has been done due to the cold. Here is some guidance on what you should do.
Frozen pipes
- turn off the water at the main stop tap
- you are probably best to leave the pipes frozen but you may try to thaw them using hot water bottles
- if the hot water system is frozen, turn off the water heater
Burst pipes
- turn off the water at the main stop tap
- turn off any water heaters
- turn on all taps to drain water from the system (this may take about 15 minutes)
- then after the water stops running, turn off all taps
- if electrics are getting wet, do not touch, turn off the electricity at the fuse box