How to keep your pipes from freezing

KETTERING, Ohio (WDTN) - Your cabinets are open and so are your faucets, so you're safe from having your pipe dreams turn into frozen nightmares, right?

Not exactly.

2 NEWS talked with the experts at A-Abel about protecting your pipes.

They tell us in most cases it's the outside pipes that give people the most trouble.

"It's when people put these after market pieces on," says Nick Hirth, A-Abel Plumbing's Service Manager. "That's when they tend to have a lot of the problems."

Hirth says attachments like hoses or the small piece we found at one Kettering home prevent the outside faucets from clearing all the water in the line.

That water can then freeze in the cold temperatures and leave more than your pipes feeling frigid.

"If that splits it could rupture the pipe inside and you'd have one heck of a leak on your hands," Hirth says.

While the outside faucets are the biggest worries, the inside pipes aren't completely safe from the cold.

So you can continue to open those cabinets and let that water trickle on those cold nights.

"It never hurts," Hirth says. "The little bit of water you're going to use you're not going to see it on your water bill and it's better to be safe than sorry."

Just remember those outside connections as well.

"Any attachments it's always good to spin those off so you just have the outside faucet," Hirth says.

A-Abel says it's already dealt with a few calls of frozen pipes this year.