Prevent Frozen Pipe during Winter in Hokkaido
Temperature in Sapporo, Hokkaido can drop as low as -15 degrees Celsius during the coldest winter period around January. When temperature drops below zero, water inside pipe will freeze and expand, thus bursting out of the pipe, damaging the pipe. On average, cost to fix such a damaged pipe can cost up to ONE MILLION YEN! Make sure to follow these 3 simple tips to prevent burst pipe during cold winter period! If you are planning to leave your apartment for a while for vacation, make sure to drain your water completely!
1) Keep your faucet dripping at night
When water flows, it will be less likely to freeze. So keeping water flow is important when it comes to prevent water inside pipe from getting frozen.
And no, I am not asking you to waste water by doing this; keep the water dripping in slow but steady manner (like in the picture). In order to save water, you can also put a container under the dripping faucet.
You can do this when you are about to go to sleep, specially if you are planning to keep the heater off when you sleep.
2) Insulate your room
One way to keep water from getting frozen is to maintain higher room temperature inside your apartment.
Windows and floors are uusually where the cold wave gets inside your room. So make sure to properly insulate all your windows and put carpets inside your room to maintain the comfortable room temperature!
3) Insulate exposed pipe with towel
If you have some exposed pipes inside your apartment, you can also take additional preventive measure by insulating them with towel.
Usually the landlord of your apartment have taken preventive measure by properly installing additional insulation in some exposed pipe in your room. But just in case, you can insulate other pipes that are not properly insulated.
Leaving for Vacation? Drain your pipes!
When you leave for vacation for couple of days, you are more likely to turn off the heating system inside your room to save utility fee. It means that the temperature inside your room will really drop to the lowest possible temperature. There will also no flowing water for a while, which means that the water may freeze during your absence. So make sure there is no water left inside any of your room pipe! Some steps you need to follow:
- Turn off the main pipe (元栓, motosen) of your room.
- Drain everything inside your pipe system, this includes:
- bathroom
- bathroom sink
- toilet
- kitchen sink
- washing machine
- washlet
Since every apartment have different pipe system from each other, it is also highly recommended to notify the management company of your apartment about your absence! Your management company will then guide you to make sure your room is safe to be left for a while during winter.
