As the temperature drops the likelihood of excess condensation and frozen water pipes increases. The following tips should help you avoid the winter misery these problems can cause.

How to avoid condensation

Excess moisture in your home causes condensation which can lead to damp and mould problems. Take the following steps to help reduce moisture and keep your home warm and dry this winter.

• When you’re home, leave windows and doors between rooms open slightly, especially when cooking or drying clothes.
• If you have an extractor fan turn it on when you have a bath, shower or when cooking. It’s a good idea to clean your extractor fans periodically to remove the build up of dust and grease. This will keep the fan working well for longer.
• If you have windows with slotted vents, leave the vents open when the rooms are occupied to provide constant background ventilation.
• If you are drying your washing indoors, open the windows. Never dry wet washing directly on a radiator as this will affect its performance and encourage condensation, especially if have electric storage heaters. Covering the surfaces of a storage heater will cause a rise in temperature that will trigger the safety cut-outs to operate. This will cause your electric storage heater to turn itself off.

How to avoid frozen pipes

Frozen water pipes can cause pipes to burst, spilling water everywhere and destroying your home. Make sure it doesn’t happen to you this winter by reading these top tips:

• Ensure the insulation in your home is in good condition, especially if you have a loft.
• Get leaky taps fixed as soon as possible. When it gets cold, the leaking water can freeze, leading to a build up of ice inside the tap. This can cause blockages and cause pipes to burst.
• If there are any draughts in your home, get them sealed before temperatures outside drop. Cold air can freeze both cold and hot pipes
• Leave the heating on low in cold weather to heat your pipes. It is especially important to do this if you are going away or leaving your home unattended for a period of time, the last thing you want is to come home to a flooded house.
• If you have a loft, leave your loft door or hatch open on really cold days for a few hours to give heated air a chance to circulate in the loft, warming pipes or tanks up there.
• If you have a hot water tank this also needs to be insulated, particularly if it is in the loft. Take care that only the sides and top of the tank are insulated as hot air from below helps to heat the water in the tank.

What to do if your pipes freeze or burst:

• Turn off the water using your stopcock tap, usually located under the kitchen sink.
• Call our Customer Contact Centre on 0845 600 0830 immediately to log your emergency repair.
• If the pipe is frozen but hasn’t burst, protect any electrics around the pipe in case it does.
• Don’t try and thaw it out yourself unless advised to do so. When water turns to ice, it expands and can crack the pipes. So once the pipe is thawed, it may start to leak.