Cold Weather Climates and protecting your infrastructures

We are a Wisconsin based company with a reminder to all

We are in the heart of cold weather climates every year and a lot of our clients and communities we work with come to us seeking solutions to protect their infrastructures during these times.

We also see the stress levels of park managers shoot through the roof during this season when having the phones ringing off the hook from disgruntled tenants.
We also see the Park manager turnover rate increase during this time as well…

I just wanted to plant a seed.

Remind Your tenants about the heat tape under the homes.
Make sure the outlets under the homes are working and the heat tape is plugged in actually and GETS HOT.

Watch out for “Ribbon Heat Tape”
Though it has been used for years. We have come to find out that it can be a fire hazard, especially when coiled or overlapped on the service line. .
(Went on an inspection Wednesday and came across a handful of homes that have ribbon heat tape
That actually caught on fire at some point in time. Determined this by removing the insulation and seen burn streaks underneath the heat tape along the service line.)
We suggest replacing the heat tape with Frostex Heat tape or Easy Heat, these brands come with controllers that control the temperatures of the tape and substantially reduce the risk of fire underneath the homes.

Watch for insulation gaps on the service line, Seek to insulate any gaps you come across.

Purchase Meter Jackets for Water Meters if your community is metered.
This is a great way to protect the meter for cold weather snaps, condensation from ice or moisture.

Fix any leaks or breaks in the riser, service line or meter before the cold snap comes.
Freeze ups in one part of the infrastructure can cause no water usage throughout the entire home.
We have countless experience with over whelmed park managers having to unfreeze lines over issues that could have been simply fixed prior to the cold snap.

Cover or replace damaged or missing skirting.
For many reasons:

Snow and frost and cold winds could cause freezing.
Animals seeking warm refuge underneath homes causing further Damage to the infrastructure.
IE: Belly damage.
Makes the homes in the park look alot nicer. simple as that.

If this information is common sense to you, then great!
If this information is new to you and you find it helpful, even better.

Be sure to check out our online store and view our products if your are interested in taking these preventive measures.

ABT WATER MANAGEMENT WISHES EVERYONE ON MHU AND THEIR FAMILIES A HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON.

PS: Included a water saving tip sheet for the tenants and residents. Feel free to print and distribute.

ABT-Water-Saving-Tips.pdf (107.0 KB)

1 Like

Question - in WA we don’t get the extreme cold, but does leaving a faucet on in homes help with not freezing lines out there? It does here, but then again, we aren’t below zero so just curious. :slight_smile: