During the winter months cold weather can have a bigger effect on your home than you think. One of the major problems that could affect your property during this time of the year is frozen pipes.

Pipes that are unprotected from the cold could have the water contained within them freeze and burst and that would damage the pipe, your property and possibly disrupt your water supply.

Energy suppliers advise to turn your heating on at regular intervals during very cold periods to avoid such problems, but if you are unfortunate and think you may have a possible frozen pipe then we have the following tips to help you out:

• Outside taps are usually the first place to run into trouble with freezing pipes. Turn the tap slowly to where you would expect a trickle of water to show. Do not keep turning the tap as this could cause further damage.

• The second most common pipe to freeze is the condensation waste pipe for new boilers. This will cause the boiler to shut off if the pipe becomes frozen. Do not keep trying to reactivate the boiler as this could cause damage to the unit.

• Locate the pipe outside and place a hot water bottle on the pipe where you think it may be frozen. As an alternative you can pour hot water directly onto the waste pipe using a watering can.

• As your boiler will be out of action use either a kettle or a microwave. If the water is boiling leave to cool slightly as its important to use warm water on the outside pipes and not boiling water that could cause further damage.

• Never disconnect the pipe if you think that it could be frozen, this could result in damage to the pipe or your property.

• If you are still having problems then we advise to call out a trained plumber or heating engineer to inspect the pipes.

If you wish to prevent frozen pipes in the future you can have a trace heater element installed, they are very cheap to run and will ensure that you do not have problems with the pipes in future.

As a last note we do advise to take extra care with pipes that have frozen previously as they are prone to repeat damage and further claims on your insurance that may see you have to pay increased premiums.