Protect your pipes before a Newberry hard freeze

When to worry

Research by the University of Illinois Building Research Council, summarized by IBHS, set a "temperature alert threshold" of 20°F for homes in southern states. In field tests, uninsulated pipes in an unheated attic began to freeze when it was 20°F or colder outside, and a survey of plumbers in southern states found burst pipes began to appear when temperatures fell into the teens. Pipes in moving cold air, such as a crawl space with open vents or behind a hole in an outside wall, can freeze at warmer temperatures. Wind speeds up freezing.

How often that happens here: NOAA's weather station in Newberry recorded about 55 nights a winter at or below 32°F, about 33 at or below 28°F, and about 6 at or below 20°F, on average over the winters from 2008-09 through 2025-26. The coldest mornings in that span were 8°F on January 7, 2014 and January 2, 2018. Full Newberry freeze history.

The pipes that freeze first in Midlands homes

• Outdoor spigots with a hose still attached.
• Irrigation backflow preventers and other pipes above ground. Winterizing irrigation.
• Supply lines in crawl spaces, especially near open foundation vents and the access door.
• Pipes under manufactured homes with damaged skirting. Crawl spaces and mobile homes.
• Well pump lines, pressure tanks and pump houses. Wells.
• Pipes in outside walls, garages and attics, and kitchen sinks on outside walls.

Before the first freeze of the season

• Disconnect, drain and store hoses. Cover spigots with insulated covers.
• Insulate exposed pipes in the crawl space, garage and attic with foam sleeves. Insulation and heat cable.
• Seal holes where cable, phone and gas lines enter the house.
• Find and test your main shutoff.

The night of a hard freeze

• Keep the thermostat at the same setting day and night. The Insurance Information Institute suggests 65°F or warmer during severe cold.
• Open kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors on outside walls.
• Let cold water drip from faucets fed by exposed pipes. The American Red Cross notes that even a trickle helps keep pipes from freezing.
• Close crawl space vents and the crawl space door, and keep garage doors closed.
• Check the freeze center for how many hours it will stay below freezing. A long stretch is worse than a brief dip.

The cost of getting it wrong

After a round of sub-freezing temperatures in early January 2014, South Carolina's Director of Insurance said the cold had caused more than $20 million in damage to homes and businesses in the state.