How to Keep Pipes From Freezing in an Eau Claire Winter (and Thaw Them Safely)

How to Keep Pipes From Freezing in Eau Claire: The Short Answer

How to keep pipes from freezing comes down to three things: get the water out of anything outdoors before the first hard freeze, wrap or insulate the pipes that sit in cold parts of the house, and keep warm air moving around them when the temperature drops below zero. If a pipe already burst or you cannot find the frozen spot, the plumbers in Eau Claire listed in our directory handle frozen and broken lines.

Eau Claire gets a real winter. The Wisconsin State Climatology Office puts the city’s average snowfall at 55.4 inches a year, and the long cold stretches that come with it are what freeze pipes. Snow on its own does little to a pipe. Days of air well below 32 degrees F reaching a pipe that has no heat around it are what do the damage.

Water expands as it turns to ice, and the American Red Cross notes that this pressure can split metal or plastic pipe no matter how strong it is. The burst usually shows up as a leak only after the ice thaws, which is why a frozen pipe is worth dealing with before it warms up.

Frozen Pipes in Eau Claire: Which Pipes Freeze First

The pipes that freeze first are the ones exposed to outdoor air or sitting in a space the furnace does not heat. The Red Cross lists three groups:

• Pipes outside or open to severe cold, like hose bibs (outdoor faucets), pool supply lines and lawn sprinkler lines.
• Supply pipes in unheated spots inside the house: basements, crawl spaces, attics, garages and kitchen cabinets.
• Pipes that run along exterior walls with little or no insulation.

Walk the house this fall and look under every sink on an outside wall and along any basement or crawl space wall where you can feel cold air.

How to Winterize an Outdoor Faucet Before the First Hard Freeze

To winterize an outdoor faucet, shut the inside valve that feeds it, open the outside faucet so the line drains, and leave that outside faucet open for the winter. The Red Cross says the open faucet gives any water left in the pipe room to expand without breaking it.

Do the rest of the outdoor work at the same time:

1. Disconnect, drain and store garden hoses. A hose left on can hold water in the faucet and freeze it.
2. Drain lawn sprinkler and pool supply lines following the manufacturer’s or installer’s directions.
3. Skip antifreeze in those lines unless the directions call for it. The Red Cross warns it is harmful to people, pets, wildlife and landscaping.

If your sprinkler system needs a blowout with compressed air, that is a job for the installer or a landscaping company, and it is worth booking before the first hard freeze.

How to Keep Pipes From Freezing With Insulation and Heat Cable

Insulation keeps pipes from freezing by slowing how fast the cold reaches them, so the pipes in your coldest spaces should be wrapped before winter. The Red Cross recommends insulating attics, basements and crawl spaces, and wrapping both hot and cold water pipes in garages and under kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

Here is what works, in rough order of effort:

• Foam pipe sleeves. These slip over exposed pipe in a basement, crawl space or garage. Cover the whole run, including elbows, and tape the seams.
• UL-listed heat tape or heat cable. For a pipe that keeps freezing in a crawl space or garage, a UL-listed cable adds a little heat. Follow the maker’s instructions exactly, and do not wrap one over itself.
• Sealing and insulating the space around the pipe. A pipe on an exterior wall freezes because cold air leaks in around it. Sealing gaps where pipes and wires pass through the rim joist and foundation helps both the pipe and your heating bill.
• Moving the pipe. The Red Cross notes that relocating exposed pipes gives more protection. If one line freezes every winter, ask a plumber whether it can be rerouted to an interior wall.

If you are already planning attic or wall insulation, Focus on Energy, Wisconsin’s utility efficiency program, offers 2026 rebates for insulation and air sealing. The attic insulation rebate is $650, $750 or $850 depending on household income, for work installed by a participating Trade Ally contractor. A $200 DIY attic insulation and air sealing rebate is also listed, but only when it is done along with Trade Ally installed attic or wall insulation. Our insulation contractors in Eau Claire page lists local installers, and the same air sealing work helps with ice dam prevention on the roof.

How to Keep Pipes From Freezing During a Cold Snap

During a cold snap, keep pipes from freezing by letting warm air reach them and keeping a little water moving. These are the Red Cross steps I would follow on any night that drops well below zero:

• Open the cabinet doors under sinks on exterior walls so room air reaches the pipes. Move cleaners and chemicals up out of reach of kids and pets first.
• Let a cold tap drip from any faucet fed by exposed pipe. Moving water, even a trickle, is much harder to freeze.
• Keep the garage door closed if water lines run through the garage.
• Hold the thermostat steady. Skip the nighttime setback until the cold breaks. The Red Cross notes a higher heating bill can prevent a much more costly repair if pipes freeze and burst.
• Leave the heat on when you travel, set no lower than 55 degrees F.

Running Water to Keep Pipes From Freezing: Watch for a City Notice

Dripping a faucet protects the pipes inside your house. Underground service lines are a different problem. In an unusually cold Wisconsin winter, when frost goes deeper than normal, water utilities sometimes ask customers to run a continuous stream so the buried line from the street into the house does not freeze. Weston Municipal Utilities, a Wisconsin water utility, explains that this is a judgment call: utilities issue the notice when frost threatens service laterals, rather than waiting for a wave of freeze-ups, and the usual advice is a pencil-width stream (about a quarter inch) until the utility says frost has left the ground.

Eau Claire has not posted a standing “run water” rule on its Utilities page. Watch for a notice from the city during a long deep freeze, and follow it if one goes out. If your water stops completely, or the frozen spot seems to be where the service line enters the house, call the City of Eau Claire Utilities emergency line at 715-839-4967. The utility office at 1040 Forest Street is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 am to 3:30 pm.

How to Thaw Frozen Pipes Safely

To thaw a frozen pipe, keep the faucet open and warm the pipe slowly with a heating pad, hair dryer, space heater or towels soaked in hot water until full pressure comes back. The Red Cross says to suspect a frozen pipe when only a trickle comes out of a faucet, and to look first along exterior walls and where the water service comes through the foundation.

A few rules that matter:

• Leave the faucet open. As the ice melts, running water helps melt the rest.
• Never use a blowtorch, a kerosene or propane heater, a charcoal stove or any open flame.
• Keep a space heater away from anything that can burn.
• After it thaws, check every other faucet in the house. If one pipe froze, others may have too.
• Have towels and a bucket nearby, and know where your main shutoff is in case the pipe split.

When to Call a Plumber for Frozen Pipes

Call a licensed plumber when you cannot find the frozen section, cannot reach it, or cannot get it to thaw, which is the Red Cross’s own line for when to stop. Call right away if a pipe has burst, if water is coming through a ceiling or wall, or if the same line freezes every winter and needs rerouting or heat cable done properly. Shut off the main valve first if water is leaking, then call. You can compare local options on our Eau Claire plumbers page.