Let's face it, chances are there's been one or two times when you have left the house for a few days and forgotten to leave the power on. Most likely, you left during the fall and the weather wasn't too bad, but while you were a way the temperatures plummeted down to freezing. I have to admit to it happening once or twice, I was so looking forward to getting away for a long weekend and when the weather changed on the Sunday evening, I was really worried by the time I got home that the pipes would have not only frozen but burst.

I was fortunate, but resolved to never do that in the future. A broken pipe can make a huge mess and destroy not only furniture and carpet, but can also cause rot and mold as ithe water dissipates through the floor boards.

There are a number of things you can do to make sure this never happens to you. The first is to insulate any pipes that are exposed to the elements, particularly those under the house and those located within uninsulated exterior walls. This will not only help you stave off a flooding disaster, but will also save you significant amounts of money in lost heat from the pipes.

If you live in an area where it is frequently below freezing, over the winter, it's a good idea to empty your irrigation system and hose and coil up your hose and hang it up. It's simple to empty a hose, but a whole irrigation system could be more difficult. Some systems have a draining mechanism, and if you know you're going to have to drain it, this is an important consideration before buying it.

Inside, it is a good idea to always leave a tap dripping slowly. This goes against all the advice for saving water, but if you live in an area where your pipes are likely to freeze, you're going to have to do this as moving water is much harder to freeze than still water. In the case that you're going to be away for awhile and the weather will go below freezing, you'll have to drain the water from your pipes. However, if you live in an area where the tempertaures drop to around freezing, just make sure you keep your heating half on in your house so that the water doesn't freeze, as well as leaving a single tap dripping if needs be.

If you've just moved to the area and you're not sure which option is best, then ask your neighbours and they'll be able to tell you which of these precautions are required.

And if you are at home and you're worried that your pipes may be freezing, you can use a heater or a hair dryer to warm them. And if you're worried that they may have frozen, but have not burst, which means that you probably don't have water coming through the relevant valves, ring a plumber immediately to come and assess the best thing to do so as to avoid the pipes bursting, and while you're waiting for the plumber to arrive, lay down some towels and have some buckets at the ready. If the water has frozen, and there appears to be a weakness in the pipes, warming the water may only cause the frozen water to leak through the damaged pipes and cause a significant problem.