How cold does it get? Should I winterize home? (Welcome: apartment complexes, new home)

[goodys4me]

I'd like to start out by saying this is a great forum. This is my first post and I'm excited to read the replies. I'm another Northeasterner moving to the Triangle area and just recently purchased a new home down there. Unfortunately, I won't be moving in immediately. We should be down there permanently by the end of Jan. Now, I woke up this morning in the NE and it was 5 degrees outside and I had to pry my car door open. Do temperatures dip that low in central NC? My concern, and the point of this post, is that since we won't be living in the home for a couple of weeks, should we head down to winterize it doing things like insulating pipes, shutting off the main water supply, etc.? Not knowing the area or the weather conditions I wasn't sure if I was being unnecessarily worrisome or if it makes sense to drive down this weekend and start winterizing.

[leighbhe]

Originally Posted by goodys4me

I'd like to start out by saying this is a great forum. This is my first post and I'm excited to read the replies. I'm another Northeasterner moving to the Triangle area and just recently purchased a new home down there. Unfortunately, I won't be moving in immediately. We should be down there permanently by the end of Jan. Now, I woke up this morning in the NE and it was 5 degrees outside and I had to pry my car door open. Do temperatures dip that low in central NC? My concern, and the point of this post, is that since we won't be living in the home for a couple of weeks, should we head down to winterize it doing things like insulating pipes, shutting off the main water supply, etc.? Not knowing the area or the weather conditions I wasn't sure if I was being unnecessarily worrisome or if it makes sense to drive down this weekend and start winterizing.

It is suppose to be 60 degrees Monday, so the weather tends to go up and down. Now, that being said, I would always suggest turning the water off when you are going to be gone for a long period of time (this comes from experience with my mom's house while she was gone for a month and the pipes burst.........). So, if you can get someone to at least turn the water off, that would be a good idea.

Leigh

[candlegirl]

Supposed to be 17 degrees tonight, our neighbors pipes froze last night - but back up into the mid 50's next week........

[mommiewrites]

Having lived here my entire life, I can tell you the weather tends to change every ten minutes. Temps in the single digits, though not common, DO happen, so if you're not going to be in your new home for some time, I would try and have someone come over and turn the main off. Wise idea any time you are away from home for an extended amount of time, actually....

[dansdrive]

Welcome! Its really hard to tell if and when it will freeze. I attached the NC State climate website which will show you normal temperature ranged around the state during the different seasons. I too came from the NE and this is nothing like that during the winter. However, it does get cold and can dip into single digits or lower in rare occasions. I guess the best advise I can offer is if your questioning if you should or not it may make sense just to do it so you don't have to worry about. I seen some apartment complexes in my area that have their signs up saying there is a freeze warning and to leave your facets dipping to avoid a pipe freeze.

State Climate Office of North Carolina