Winter checklist for landlords: frozen pipes and heating
A burst pipe in winter is an expensive call. The prevention is cheap, and much of it depends on what tenants do on the coldest nights.
Before the first freeze
- Have heating equipment and chimneys cleaned and inspected by a professional.
- Check that every tenant knows where the main water shutoff is.
- Make sure your after hours number works and tenants have it saved.
Vacant units
Keep the heat on. Set the thermostat to at least 55°F, and open cabinet doors where pipes run along outside walls.
Send tenants a cold night reminder
- Keep the heat at the same temperature day and night, and not below 55°F if you go away.
- Open the cabinet doors under sinks so warm air reaches the pipes.
- Let a little cold water drip from faucets with exposed pipes.
- If a pipe bursts, close the nearest valve or the main shutoff, then call us.
A short message before a hard freeze helps more than a paragraph in the lease. Something like:
Heating safety
In 2021, heating was the second leading cause of home fires in the United States. Tenants with space heaters should keep anything that can burn at least 3 feet away, plug heaters straight into the wall and turn them off at night. Remind them never to heat a home with a stove, an oven or a generator.
Teach it once, for every tenant. SaferResident sends each tenant a 20 minute phone course built around your building, with reminders, and gives you a certificate for every unit. $2 per unit per month, billed once a year as $24 per unit. Free for the first 60 days.
Sources
- What to do before a winter weather event, Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS)
- Preventing and Thawing Frozen Pipes, American Red Cross
- The homeowner's severe cold weather survival guide, Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I)
- Heating Fire Safety, U.S. Fire Administration (FEMA)
- 7 Highly Effective Portable Heater Safety Habits (PDF), U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Neighborhood Safety Network
- Carbon Monoxide Information Center, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
Updated October 1, 2026. General safety information. It doesn't replace your building's safety systems, local codes or your lease. In an emergency, call 911.