B.C.’s extreme cold causes spike in calls to plumbing, heating experts

The Arctic outflow conditions that have caused temperatures to plunge across British Columbia are overwhelming heating and plumbing companies, which are experiencing near-record numbers of calls for service.

Curtis Butchart, owner of Vancouver’s Pioneer Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling says crews have been kept busy with calls related to the extreme cold.

“We’re getting all kinds of calls from no heat, to burst water pipes, to frozen water pipes where the water doesn’t work on any of the fixtures, and frozen drains,” says Butchart.

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After an extraordinary year of extreme weather, Butchart says the cold conditions pose unique challenges.

“Similar to the flooding and the extreme heat calls that we had in the summertime with air conditioning, this time, it’s even more busy, because you’re dealing with heating and plumbing. We’re about half staffed right now with triple or quadruple the call volume.”

Nearly a dozen cold weather records were broken on Monday and according to Butchart, many B.C. homes are ill-equipped.

“When [engineers] look back and they see how cold it usually gets that’s how they come up with their codes. So when you get these extreme weather conditions, it’s not something that anyone’s really prepared for.”

Environment and Climate Change Canada warned everyone should take precautions as serious health impacts can happen within minutes at these temperatures and Butchart says being careful inside of your home is equally important.

“It’s always a good idea to leave your taps running slightly, keep the hot water running down the drains, consider that once [a frozen pipe] does thaw you want to monitor the area because there’s a chance it will expand and possibly crack the pipe.”

The weather warnings are in effect until at least Wednesday.

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