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How To Winterize Your Sprinkler System And Prevent It From Freezing - Plumb University

How To Winterize Your Sprinkler System And Prevent It From Freezing

by Trevor Woods | Last Updated: September 22, 2020

Your lawn is one of the most scrutinized areas of your home. It’s the first thing that people see when they pull up to your house. An aesthetically maintained lawn increases curb appeal and creates a lasting impression with those that look at your landscaping.

Sprinkler systems help keep your lawn well-watered and luscious. But when winter comes, your green grass needs less H20 before the snow. So when the watering season comes to an end you’ll have to winterize or blow out your sprinkler system before it freezes. 

Hiring professional services can ease your burden of winterizing your sprinklers but can get quite expensive. Learning how to take care of your irrigation system can save you money year after year. Our guide will answer the most common sprinkler questions and show you how to winterize your sprinkler system like a pro!

When Should I Winterize My Sprinklers?

It depends on your local weather and the change in seasonal temperatures. But as a general rule, you should winterize your sprinklers a minimum of one week before the first freeze is anticipated. So, keep an eye on the local weather reports for freezing temperatures!

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Frost Advisory

Frost advisories occur when the temperature outside is expected to fall between 36-32 degrees Fahrenheit. Your sprinkler system should be safe from damage during these dips in temperature.

Freeze Warning 

A freeze warning is issued when it is highly likely that the temperature will hit 32 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. This is the weather warning that you want to be ahead of! The freezing temperature of water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit and your sprinkler pipes and other components are at risk of freezing and breaking when temperatures drop below this threshold.

Hard Freeze

This takes place when the temperature falls below 28 degrees Fahrenheit and stays there for several days. During a hard freeze, even the sunshine and daytime temperatures are not enough to make up for the decrease in temperature.

A hard freeze causes immediate damage to exposed pipes and sprinkler equipment. At this point, the most critical components of your sprinkler system are compromised and you are too late to winterize your sprinklers. Blowing out your sprinklers is made impossible thanks to your irrigation system being frozen solid.

While the sprinkler system helps your grass to look it’s best, properly timing your sprinkler winterization will save your plumbing from serious damage. Don’t worry, your lawn will survive without regular watering at this time of year. Most plants are already preparing themselves for the winter.

How Quickly Do Pipes Freeze?

Ice cubes in your freezer are formed in 3 to 4 hours. So a guideline for how fast your pipes will freeze is when the outside temperature remains below freezing for at least six hours straight. This means your sprinkler system can easily freeze overnight. So don’t sleep on winterizing your home’s irrigation systems!

Other factors influence how fast your pipes can freeze. Plumbing that is deep underground or that is insulated stand a better chance of not freezing in colder weather. That’s why your garden hose may stiffen up before your sprinkler system does. 

Outside temperatures and windchill also impact how fast your plumbing can freeze. Generally speaking, the colder it gets the faster your sprinkler system will freeze. 

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How Much It Does It Cost To Winterize Your Sprinklers

Hiring a profession to winterize your sprinkler system can cost between $50 to $150. This depends on where you live and how big your irrigation system is. But the national average is at $81.

If you decide to blow out your sprinkler system yourself, you will need more than just your standard air compressor. Professional contractors use commercial air compressors that are capable of delivering airflow of over 100 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). 

These powerful air compressors can be rented locally for about $100 per day. Half-day rentals should give you lots of time to sufficiently blow out your sprinklers for about half-price. You could also team up with a neighbor and share the cost of the rental and winterize multiple sprinkler systems in a day.

Buying your own air compressor is not cheap, with 10 CFM air compressors starting around $1,000. This is a substantial initial investment but the cost can be recuperated over the years with multiple sprinkler winterizations.

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How Long Does Winterizing Your Sprinklers Take?

A professional can winterize an eight-zone system in about half an hour. The average homeowner can expect to take three hours or more on the same sprinkler system. It really depends on the size of the air compressor you use. A properly sized air compressor running air through each sprinkler zone for two minutes should do the trick.

To get a rough idea of how long your sprinkler blow out will take, add the number of sprinkler zones you have and multiply by 2. Then add at least 15 to 20 minutes for setting up and disconnecting the air compressor.

Airflow is measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). And this CFM will dictate how long it takes to blow out your sprinkler system. We recommend a minimum of 10 CFM but most professionals use compressors capable of 20 CFM or more to completely blow the water out of your sprinkler system.

How To Winterize Your Sprinkler System

Draining Sprinklers Installed With Grade Or On A Slope

If you are lucky enough to have your sprinklers lines installed on a slope, graded back towards the water supply line, you can drain the system without an air compressor.

Simply shut down the main sprinkler water supply line and open the drainage valves at the end of each sprinkler zone or at any low points in the piping. Also, open any drain ports on your backflow device if it has any.

With all these valves open your sprinkler should slowly drain out. Once the drain valves are done dripping, replace any drain caps but keep the valves open to let any remaining water drain out of the sprinkler lines. Done!

Automatic Sprinkler Drainage System

Some irrigation systems are equipped with self-draining valves. These valves will automatically let the water drain out if the water pressure in the pipe falls below a certain pounds per square inch (PSI) level.

If your automatic sprinkler system comes equipped with integrated pumps you will have to follow the owner’s manual for drainage instructions. This is because the system will require the initialization from the control panel to drain the water from the sprinkler lines.

The self-draining valves can be activated by turning off the sprinkler system water supply and briefly running one of the sprinkler heads. Opening the sprinkler head will relieve the system pressure and allow the water to drain out.

You may still need to drain the water line between the shutoff and backflow device to completely winterize your sprinkler system. 

Finally, if your sprinkler heads come equipped with check valves, these will need to be emptied separately to get all the water out and prevent the freezing of the sprinkler heads. Done!

How To Blowout You Sprinkler System

Blowing out your sprinklers is a pretty simple job and can be done quite quickly with the right tools and air compressor set up.

Tools And Materials Needed

When winterizing your irrigation system you will need a few tools and pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE).

How Big Of An Air Compressor Do You Need To Blow Out Your Sprinklers?

If you are looking to crunch the numbers on how big an air compressor you need to blow out your sprinkler system, we have the formula! You want to take the gallons per minute (GPM) of water flow of your sprinkler system and convert that to cubic feet per minute (CFM).

Total up the GPM of each irrigation zone you have and divide by 7.5. This will give you the CFM you need for your air compressor. Or you can use this online conversion tool.

If you don’t know the flow rate of your irrigation system, you can measure it exactly with a flow meter or get an approximate GPM with a 5-gallon bucket and a stopwatch. Divide 300 (which is 5 gallons x 60 sec/minute) by the number of seconds it takes to fill your 5-gallon bucket. This will provide your irrigation systems GPM.

Converting your sprinkler system’s GPM to CFM will make sure that you can blow out your sprinkler system all at once, saving you time and effort. If you don’t have access to a powerful enough air compressor, you will have to blow out your irrigation system zone by zone.

Not a plumbing nerd? Skip the numbers and use an air compressor with a minimum 10 CFM rating. Just remember, the higher the air compressor’s CFM the faster and more efficiently you can blow out your sprinkler system.

How To Set Up Your Air Compressor

Next, you’ll want to set the air compressor’s pressure to match your sprinkler system’s plumbing materials. If your sprinkler lines are made of rigid PVC set the air compressor to a maximum of 80 pounds per square inch (PSI). If your irrigation system is made of flexible black tubing, set the air compressor to a maximum of 50 PSI

Don’t Overpressure Your Pipes!

Pressurizing your system over these limits could result in damaging your irrigation pipes and sprinkler heads.

Finally, connect the air compressor to your sprinkler system with a quick coupling adaptor. This adaptor will allow the fitting on the end of the air hose to attach to a standard garden hose outlet.

How To

1. Shut The Water OFF 

The first thing to do is to shut OFF the water to your sprinkler system. This water shut off is typically located in your basement, crawlspace, or mechanical room.

2. Drain Down Your Sprinkler System

Next, you will want to manually drain the water from your sprinkler system. Open your drain valve and be ready to catch the water as it drains out of the sprinkler lines. It helps to open up a hose bib to allow the system to drain down easily.

If your sprinkler system has flow sensors installed, now is a good time to remove them before blowing out the sprinkler lines. These sensors can become damaged if you leave them installed while injecting the pipes with compressed air.

3. Set Up The Air Compressor

Now you’ll want to get the air compressor ready to blow out the sprinkler lines. Set the pressure regulator of the air compressor to a maximum of 80 PSI for rigid PVC pipe systems and a maximum of 50 PSI for black flexible polyethylene tubing.

Then, attach the air compressor’s air hose to the hose bib or blow out port with the help of a blow out valve adaptor. 

Protect Your Valves and Pumps

Do not blow the system out through a back flow valve or pump.

Now connect the other end of the air hose to the compressor. With the air compressor turned OFF, plug the air compressor into a GFCI outlet. Put on your safety gear before you start up the air compressor.

4. Blow Out Your Sprinkler Lines

Depending on the size and CFM of your air compressor you may be able to blow all of your sprinkler lines out all at once. However, if your sprinkler system is large and has several zones or you have a smaller air compressor you will have to blow out each zone individually. If your irrigation system has manual drain valves, yours want to open them first.

To blow out your sprinkler one zone at a time, you will first need to set your system timer to open up each zone separately while keeping the others closed. Start with the zone farthest away and work your way through to the closest zone. Keeping the sprinkler on for about 2 minutes in each zone should allow for all the water to be pushed out.

Turn on the air compressor and let the air tank fill up. Start the system timer and you should see the sprinkler heads pop up and spray the water inside the sprinkler lines out. Once the flow of water turns to a mist move onto the next zone.

Don’t Get Wet

Do not stand over the sprinkler heads or component parts while the irrigation system is pressurized with air. Ouch!

5. Stop, Cool, And Repeat

It’s important not to continue blowing out sprinkler lines after they have run dry. Sprinkler heads usually have plastic gears and components inside that need water to stay lubricated and cool. Running air through your sprinkler heads can generate heat and can cause them to melt if you’re not careful, whoops!

Keep Your Cool

Don’t overdo the blowout! Don’t leave the air compressor unattended or running too long. Without water to keep the sprinkler heads cool, they can get damaged or melt in less than a minute.

Continue to blow out each zone until you finish with the zone nearest you. It’s important to get every last drop of water out of the sprinkler line, especially smaller diameter pipes. We recommend that you go through the sprinkler zones quickly a second time after the sprinkler heads have cooled down.

6. Shut OFF The Air Compressor

After all the water has been forced out of the sprinkler lines you can turn OFF the air compressor and disconnect the air hose and the adaptor.

7. Open The Backflow Valve

Lastly, if your irrigation system is equipped with a backflow valve, open it and allow any remaining trapped water out. After the last dribble or drip has escaped, you can close the manual drains and backflow valve, Done!

Bonus Steps: Protect Your Pipes

Now is the perfect time to insulate any above-ground pipes and valves. Wrap any exposed pipes with pipe insulation to protect them from the winter weather and prevent freezing. 

You can also insulate any valves or backflow preventers, just be careful not to block any drain outlets or cover up any air vents.

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02/17/2024 11:26 pm GMT

Shut Down The Sprinkler Control System

Now that your irrigation pipes have been completely drained, it’s time to turn OFF the sprinkler system control panel. Preparing your hydraulic control system for winter will depend on the style of controller you have.

Outdoor Mounted Controllers

For outdoor mounted controllers you will want to leave the power ON to the unit and switch the controller to the OFF position. This will allow electricity to flow through the control unit and stay warm thanks to the heat coming off from the transformer.

The heat generated from the electrical transformer will keep the enclosure warm enough to prevent condensation from forming inside.

Indoor Mounted Controllers

Indoor control systems are the easiest to prepare for the winter. Simply leave the power ON to the control unit and switch the unit to the OFF position. This will prevent the sprinkler system from accidentally turning on when not in use.

Rain Sensors

If your irrigation system is equipped with a rain sensor you will want to dry it off and cover it with a plastic bag. Secure the plastic bag in place to ensure that no water accumulates and freezes inside the sensor.

Now you’re sprinkler system is completely winterized, Done!

When To Call The Pros

Winterizing your sprinkler system can be mastered easily but there are instances when outsourcing this irrigation maintenance is your best option. Consider hiring a professional if:

If you do decide to call an expert for help, hiring a certified irrigation professional is the best and safest choice. If you already use a landscaping company, they may be able to service your sprinkler system for a reasonable price. 

Whatever you do, don’t fall prey to weekend warriors or other non-professionals. You can usually spot these individuals dragging air compressors up and down your street, offering bargain prices. 

Hiring someone that is not familiar with your particular sprinkler system could end up putting too much or not enough air pressure into the irrigation pipes. Resulting in over pressurizing and damaging the system or not getting all the remaining water out and having the pipes freeze and break.

When you are searching for an irrigation company to blow out your sprinkler system, look for companies that hold professional accreditations from the Irrigation Association. Also, look for companies that are insured and back their service with a “no freeze” guarantee or similar warranty against damage. Lastly, consider professionals offering seasonal packages that include summer services as well.

Conclusion

You’ve learned how to properly winterize your sprinkler system, Congrats! Now you can sit by the fire, drink hot cocoa, and not have to worry about your landscaping chores for a while. 

Keep yourself warm over the winter and soon you’ll be ready to de-winterize your system in the spring!

Happy Plumbing!

Trevor Woods is the founder of Plumb University® and he started in the plumbing and construction industry in 1997. Since then, his mission is to make plumbing repair and maintenance easy for everyone. And each year, he continues to help more people with their plumbing installation, care, and troubleshooting.