winterise your holiday home at Hawkchurch & Cheddar Woods
- ownership
- seasons
Now that the cooler weather is starting to hit, it’s worth thinking about steps you can take to protect your lodge while you aren’t at the resort.
The most reliable way to protect your lodge from burst water pipes is to book in a professional winter drain down. This can be done by emailing a completed Owners Request Form to our dedicated owners’ email inbox. Our team will then book this in with our preferred contractor to complete at their next availability. For £120, our contractor will turn off the stop tap, empty taps, showers and loos, and drain off the central heating system.
They will then power flush off all excess water, vastly reducing the risk of any unwanted burst water pipes. When you are ready for the water to be switched back on and heating systems re-filled, let us know and we will book the contractor in to complete this. In some instances, our contractor finds surprises which make the drain down process trickier and may cause an additional cost. We will try and notify you before any costs are incurred, however, priority will be given to reducing damage on the lodge so notification may not be feasible.
As Cheddar Woods Resort & Spa and Hawkchurch Resort & Spa benefits from an 11 month season, it is understandable that you will come and go during the winter months and may not want to professionally drain the lodge down each time you depart.
But there are some steps you can take yourself to reduce the risk of any frozen pipes and water leaks. To protect your holiday home from frost damage ensure that during the period between 1st November (or earlier dependent on the weather forecast) and the 14th of March (or later dependent on the weather forecast) when you leave the resort for a period of more than 24 hours it is advisable to protect your holiday home by turning the stop tap off, flushing the toilets and opening up the taps to the sinks and showers.
Be aware that this will not fully protect your lodge, as any water that is left in your holiday home system could still expand when frozen and cause damage, the damage will be much less severe. If your lodge has a thermostat, make sure this is left at 15 degrees or more to ensure the heating kicks in and prevents pipework from freezing. If your lodge does not have a thermostat, you can use the timer function on your boiler to make sure the heating kicks in during the day and overnight.
Always check your insurance policy to make sure you are covered during the winter months.