the Hamptons
Winterizing a Hamptons house and opening it in spring: the plumbing that keeps an empty house dry
A Hamptons house left for the winter is heated or drained: the insurance industry’s rule for an unoccupied house is heat at 55°F minimum or the water system shut off and drained. A winterization drains the supply lines, water heater, traps and outdoor lines and adds antifreeze; no Long Island company publishes the price. Freeze protection is cheap next to the claim: a smart shutoff is $579.99, a Wi-Fi freeze alarm from about $25. The pipes will see 15.7°F at Islip’s design temperature; a burst costs $200–3,000 to fix and $1,000–4,000 in damage.
Last updated · Reviewed by Wainscott Plumbing Co.
The two choices
Heat it. Leave the heat on, at 55°F or more, with a remote thermometer that tells someone when the boiler quits, and open the cabinet doors under the sinks so warm air reaches the pipes. This is what most occupied-in-winter houses and most managed houses do, and it is what the insurance industry’s “reasonable care” condition expects: a home left below 55°F, or not drained, is a home where a burst-pipe claim gets argued, and low utility bills have been used to argue it. Tropical Storm Isaias in August 2020 took out about 645,000 Long Island customers for up to eight days; a winter version of that with no one watching is the case for a battery-backed alarm and a plan.
Drain it. Shut the main, open every faucet and the low drains, blow out or drain the supply lines, drain the water heater, empty the traps and add antifreeze to them, shut and drain the outdoor shower, the hose bibs, the irrigation and the pool-house lines, and turn off the well pump’s power or the SCWA meter. This is a winterization, and it is the right answer for a house with no heat, no manager and no plans until May. None of the Hamptons companies we could read publishes a price for it, and we do not invent one; ask, and ask what the reopening costs too.
Freeze protection
| Device | Cost | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Smart shutoff (Phyn Plus, 2nd gen) | $579.99; plumber installation recommended | senses leaks and freeze conditions and closes the main |
| Moen Flo | not confirmed this session | the other common shutoff |
| Wi-Fi freeze / temperature alarm | from about $25; some with a $5–10 monthly subscription | tells you the boiler quit |
| Heat tape, pipe sleeves | national guidance, no price | for the run in the crawl space |
We could not find an insurer that publishes a discount for a smart shutoff, so we do not claim one; what they publish is the 55°F rule.
What the winter does
The design temperature, the cold a heating system is sized for, is 15.7°F at Islip and 11.9°F at Westhampton by ASHRAE’s 99% figures; an uninsulated crawl space on the ocean side sees the wind with it. The empty house is the risk: about 60% of the Town of East Hampton’s housing and half of Southampton Town’s is seasonal or vacant, Bridgehampton 57%, Montauk 60%, Water Mill more than 60%. A frozen pipe repairs for $200–3,000 and damages for $1,000–4,000 more, and one insured home in sixty files that claim every year.
The reopening
In May the plumber who drained the house reverses it: main on slowly, faucets closed one by one, the water heater filled before it is lit (a dry tank element or burner is a dead one), the well pump and pressure tank checked (a pressure tank replacement is $800–3,800, a well pump $975–2,821), the outdoor shower and hose bibs opened, and a walk under the house for what the winter did. The reopening is where the winter’s damage is found, and the companies that do both are the ones we send you to.
FAQ
Common questions
How do I winterize my Hamptons house?
Heat it or drain it, and tell someone. Heated: leave the thermostat at 55°F or more — the insurance industry’s “reasonable care” standard for an unoccupied house, and the fact pattern a 2024 New York court case turned on — open the cabinet doors under the sinks, insulate the exposed runs, shut and drain the outdoor lines, and put a Wi-Fi freeze alarm (from about $25) on the boiler and a smart shutoff ($579.99 for the one we could price) on the main. Drained: a plumber shuts the main, drains the supply lines, water heater, traps and outdoor lines and adds antifreeze; no Long Island company publishes the price, so ask. The pipes will see 15.7°F at Islip’s design temperature, and a burst costs $200–3,000 to fix and $1,000–4,000 in damage.
Read the full answer →My pipes froze: what do I do?
Shut the main water valve first — at the meter on the main, at the pressure tank on a well — then the water heater’s breaker or gas valve, then open a low faucet and call a plumber who answers at night. A frozen line that has not burst thaws for about $100 flat; a burst repairs for $200–3,000, about $500, with an emergency call-out of $100–300, travel of $50–300 and after-hours rates of time-and-a-half to triple; the water damage runs $1,000–4,000 more. Until the plumber comes, open the cabinet doors under the sinks so warm air reaches the pipes, keep the heat on, and do not turn the water back on to see what happens. Then find what let it freeze — the open shutoff, the uninsulated run, the set-back thermostat — before the next cold night.
Read the full answer →How does Wainscott Plumbing Co. work?
You tell us about the house once: where it is, what is wrong or what you want done, and when. We put you in touch with one licensed, insured plumber who works your town and does that kind of work, and they call you within one business day, sooner for an emergency. From there it is their quote, their schedule, their warranty. It is free for homeowners; participating plumbers pay us a referral fee for the introduction. We are not a plumbing company, and we do not sell your details; the one company we send you to is the only one that gets your number. If the job is really a septic installer’s, a well driller’s or a heating contractor’s, we say so first. We cover 9 South Fork towns and 6 kinds of plumbing work.
Related
Other services
Emergency Plumbing & Burst Pipes
What a burst pipe costs to fix ($200–3,000, about $500 typical), what the emergency call adds, the first ten minutes before the plumber arrives, and why one home in sixty files a water-damage claim every year.
Water Heaters
A tank at $800–2,500 installed, a tankless at $1,400–3,900, a heat-pump heater at $1,200–3,500 with PSEG’s $1,200 rebate, what a propane or oil house should choose, and what the code requires.
Boilers & Heating Plumbing
Boiler replacement at $3,600–8,400 (about $5,900) by type and fuel on a fork that burns oil and propane, radiant floors at $6–20 a square foot, the combi disagreement, lifespans, and why there is no boiler rebate.
Well Pumps & Water Treatment
A well pump at $975–2,821, a pressure tank at $800–3,800, the iron and manganese in South Fork well water, what SCWA charges and is doing about lead and PFAS, and the softener price nobody publishes.
Remodel Plumbing & Gas Lines
Repiping at $8,000–13,500, fixtures from $150 to $5,500 installed, drains and sewers, a gas line at $15–30 a foot for the range, grill and pool heater, the permits, and the outdoor shower nobody prices.
Book a plumber for winterization
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