El Paso can expect its first freezing temperatures of the season tonight and Wednesday morning, which means many El Pasoans are headed to the nearest home repair stores to find out how to protect their pipes. That’s the way it should be, experts said.

Water pipes can freeze and burst when the outside temperature reaches 20 degrees or below, experts said. Temperatures are in the lower 50s and will likely be just at or below freezing Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, but El Pasoans KFOX-14 talked to refuse to wait until it’s too late.

Ricardo Gutierrez is one of those and spent several minutes and less than $10 at a home repair shop on the west side shopping for insulation and tough tape to put it on. It took him another several minutes to put the insulation on his copper water pipes outside his home.

This compared with more than $400 he said he spent fixing his busted pipes in February’s freeze. The Red Cross, El Paso Water Utilities and home repair experts told KFOX-14 pipes that are exposed will likely not bust when covered with foam or rubber insulation. Underground pipes will not burst if they are emptied or if there is water running through them, they said.

Gutierrez said he’s glad spent a few bucks and a few minutes doing just that.

Inge Patterson, who has worked at Home Depot on the west side since the store opened, told KFOX-14 that she remembers when her store and every other in the Borderland ran out of insulation in February. She said this year, stores like hers have plenty of supplies.