Baby, It’s Cold Outside! Here are Some Tips to Avoid a Frozen Catastrophe:

Freezing temperatures, ice and snow can be a pain for us all; but it’s our homes and cars that could suffer the most in freezing temperatures. A few simple steps could end up saving you a lot of time and money this winter. Cold temperatures have arrived and we hope you’ll find a few of the following tips helpful.

Regarding your automobile:

• Driving with properly inflated tires will produce the best traction, MPG, durability, and safety. Check your owner’s manual for the ideal PSI for your automobile. Keep in mind, this varies in colder months. The average tire pressure for cars should be between 32 and 35 pounds, and 40 to 60 for trucks.

• You also want to make sure your battery is clean and charged. If it’s more than two or three years old, you may want to look  into buying a new one. The cold snaps will really tend to strain the battery.
• Test your antifreeze. If it’s too old or the levels aren’t right, the radiator could freeze, overheat and crack. If that happens, you can experience an overheat situation and possibly become stranded.
• Pop up your wipers to keep them from freezing to your windshield.

Regarding your home :

• Avoid frozen pipes. Leave all exterior wall faucets running–not just dripping in the single digits. When it gets that cold, just a drip isn’t going to be enough water movement to keep that from freezing, so you really want to leave just enough water running to have a steady stream.

• Outside the house, you’ll want to disconnect waters hoses, make sure the faucets aren’t dripping, and seal up the area around the faucet.

• Another thing you can do inside to push a little more heat to your pipes is to open the cabinet doors underneath your sinks.

Always exercise caution when using space heaters. We don’t recommend they be used without supervision. Above all else…. BE SAFE!

If you are having issues keeping your family warm, dial United Way’s 211 to see what assistance may be available to you.