EUCLID, Ohio — It's freezing out. You’re at home with the heat cranked up. How do you make sure you stay warm during extreme cold temperatures without damaging anything?
Here’s what HVAC and auto experts had to say about it.
This is a busy time of year for HVAC technicians. Lou Tadiello has been in the business for over 30 years and the owner of Two Seasons Heating and Cooling in Euclid for 27 years. He said the call they get most often on days like this is — 'I don’t have heat.'
“The famous line is, 'Why is my furnace broken now?' Because it’s running the most right now. Cause it’s cold,” Tadiello said. “Furnaces are running longer. That’s normal because most furnaces are not set up or designed for the extreme cold we get only for a short period of time.”
He said the biggest reason for furnace trouble is skipping preventative maintenance. That included letting professionals clean your furnace every year. Even more than that is changing your filter. He recommends doing it every other month.
“Get those filters changed as often as possible. It helps,” he said.
Think of the furnace like a car. You know it needs regular oil changes and tire rotations.
“But because their furnace is in their home and it doesn’t play music—it just keeps you warm, keeps you cool when needed, and if it doesn’t work, that’s when they’re calling. But they never want to do any preventative maintenance. To me that is very important so that you don’t have your breakdowns,” he said.
Speaking of cars, maybe you’ve seen the tire pressure monitoring system light come on this season. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve got a hole. According to Consumer Reports, cold air is denser air. It can cause tire pressure to drop about a pound per square inch for every 10-degree drop in temperature.
“When it comes to your tires in the wintertime, don’t mess around with it. They are literally what keep you connected to the road,” said Jim Garrity with AAA East Central.
But a dead battery is AAA’s number one call on days like this, even though most of the damage happens in the heat.
“What happens is the hot summer sun cooks the inside of that battery. It breaks down those internal components and then you get really cold winter days. That’s the death nail. That’s the nail in the coffin that kills the battery,” Garrity said.
Garrity recommends getting your battery tested, its life span is anywhere from three to over five years.
The other winter calls AAA receives involve driving and things like sliding off the road. He stresses leaving early to your destination, leaving plenty of space in front of you and being prepared with supplies in case you get stranded.
Like your car battery, the freezing temperatures can also be the death of the pipes in your home. Tadiello said the best thing to do is open the cupboards under your sinks to let in the heat.
You can also turn on the faucet just a bit to keep the water running so it doesn’t freeze. This is especially important for sinks that sit against outside walls of your home, and even more important for older homes that don’t have as much insulation.
“I would probably do it through the day just because of what we’re experiencing, especially for the week,” he said.
