Winter Preps For Your Car, Home

Single digit temps along with sleet, ice, and snow are all in the near forecast.

So to prepare your car, here are some tips. The first recommendation is don't try driving in bad weather.

Before the storm begins, head to your favorite automotive store and look for basic items that can help get the ice off your car, such as ice scrapers and de-icer. Also, get some traction salt to melt the ice around your vehicle, and make sure your vehicle has plenty of antifreeze.

Another item that would help is washer fluid. In some stores it could be called "two and one," and it works for temperature limits down to minus 25 degrees.

As for your home, there are tips that could prevent damages that could cost you thousands of dollars. Copper pipes are found in most households. To prevent cracks, dripping water is not the answer.

"The greatest misconception is dripping your faucets," said Jamey Mullin of Hi-Tech Plumbing. "The water will expand and it will split because the copper will not allow for the expansion."

And that's just one myth leaking from the pipes.

"If it's just dripping, it's too slow. The water will freeze."

The other myth: running just hot water.

"The hot water actually freezes faster than the cold. The majority of the pipes we find damage to are on the hot."

The work Mullin does at Hi-Tech Plumbing and Leak Detect proves you must run hot and cold water. And instead of a drip, it has to be a steady stream.

"So, combining the cold and the hot just a little bit more to where you can see a steady stream. As long as that water is moving, it's not going to freeze."

The stream doesn't need to be started until the temperature gets to around 20 degrees Fahrenheit.

"It's a small amount of water compared to a house that's flooded."

It is damage you won't even know about until things heat up in the spring.

"It's when they thaw. But the damage was done when they froze."