ROANOKE. Va. (WFXR) – The winter storms may be over for now, but cold temperatures are here to stay.
In the middle of such a cold spell, the risk of things like frozen pipes can skyrocket.
“When those pipes freeze, they can burst, and no one wants that,” said Jared Christianson, who works at Roanoke Service Experts HVAC.
“Make sure you’re doing that preventive maintenance, so those breakdowns don’t occur,” he continued. “You don’t get frozen pipes unless a breakdown occurs. If you don’t have heat in your home, that’s when those pipes will freeze.”
Taking care of your heating system year-round by changing the filters and checking with an expert if you suspect something is wrong is vitally important so that it doesn’t quit on you when winter rolls around.
When the cold does arrive, Christianson says it’s best practice to keep the heat running in your home and not to let the thermostat drop any cooler than 67 degrees.
“Optimizing it between 67 and 74 depending on your comfort level but I wouldn’t set it any lower than 67,” he said.
Making sure windows are properly sealed and reversing the direction of ceiling fans are other ways to keep your home warm without running up the power bill.
All of these practices become even more important during and after a winter storm when road conditions and high demand can lengthen the time it takes an expert to reach you.
“This is where we get the most no-heat calls because with ice and snow coming down, it’s obviously going to be running your system harder,” Christianson said.