How to prepare your home for freezing temperatures

AccuWeather

Paul Hope with Consumer Reports was live on AccuEarly to provide viewers with tips for preparing your home for the cold weather.

Transcript

00:00Paul Hope is Senior Home and Appliances Writer with Consumer Reports.

00:04Paul, thanks for joining us.

00:05We often have you back here during big events here.

00:08And Paul, for traditional cold weather cities preparing your home for winter,

00:13it's a common occurrence.

00:14But what about folks in the path of this storm?

00:17What should they do to get winter ready?

00:20Yeah, you know, some of those things that we sort of take for granted

00:23or do naturally in some of the cold weather in northern states

00:26may not be first nature for folks in the south.

00:30So one of the biggest problem areas people encounter is frozen pipes,

00:34particularly in spots where they're run in basements,

00:37crawl spaces, or along exterior walls, which tend to be quite a bit colder.

00:41A frozen pipe is one of those things that is really easy to prevent,

00:45but just catastrophic when it actually happens.

00:47In many cases, you might spend $3,000, even $5,000 on a repair.

00:51And the issue is really that, you know, it's not that it's so expensive to repair.

00:55It's really just that it can do an enormous amount of damage,

00:59especially if it's allowed to run for quite some time after it bursts.

01:03And obviously, what about, if we can continue to scroll here,

01:08what about the safety with the space heaters?

01:12A lot of people using space heaters.

01:14What about generators? That can cause a problem.

01:17What should you remember about those products to try to keep staying warm and stay safe?

01:25Absolutely. You know, space heaters are great appliances when used correctly and safely.

01:30So you want to make sure that they're run on a dedicated circuit.

01:33You don't want to use them with extension cords, surge protectors,

01:37or jumble them with a lot of other high-wattage appliances

01:40because they're likely to overload a circuit in your house,

01:43which ideally would trip a circuit breaker,

01:45but in the worst-case scenario could start a fire.

01:48Obviously, make sure you only use them when they have plenty of clearance around them.

01:51You don't want to have clothing or anything that's remotely flammable near a space heater.

01:56And then generators are, you know, maybe not something people in these areas need all the time,

02:00but they are really, in some cases, life-saving and at least life-improving devices

02:05in the event of a prolonged power outage.

02:08They're especially important and helpful in instances like these where, you know,

02:12as you mentioned, road crews are not adept at necessarily clearing areas for utility companies quickly.

02:18There could be folks who experience power outages that go on days, even weeks.

02:22So a generator really can make, you know, make all the difference in a storm like this.

02:27You covered a bit about the interior, but how about the exterior?

02:29From the roof to the foundation, what can folks do to get ready for this cold

02:34or the cold for the rest of the season?

02:37Absolutely. You want to make sure to shut off any outdoor sources of water,

02:40especially, you know, hose bibs, things you might not normally have to deal with

02:43in areas where you're not expecting freezing temperatures.

02:46But you also want to check your roof.

02:48And, you know, it might be a little late for some folks now,

02:50but the idea is just look at your roof for any loose, missing, damaged shingles.

02:55Anything that's going wrong with your roof now is only going to get worse during a snowstorm.

03:01And, you know, worse, a roofing contractor might be able to make a simple repair now in 15, 20 minutes.

03:06If you wait until there's more damage or worse, until there's snow and ice on the roof,

03:09you're going to pay an enormously high rate because it's very dangerous, intense work.

03:14So try to make any roofing repairs you need before a big storm.

03:17If you get through this one, have a roofing inspector check it before there's another snowstorm.

03:22Paul Hope, Senior Home and Appliances Writer with Consumer Reports.

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