Tips to keep home warm, pipes protected from cold weather this week

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — With arctic air on the way, now is the time to make sure your heater is working correctly. It will be very hard to get repairs if something goes wrong over the holiday weekend.

When the colder months arrive, the phones ring nonstop at Choate’s Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing.

HVAC service manager Jason Smith said they receive about 120 calls per day of homeowners with problems related to their home heating system.

Smith said that most can be prevented with proper maintenance. Make sure you change your air filter and call an HVAC expert to inspect your heating system. It may need a tune up just like your car.

“It’s best to sign up in a maintenance program with a professional company that will come out and assess it,” Smith said. “Whether you have a gas furnace or a heat pump system, you’re going to make sure your heat pump system is clean and you want to make sure your furnace is safe to operate.”

It’s also important to check the batteries of your carbon monoxide detectors to make sure they are up to date.

Frigid temperatures can also create disaster inside your home if you don’t protect your plumbing properly.

To prevent your pipes from bursting, Memphis Light Gas and Water and other plumbing experts said to keep your cabinets doors beneath your bathrooms and kitchens open.

This will allow heated air to flow around the pipes.

The owner of Automatic Air Conditioning, Heating and Plumbing Services said you should also keep your pipes insulate, especially outdoor faucets.

Open the indoor faucet at a slight drip to keep the cold water running in the system.

“Water expands and it can crack the pipes,” owner Sam Mullins said. “You don’t know it until it starts to thaw out and then it starts leaking. Most of Memphis has copper pipes and that will break under the pressure of the water.”

If you follow these tips, it will prevent your pipes from freezing this holiday season.

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