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Taking care of your home and car during extreme cold in Minnesota
While the cold weather is almost past us, this past week has been a busy one for mechanics and plumbers… because a week of extreme cold means lots of cars won’t start and pipes freeze overnight.
CHANHASSEN, Minn. (FOX 9) - While the cold weather is almost past us, this week has been a busy one for mechanics and plumbers because a week of extreme cold means lots of cars won’t start and pipes freeze overnight.
The weather got the best of pipes at a Chipotle in Chanhassen.
"There’s a valve back here that froze and burst," Tiger Plumbing & Heating Owner Dustin Mix said. "[It is a] matter of an hour with these temperatures subzero."
"There’s another valve up here that’s got a split on it so these two valves will need to be replaced," Mix continued. "They had no water flow. It’s most likely to break during these cold temperatures and if you leave it to chance you could be one of the victims where you have frozen pipes and it creates a lot of damage."
To prevent this hassle, homeowners should run a small amount of water through any pipes on the outside walls of their home, and be sure not to turn the home’s thermostat down too low at night.
"Today being I think the lowest temps that they’ve predicted, the phones are ringing off the hook right now," Mix told FOX 9.
"Since the cold weather happened, it’s been nonstop cars coming in for batteries, tires getting checked that are low," Dan DeRusha said at Bobby & Steve’s Auto World.
"It’s this cold out, a lot of things can break, there’s over 18,000 parts in a car," DeRusha explained. "How cold is too cold? Now. Now is too cold. Anything below freezing is hard."
To avoid a detour to a mechanic, keep at least a quarter-tank of gas in your car to prevent it from freezing. Also, start your car a few times a week, even if you aren’t driving during the pandemic.
"If you’re stuck on the side of the road in this kind of temperature you do have a very very high risk of ending up in the hospital. It’s not safe out there," DeRusha said.