How to Keep Your Car Warm When it’s Cold
When it’s cold out, your natural reaction is to heat your car as quickly as possible. Doing so, however, can cause serious damage to occur. Here’s how to keep your car warm without damaging it.
Fill or refill your antifreeze
One of the best things you can do is to fill or replace your antifreeze as the cold starts to bite. You should definitely replace all of your antifreeze if you haven’t done this in several years.
Make sure to only use one color and never mix them up. Make sure that you are also using antifreeze rather than coolants. A coolant is basically a mix of water and antifreeze. That’s why you should stick to antifreeze as it is more effective.
Drive the car slowly at first
Idling your car on your driveway is a sure-fire way to damage your car’s engine. While it may be comfortable for you, you’re actually trying up your car’s oil with unburned fuel. This is going to cause unnecessary wear to your car’s engine. Idling for a couple of minutes shouldn’t do much damage, but never leave your car for a quarter of an hour. Instead, drive slowly around the block to warm the car up.
Use a small heater
If you have kids or you are particularly concerned about the comfort of your passengers, you can use a small heater in the car. When you have a heater, there’s no need to idle your car.
You’ll need to make sure that your heater is safe to use in a car. A block heater can be a good solution as you can plug int into a household outlet. This will keep your car warm while also keeping it safe.
Use a windshield cover
A windshield cover is a great way to keep snow and ice off your windshield. Not only will this prevent damage to your wipers, but it will also mean you don’t have to scratch your windshield when you scrape off ice in the morning. If you want to take things further, you can install a window warmer to make sure that your windows remain warm as well as covered.
Get a seat warmer
If it’s cold outside, a seat warmer is a great way to keep your tushy warm while driving. Again it means there’s less reason to idle your car. A lot of cars come with seat warmers today. If your car doesn’t have one, however, you can use purchase an after-market one.
Keep blankets in your car
Wool blankets are a great insulating fabric. Not only are they great in an emergency if you break down in the middle of nowhere, but they can also be used to keep your seats warm.
Wrapping it up
Extreme temperatures do damage to your car. When winter strikes, use these tactics to keep your car warm without idling it and causing damage. All it takes is a little planning to make your car comfortable during winter.