Keep Your Car in the Garage This Winter
Winter is never the most fun season to be a car owner. You’re buying snow tires and making sure to drive extra carefully — and it’s cold!
At least keeping the car in the garage helps you avoid having to scrape snow and ice off your car, but can it really make a huge difference in other ways, too? It can, and here’s why.
Your Doors and Locks Won’t Freeze
Winter temperatures can get so low that your car locks can actually freeze. And, if a layer of ice forms, your doors can freeze shut, too. There are a lot of precautions you can take to prevent this, but one of the easiest is keeping the car in the garage. It’s not exposed to the elements, and the temperature in an enclosed building is warmer, even if your garage isn’t heated.
If you don’t have keyless entry, there’s a chance that you could break your car key off in the door lock while trying to get it open. That’s not a good situation to be in.
It’ll Help out Your Battery
Car batteries don’t do well in extreme temperatures — be it hot or cold. However, their capacity gets drastically reduced in cold temperatures, especially if you have an older battery. There’s also an increased draw on the battery from accessories, as your headlights and wipers are usually on more often during the winter season.
One of the biggest issues, though, is that the demand on the battery to get the car started can be even higher than normal. Motor oil gets thicker when it’s colder, meaning the engine is more difficult to turn over, and your battery struggles more. Even though it’s still cold in a garage, any extra bit of warmth can help.
It’s a Lot Less Work for You
All of the scraping and snow clearing when a car is left outside is exhausting. You have to plan ahead and make sure you have enough time to get all the scraping or clearing accomplished and get your car warmed up. Even if it doesn’t snow, you still have to allow some extra time if you want your car to be warmed up and ready before you’re halfway through your commute.
Keeping the car in the garage helps you avoid all of that hassle. In addition to it being better for your car, it’s also better for you. You can save those spare minutes and spend them on getting ready or doing other tasks instead of worrying about your car. More coffee, anyone?
Insulated Doors Can Help Even More
Having insulated garage doors can give a boost to all of the benefits that come along with keeping your car indoors. They make it warmer than normal garage doors, blocking out more of the cold and almost guaranteeing that the temperature in your garage won’t get below freezing. This is good news for your car’s battery and fluids.
An extra perk is that it can help save you money. If you have an uninsulated garage attached to your house, the temperature discrepancies are going to impact the room that garage is attached to, making the heating system work harder to make sure those areas are warm. An insulated garage helps even that out — a good bonus!
Keeping your car in the garage this winter is a no-brainer. Help keep your car running smoothly, while also saving time in your day that would otherwise be spent on clearing snow. That’s what a garage is meant for.
