Experts say now is the time to get your car and house ready for winter

“Check my battery, make sure my liquids are right."

Jacqueline Gulley-Lyde said she’s already made sure her car is winter ready.

Unlike Gulley-Lyde, George Piel said now that the weather has turned, they’re picking up more customers with car problems at Tony’s Auto.

One big issue is batteries. He said drivers should start by getting them checked.

“You want to check your battery terminals. Make sure they’re clean,” Peil said.

You can check the battery yourself, or take it for service.

“It’s a voltmeter,” Peil said, hooking up a small machine to a car battery. “You should be anywhere from 12 and a half to 13 volts when the car isn’t running.”

If it’s lower, your car will let you know when you start up.

“If it’s a push button, you might have to hold it longer or if it’s a key, you might have to turn the key and hold it a little bit longer,” he said.

Next, check your coolant, or antifreeze, level. It should be full and clean.

“And you’re gonna want to make sure it’s at the color it needs to be," Peil said.

The last thing on his list are tires.

“In the wintertime, for general repairs, you should pay attention to make sure your tire pressure’s good and make sure you have adequate tires,” Peil said.

Tires lose pressure in the colder weather. So, check the rating on the tire itself and not what’s recommended on the door. And your tires should have a good tread for the winter.

“If your tires are bald, please go get some good ones. It’s too easy to slide,” Gulley-Lyde said.

Over at Goody’s Hardware, David Katz said they’re busy suddenly helping customers get their homes ready for winter.

“The cold weather hit us hard and quickly,” Katz said. “People are coming in in droves, looking for insulation, around the windows, around the outlets.”

The big seller at Goody’s is pipe insulation.

“There’s all types of pipe insulation for the basement, for older homes that aren’t well insulated, to put pipe wrap on it. there are electrical ones, there’s foam ones,” Katz said.

He said they’re not too expensive and choosing the right one can save you a headache later.

Among the shelves of heaters that tend to be in hot demand are window insulation kits, which also are a customer favorite.

“After that, you don’t even have to think about the space heaters,” Edgar Nyatome, of New Haven, said.

But one last thing you might want to think about are drafts from under your doors.

“The good old big nice heavy ones,” Katz said holding a door draft stopper. “For big gaps, for basements, front doors, back doors, garages. Things like that.”