Inside, it may help to open kitchen cabinet doors if they are near pipes to keep them warm. "There's a good chance that would prevent freezing," he said.

Also, a small drip may prevent an indoor pipe from freezing.

Many cars are under the weather too.

Elden Dattage, owner of Elden'sTowing in Logan, summarized the damage from cold on vehicles: "It's freezing them up, ruining the batteries, keeping them from starting, gelling the diesel and keeping the wreckers busy."

Jeff Davis of Jeffrey P. Davis Automotive in Murray said a main difficulty is in starting vehicles. A car may have a good battery but a bad connection, resulting in trouble starting the vehicle. "We probably see as much connection problem as anything," he said.

Davis suggested drivers have their batteries tested and make sure the terminals and connecting cable lugs are clean, with good contact. "That'll go a long way toward heading off the problem," he added.

Rod Stewart, owner of State Radiator, Midvale, has seen a few frozen radiators because they lacked proper antifreeze. But more often, he said, vehicles have "heater core problems where the heaters don't blow warm enough."

Heater systems can become partly plugged, he said. "They just kind of blow lukewarm air." A good radiator flush and a new thermostat will normally correct the problem, said Stewart.

"We're currently running waiting lists," said Jason Harris, general manager of Harris Air Systems, which repairs heaters mostly in the Salt Lake area but also Tooele and St. George.

"We've been working our staff well into the night, just trying to keep up with excessive load we've had. So far we've not had to turn anybody away.

"Probably the main thing that I would encourage people to do," Harris said, "is have a professional tune-up and cleaning done on their equipment." It's best to have the furnace serviced before cold weather arrives, he said.

Also, Harris said, people should "change their filters" about every four weeks during the cold months.

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Contributing: Jennifer Toomer-Cook

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com