Five things Lansing needs to know about this week’s extreme cold

Garbage, closings, the Village, water, and your heating system

by Melanie Jongsma

LANSING, Ill. (January 29, 2019) – The following information is provided by the Village of Lansing as well as other sources:

1. Homewood Disposal will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday), so Lansing garbage pick-up will be delayed one day, just as it is during holiday weeks.
2. The Lansing Public Library will be open Wednesday 9:00am–5:00pm and Thursday 12:00–8:00pm.
3. The Lansing Municipal Center (Village Hall) will be open during their regular business hours.
4. Houses throughout Lansing—particularly slab houses—should keep a trickle of water running during the next couple days. Keeping the water moving through the pipes can prevent it from freezing and causing expensive damage. It is not necessary to keep every faucet running; just one or two, depending on the size of your house. If you have faucets located near exterior walls, choose those as the ones you want to keep running, as they are most susceptible to freezing.

About heating your home this week

Keep your thermostat at a constant temperature for the next few days, rather than lowering the temp while you are gone for the day or while you are asleep at night. This week’s temperatures and wind chills are more extreme than what a typical home’s heating system was designed for, and the temperature inside your home will most likely drop even while working at full capacity. Consider the following advice from heating and air professionals:

• Raise the temperature in your home on Tuesday 2–4 degrees above your normal setting. Do not move it up or down as this could damage the furnace.
• Take all programmable thermostats out of setback mode and set on a permanent HOLD at 70 degrees or higher.
• If you have a furnace; replace the filter.
• Keep garage doors closed.
• Limit opening exterior doors.
• Make sure air vents and radiators throughout the home are not blocked or obstructed.