Has Your Tire Pressure Light Come On Yet?
I must admit that since I took some time off during the holidays, I didn't do that much driving over the past week. It was so nice just to be home and not have to go anywhere. I did start my car almost every day, with the temperatures being what they are, and let it run a bit, but other than that, I wasn't in my car that much.
Tires lose about 1PSI for every 10-degree drop in temperature.
Until last night. As my husband and I were getting ready to come back to work today, we realized that we didn't have any new calendars, we have to do a better job in asking Santa next year. There was only one thing to do, head to the store.
As I was about to pull into the parking lot, a little light came on in my dashboard, and my heart kinda stopped. (Little icons that light up on my dashboard have that effect on me.)
It took me a minute to figure out what it was since it looked like a horseshoe with an exclamation point in the middle.
Tire pressure alert. I couldn't figure out why it was coming on and as I pulled into the nearest convenience store with free air, I realized that I must not be alone. I don't think I've ever seen such a line to get air before. While I waited, I did a little research.
As it turns out, according to Consumer Reports, that while tires do lose pressure over time and there could always be a puncture, it seems that tires typically lose pressure when it gets really cold.
In fact, they lose about 1PSI for every 10-degree drop in temperature. That explains the line.
They also go on to mention that it's probably a good idea to not wait until the tire pressure light comes on and check your tire's pressure every month.
Good advice which I intend to follow because I don't really need any more icons to light up on my dashboard.