The bone-chilling cold spell happening in the Mahoning Valley could be trouble for homeowners in the next few days if they are not prepared.

Burst pipes can cause thousands of dollars in damage, but taking a few simple steps can help people avoid a cold weather nightmare.

Kevin Molek, general manager of Handyman in Austintown, said the first thing people should do during weather like this is disconnect garden hoses. Secondly, he recommends removing insulation from some plumbing. 

"We would want to remove that. You want the heat from your basement to keep that pipe warm," Molek said. 

Letting the cold water drip from a faucet can prevent pipes from freezing and using heat cables, that can be plugged into an outlet, can help warm air circulate around your plumbing.

Protecting a home is not the only concern in weather like this.

Heating systems are working overtime which could place pressure on the power grid.

"It is noticeable that people are going to be using their energy to heat their homes. That's why we want to make people aware of ways that they can use energy efficiently," Hannah Catlett, spokesperson for First Energy Ohio Edison told 21 News.

 During this winter freeze First Energy is taking steps to ensure grid reliability. 

"In this case, we also took a look at staffing levels and made sure that we have enough personnel to respond if outages do occur," Catlett said. 

You can find a list of safety and energy saving tips from First Energy here.