Winter Planning

Winter seems to happen every year in New Hampshire. With it, you get picturesque views, quiet and cozy nights, skiing, hot cocoa, and all the joys that come with a fresh sheet of perfectly white snow covering the landscape. Winter is wonderful, and many people refuse to live anywhere without a winter, but if you've never had a winter before it can be intimidating.

This video provides a good overview for people who have never experienced winter before.

Winter Checklist

Here are some of the things you'll need to take care of for winter.

Car Maintenance

If you make a habit of doing all of these before winter arrives, you'll be in good shape.

Winter Tires

It is strongly advisable to put winter tires on your vehicle before winter arrives. All-weather tires do not perform nearly as well in snow, especially in regards to braking and steering under adverse conditions.

Batteries

Cold has a tendency to sap the voltage of any older batteries, meaning that batteries that work fine in the summer will sometimes not work well in the winter. Just be aware that you may need to replace the battery early in the winter. If you want to avoid the issue, you can replace it before-hand.

Often, people will experience this issue and a jump will let them get to where they're going, but this won't be a long-term solution. Plan to buy a new battery. Deep Core batteries tend to perform better in this regard. Pay attention to the Cold Cranking Amperage of a battery to get more reliable vehicle starting in the winter.

Sometimes issues with starting can be due to a shot alternator, however this is less likely if it's very early in the winter season and it occurs.

Snow-brush and ice-breakers

You will want to ensure that your vehicle has an ice-breaking snow-brush in it before the first major snowfall. Different varieties are available, however the typical plastic one should suffice for most purposes. Wooden-handled ones have a tendency to fail. Experience will dictate which works best for you and your vehicle.

Windshield Wipers

There is a difference between summer windshield-wipers and winter windshield-wipers. Summer ones will "work" in the winter, but are more likely to be damaged as their internal mechanisms are less protected. Silicone wipers tend to work very well in the winter.

If you are driving to work and your car is heated, expect it to melt snow that falls on it in the parking lot... for an hour or so. After that, the vehicle will cool to the point that water that is accumulated on the windshield will freeze. This often means that your wipers will freeze to the vehicle. To prevent this from being too much of a problem, you can "Stand Up" your wipers so they are not pressed against the windshield.