Winter Planning

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Revision as of 15:51, 28 June 2022 by Admin (talk | contribs)

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.

Home Heating and Winterization

Heating

There are several ways to heat your home in the winter.

Wood

Woodstoves and fireplaces are the most reliable means of heat, assuming you can do the work necessary to keep the fire going and also have seasoned wood available to burn. No electricity is required, however this won't work if you leave the house for long periods of time. They generally do not respond to thermostats. These can also be used for cooking, as well as humidifying the air of the house by boiling water.

Propane/Oil Furnace

Most propane and oil heat sources require electricity. This means that if you use propane to heat your house in the winter, you are likely to need the grid to be active in order to stay warm. However, they work via thermostate and automatically keep your home at the desired temperature. This means they are suitable to run when you are not home to watch them. Usually these systems work either by heating air put through a heat exchanger (which is then pumped into various rooms of the house), or by heating water which flows through radiators in different parts of the house. You'll want to ensure that you have your fuel topped up before winter arrives. Often, you can buy off-season to get better deals on this.

Electric Resistance Heating

This is an extremely expensive means to heat your house. You can use ceramic heaters that are powered by wall-outlets for certain colder rooms, but it is not advisable that you use this for heating the whole house as it requires an active electrical grid and also costs an incredibly high amount.

Electric Heat-Pump

This is often a much more cost-effective means of heating your house, but requires an active electrical grid. It also has a tendency to lose efficiency at colder temperatures.

Pellet Stove

A Pellet Stove is similar to a woodstove in many ways, except instead of burning wood it burns wood pellets. It requires electricity to run the auger usually.

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