Winter weather in the Northland can sometimes be unpredictable, especially when it comes to the first snowfall. Although there are several tips for being prepared for when Winter will eventually come. One of the first tips is to make sure your snow blower is in working order before the snow comes.

Jay Willman, the owner of Willman Services Inc., said when it comes to snow blowers it’s similar to maintaining a car. Willman said it’s crucial to check the tire pressure, or change any old oil and gasoline. Although many residents in the Northland have snow blowers with metal chutes, which rust over time.

“A lot of the new snow blowers have plastic chutes, so they blow the snow a little bit better. And if you have an old style mellow chute, it gets clogged and stuff,” Willman said. “There’s things you can do. You can wax them, you can spray them. Rust will hold the snow. So there’s little things you can do and it just depends on how much you love your snow blower.”

Willman said another tip for being prepared is getting your snow blower looked at now can help make it easier to find any necessary missing parts.

“The biggest failure on snow blowers is the belts that drive the auger and the drive wheel that drives the tires on wet, heavy snow is really bad on any type of snow blower because it’s going to stretch the belt, go really slow, go first, gear all the speed you can get to it and let the snow blower do the work. Don’t push it.”

Maintaining your snow blowing equipment isn’t the only labor of love you can do for winter preparation. Keeping the pipes in your house warm is crucial too, for preventing any water leaks or freezing.

Michelle Simon-Guthrie, the co-owner of Guthrie Plumbing and Heating, said most homes should be between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

“The ideal home heat is 68 degrees. But when people are trying to save money, especially in these hard times, they’ll go lower,” She said. “But we don’t want them to go too low because, you could have cracked pipes or compromised older pipes.”

Michelle’s tip for being prepared for the Winrter season is not using space heaters for keeping pipes warm.

“Insulation is obviously important for piping. One of the things that we really caution people should not do, is to drop electric heaters down in their crawl spaces,” She said. “It’s a fire gamble. So we kind of caution against that.”

Other cost effective tips for being prepared this winter are take advantage of the sun’s light. Just from letting in sunlight through the windows provides plenty of natural heat on a sunny day.

Although, it’s important to close your curtains in the evening to prevent cold winter winds coming through any potential cracks.

Another neat trick to help keep a home warm is reversing the ceiling fan’s motor, and set to low. This helps circulate warm airflow, since hot air rises, while cold air sinks.

When it comes to heating a home the furnace plays a significant role. Especially when it comes to the furnace’s filter. If the filter is dirty, not only will the furnace provide less heat, it could cause a potential fire.

If you are curious about indoor winter preparation you can read more here. For other stories about winter safety you can read more here.