People & Lifestyle
Helpful Home Tools This Winter
Winter is here, and it’s the time of year when you want to sit back with a nice cup of hot chocolate, wrapped in your blanket, watching TV or reading a good book. It’s the ‘snuggle’ season, and most of us look forward to the laid back life that comes with it. However, with winter coming on quite strong and the weather getting ready to turn everything white, it’s essential to have the right tools to be able to survive the snowy days and nights at home.
Here are the must-have tools that will help you survive this winter:
Snowblowers
A few years ago, the only tool available was a shovel and no matter how much it snowed, there was no other way to get rid of it other than manually.
Luckily, nowadays there is a wide variety of snowblowers to choose from that will help make your winter a lot easier to deal with. And to make things easier, the snowblower reviews on www.backyardworkshop.com/best-snowblowers/ highlight the difference between the snowblowers available to help you understand which one is best for you. So, depending on the amount of snow you get, the power you’re looking for and the budget you’re willing to spend, you’ll be able to make a calculated decision of which snowblower is best for you. That way, you’ll welcome the snowy weather with open arms instead of dreading the hard labor you would have had to go through, or even worse being trapped inside the house because of the snow.
Shovel
While snowblowers remove the snow, it is still essential to own a shovel (if you’re in the UK, you may wish to get your hands on one of these UK snow ploughs ready for when winter arrives). First of all, when the snow isn’t that intense, it is sometimes easier to just remove the snow out of the way manually, than to resort to a snowblower. Another reason why you should own a shovel, especially in the winter, is that there are certain areas where a snowblower will not be able to reach, leaving it covered in snow.
However, with a shovel, you’ll be able to reach those areas yourself and remove the snow manually instead. It is worth mentioning that there are newer models of shovels that have been designed with ergonomics in mind to take as much strain off the body when performing the act of shoveling.
A back-up generator
Just in case the weather gets so bad that even electricity struggles to reach your house, having a back-up generator will be one of the most useful tools you could own. You’ll not only avoid the damage done by power cuts in terms of everything in the freezer going bad, but you’ll also be able to maintain a relatively normal everyday life in terms of hot water, cooking, switching on the light and most importantly, not freezing to death.
A back-up generator comes in really handy when the weather gets so bad that it leads to a power-cut and could be the ultimate survival tool in that weather, too.
Roof rake
While snow blowers aid in removing the snow off the ground, roof rakes come in pretty handy when you want to remove the snow off your roof. One of the main reasons roof rakes are so important is that when the weather gets really bad and the amount of snow increases immensely, the snow piling up on the roof can add too much pressure, putting the entire household in danger of collapsing.
With roof rakes, it gets easier to access to the snow building up on the roof and remove it, which helps in reducing the risk and danger of piled up snow and too much pressure on the roof. The only thing is, it has to be done manually and needs someone to actually get out of the house in the freezing weather and exert the effort into removing the snow manually off the roof with the rake. However, it is better to be safe than sorry, even if it means more effort will be done.
Leaf blower
When it starts snowing, the pressure of the snow on the leaves makes them fall, leaving a lot of leaves on the ground covered in snow. This makes it hard to collect or remove them without a leaf blower. Having a leaf blower is also important in the winter, because it acts as a snowblower that isn’t as heavy-duty.
So, when you find that it has been snowing, but not to the extent that you need to bring out the snowblower, you could just use the leaf blower to be able to clear away the light snow from pathways and driveways without much of a hassle. You can also use it to blow the snow off windows, window sills, porches and even off the top of your car.
A snow brush
Why wait for a good 20 minutes or so every morning while your car heats up and melts away the snow on the windshields? Instead, you can do it yourself manually with a snow brush or an ice scraper to make sure that your car is ready to hit the road.
You’ll be able to brush away the snow from the windows, windshields, top of the car and even the mirrors and with the snowblower removing the snow from the driveway, you’ll be ready to get in your car and drive away with nothing stopping you. The best thing is that this is such a cheap tool that you can keep in your car, or even in your house, to use when things get pretty rough.
Ice cleats
With snow all around you, it’s very easy to slip and hurt yourself. In order to avoid that from happening, you should always have ice cleats that you can strap on to almost any type of shoe to help increase the amount of friction and prevent you from slipping. Ice cleats have metal teeth that dig into snow or ice and help you keep your balance to avoid slipping in rough winter conditions.
It’s always best to be prepared for the winter so you can enjoy the beauty of the whiteness without dreading it keeping you trapped, making you unable to drive, or even getting hurt. That’s why it is essential to have these winter tools in your home ready to be brought out and ready for your rescue when the weather gets really rough.