Well, I don’t live far north, but the Colorado Rockies get plenty cold in the winter. Mostly, it’s 6 months of snow.
Some people in town can manage without 4 wheel drive, but it is really going to limit you. You WILL be expected at work no matter how much snow we get (with one rare exception in the 22 years I’ve been here). We are supposed to get 1-2 feet tonight and tomorrow. Nobody is stocking up on groceries; it’s just the way it is.
I live out of town, and the first year I tried a 2 wheel drive with studded snows on all for corners. Snerk. That didn’t last long.
I just invested $20,000 in a new (to me) plow truck. Brand new plow, 10,000lb winch on the back and chains on all four wheels. No, I do not like getting stuck. Been there done that. It’s not my business, I just plow our driveway and sometimes our access roads.
So, with the right clothing, and at times equipment, winter isn’t too bad.
I bet it depends a lot on the car but while living in NH I had a car with wipers on the headlights to knock the snow off, heaters on the side mirrors, and a feature which engaged AWD when the outside temperature went below freezing. I’m aware of other cars with automatic transmissions which start motion in 3rd gear if “winter mode” is enabled to reduce slipping.
I used to live much further north than Winnipeg is, but basically in a typical North American community. As mentioned, you have houses built for the conditions - the older ones were not, because heating oil used to be real cheap. There was a big home reno industry retrofitting inappropriate Toronto-type single pane and sliding glass windows, cheap doors, etc. with properly sealed and insulated windows and doors. Many added extra insulation to the house.
Cars can plug in, and if you are stopping for more than about 4 or 5 hours, you will want to plug in the block heater. This keeps the engine block and oil warm enough that the engine turns over and is lubricated. Remote starters to get the vehicle somewhat warm before you go for a drive - also popular. heated seats and steering wheels are advertised as features on many cars nowadays.
But basically, you live indoors, not unlike everyone else. I assume in the winter in Indiana you don’t sit and sun on the deck, and don’t go for long walks on the beach to enjoy the sunset. neither did I. Most events happen indoors or if it’s some sort of winter festival or activity, there are warming facilities at hand. besides, up north the sun goes down before you leave work and often does not rise until you are on your way to work.
If you do go outside for exercise, you dress appropriately. Also as mentioned, here are very good insulating and breathing winter clothes. Once you start vigorous exercise, it really does no matter what the temperature is.
I used to come back from 10km cross country skiing with massive icicles hanging off my beard and moustache, and thick frost build-up on my clothes, but I never had frostbite. Downhill skiing, your clothes don’t need to breathe as much. I wasn’t into snowmobiling, but you can buy windproof suits that allow you to do 40mph in -30C/F without serious discomfort, and they’re not much more bulky than any other winter coats - just you wear the pants and boots and helmet to match.
That’s what I came here to say. Staying active keeps the blood moving. At times when I’ve been cross-country skiing in pretty cold temps, I’ve had to unzip my parka to keep from sweating too much. Even just walking will warm you up in five or ten minutes.
Yeah, people just don’t spend all day outdoors in the fucking freezing cold, unless that’s their job. And if it’s their job they have the gear and experience to handle it, except when they don’t and someone loses an ear or a toe or dies.
Interesting. I live in metro Detroit and I know about block heaters. I have a 2012 Fiesta and a block heater was one of the available options. My brother had a diesel truck when he was in college, and he had to plug the block heater in most of winter.
Diesel fuel fires at higher temperatures, so it’s a good idea to plug in a diesel car/truck’s block heater if it’s below freezing outside. Gasoline engines tend to start without issue down to around 10°F/-10°C*. Below that you’ll notice your car work harder to start, and if you often have temperatures below 0°F/-18°C, a block heater is a good idea.
It’s basically a heating element in the cylinder block and immersed in the coolant. It’s connected to a power cord that you can pull through the grille a little bit or under the hood, like so. Use an outdoor extension plug to an outlet on the exterior wall, in the garage, whatever.
But that’s the engine, NOT the battery. Batteries lose about 35% of their power at the freezing point, and 60% at 0°F/-18°C. If you have an older battery, that drain may leave you with basically a dead battery.
I live in Canada. Where can I buy one of those cars?
Seriously, I think the poster’s remark had more to do with what we expect when we buy a car. We expect that the car will be sold with a block heater; in fact, we often assume that it will be. Similarly, we expect that the tires will work on ice and snow–it’s been our experience that many so-called all-season tires don’t work in all of the seasons.
Other than that, I don’t think that vehicles are really any different than the ones sold in more southern climes. My Chevy truck was assembled in Texas, and except for the speedometer being calibrated in kilometers, is likely no different from similar trucks shipped to Florida and California. The major difference would probably be the block heater, which the local dealer installed before I took delivery.
Hi, well, for one, the requisite block heater. Also, a more robust battery, as the severely cold weather, for long stretches, absolutely kills a regular battery. I’m not sure of the difference, but experience of friends and family who buy cars from warmer climates tells me that the battery is the first to go. So those ‘winterizing’ aspects are normally built in for Canadian built cars.
But you can find cars built elsewhere that have the required grip and handling capability, and traction, and advanced braking on ice that covers the roads for more than 6 months of the year. Mercedes, Acura, Subaru all built cars like this, so the Canadian manufacturers don’t necessarily have a lock on that.
Yeah, I’d like one, too. Cars last about 10 years here, because winters are so frigging hard on them. Between the very cold weather making plastics brittle and wearing everything out prematurely, the salt on the roads, the deep and ubiquitous potholes, and the damage done by sliding into things in icy conditions, cars have it pretty rough here.
People do tend to live inside in winter here, but I think it’s very important for people to get out as much as they can, for your physical health as well as your mental health. When you get used to being outside in the cold, your body does get used to it, and you aren’t afraid of it - you understand how long you can stay out safely, and what you need to wear to stay well-protected.
That said, one of my favourite days of the year is what I call Spring Day - the first day in spring when you feel like spring is truly here, and everyone in the whole city who can is outside, just enjoying the warmth.
The difference I see this winter in SE Michigan is that we are just not having any let-up in the cold/snow cycles. In the past, there have been breaks with temps in the 40s. To me, this winter just feels unrelentingly “arctic.”
And what makes this winter so draining on me personally is the constant prep work needed every time I do anything outside or even go anywhere outside my front door. To bring the trash out, I have to bundle up with coat, hat, gloves, boots. To bring my kids to the car, I have to bundle myself and them up with coat, hat, gloves, boots, scarf. Going out takes five minutes to prep, and then arriving back home takes five minutes to undress. The front rug and back steps are constantly wet from melted snow. *This *is what I actually find draining about this winter, and I too wonder how arctic folk do this year after year after year for months and months and months at a time.
All of this shit is driving me nuts! The relentlessness of the bitter cold and ridiculous snow accumulations. I think when we get our next 30 degree day, I’m going to go out in nothing but a long sleeve shirt and tennis shoes just because I can. Oh, and probably pants.
But you live on an island off the northwestern coast of a continent, correct? That means you get warm, oceanic air currents that moderate the climate considerably compared to the east coast of a continent. Western European temperatures by and large are much warmer than their latitudes suggest to a North American, and British temperatures even warmer still. (And conversely, North American climes are much chillier than their latitudes suggest to a Brit, especially on the east coast and northern inland region.
Those are just option packages - available to folks anywhere and common on cars shipped to any cold climates. There’s nothing really special about Canada that wouldn’t be true in Alaska, the northern tier of the US, or Scandinavia.
I do remember that some years ago when I was buying a new vehicle, one of the options was for heated seats, but it was available in Canada only. Nowadays, they’re a common option, of course.
My Subaru came with heated seats when I bought it 10 years ago, and they told me that all new Subarus sold in New England had to have the “Winter Package” which included heated seats, heated side mirrors, and heated windshield. But no block heater or bigger battery.
When I was in Arviat, no on walked anywhere. It was all snowmobile and they were left running outside restaurants and stores. Well, the two stores they had there.
