This is a timely message from our neighbor, Dan Kilgore:

We were spoiled by last year’s low snowfall, but this year to date, it seems we’re going back to a good old fashioned NH winter!

If in your past lives, you lived like many of us in older homes, or heated by oil, there is a key safety difference with our modern natural gas systems:

By and large, they are all direct vent, including your furnace, water heater, and any other gas appliances you may have. Those little white PVC pipes we all have sticking out of the sides of the houses are for air intake and exhaust for each appliance. Although the height off the ground varies, it is critical that they NOT be covered over by snow, or it can damage the unit, or even allow exhaust gases to back into the house. With the winds we have here, and the blowing/drifting snow, they may need to be checked and cleared multiple times. And if you have an outside generator, remember that it too needs to be cleared. Better safe than sorry!