To piggyback on this… so many people have added permanent LED lights to the outside of their houses (at least in our area). It used to be fun to see a house or two lit up with current holiday colors, or sports team colors. But now there are several on each block, and they have become much brighter. On the 4th we were up on a hill watching fireworks and there was a lot of competition from the LED houses.

I was expecting it to be cake

As someone who’s had both, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. You have to keep on top of it. Don’t let snow sit for a few days. And get a good floor scraper to break up ice.

A positive to having a north facing house: my garage stays cooler in the summer.