It's mid-winter and I have piles of snow all around with a bank of snow along the edge of the driveway. It takes less than an hour to clear a 200 metre driveway and several parking pads.When it is -15 Celcius (-5 F), I plug in the coolant warmer and the battery warmer for a couple of hours and the machines starts on the first crank. The heated hand grips are essential.