Winter home-buying guides

Short, data-backed guides for people buying a home in Saskatoon or Calgary. Each one uses LandMood's sun, snow and spring-melt model and ends with a link to check a specific home on the free map.

• North-facing vs south-facing house in Canada: what really changes in winter

  We modelled 299 homes in Saskatoon and Calgary: north-facing front yards get almost no winter sun and keep snow longer. What that means when you buy.

• North-facing driveway: snow and ice in a prairie winter

  A north-facing driveway in Saskatoon or Calgary gets little or no direct sun from November to February. What that means for snow, ice and clearing.

• South-facing backyard in Canada: the pros, the cons and the trade-off at the front

  In our Calgary sample, back yards of north-facing homes got 5.2 h of sun on Dec 21; south-facing homes' back yards got 0.7 h. The trade-offs, explained.

• Buying a house on a hill, a slope or near the river: what changes in a prairie winter

  North-facing slopes at Edworthy Park got 0.3 h of sun on Dec 21; south-facing ones got 4.0 h. What a hill or riverbank means for a home in winter.

• Winter house hunting in Saskatoon and Calgary: a checklist

  What to look at on a winter viewing in Saskatoon or Calgary: shade, the driveway, snow piles, ice, grading and the sump pump, plus questions for the sellers.

• Which Calgary communities get the most winter sun?

  In LandMood's model, Calgary suburbs built since 2000 get about 2 hours of December sun along their streets; most inner-city communities get under half an hour.

• Which Saskatoon neighbourhoods get the most winter sun?

  In LandMood's model, 12 Saskatoon neighbourhoods get 2 hours or more of December sun along their streets; 5 older central ones get under half an hour.

• Buying a house in Saskatoon in winter: what to check

  Buying a house in Saskatoon in winter: which way it faces, shade on the driveway, snow and melt water, and how the neighbourhood's winter sun compares.

• Buying a house in Calgary in winter: what to check

  Buying a house in Calgary in winter: which way it faces, shade on the driveway, chinook melt and refreeze, and how the community's winter sun compares.