The Great Minnesota Winter Wiper Debate: Up or Down?

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If you have to park your vehicle outside when it's going to snow, do you leave the windshield wipers up or down?

The wipers up/wipers down debate has been around for a while

It's a debate that's been around pretty much since automobiles have been around here in Minnesota and in other states where winter brings snow and ice: if you have to park your vehicle outside, should you leave your windshield wipers up or down when wintery weather is in the forecast?

Both the Wipers Up and Wipers Down camps have equal points, as the Farmer's Almanac pointed out:

Wipers Up:
+ Prevents damage to the wiper motor, should you turn on the ignition and have accidentally left the wipers on (and they’re frozen to the windshield).
+ Prevents damaging the rubber, when you have to chisel them away from the windshield.
+ Makes clearing away snow and ice from the windshield easier.
Wipers Down:
+ Prevents damaging the springs inside or bending the blade arm.
+ Discourages vandalism.
+ A non-issue because the defroster releases frozen blades.

So which is better: Leaving wipers up or keeping them down?

But which one is actually the best for your vehicle? Well, again, there are two schools of thought and both make several good points. Eerie Insurance talked to their material damage claims quality control manager, and the story noted that he said putting your wipers UP when it snows or when there's freezing rain or ice in the forecast might actually be a *bit* better.

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That's because Eerie Insurance noted that the springs in wiper arms are much stronger these days, so leaving them up isn't likely to cause damage. And, Eerie notes, you're much more likely to cause damage to rubber wiper blades frozen to the windshield when you're trying to clear all that snow and ice.

Keeping your wipers up seems to be most popular

Confirming that line of thinking, the Farmer's Almanac asked just over 600 of their readers several years ago whether they were in the Wipers Up or Wipers Down camp, and the results were pretty conclusive:

• Wipers Up - 68%
• Wipers Down - 32%

I have to say, I've lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota my entire life, and it never occurred to me to put my wipers up. However, there have been a few times when I'm pretty sure I've damaged a rubber wiper blade that was frozen to the windshield, so maybe I'll start putting them up.

What do YOU do? And, speaking of winter, scraping snow and ice off your vehicle has to be one of the least fun things to do. Keep scrolling to check some other things Minnesotans don't like about our cold weather season!

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