On Saturday, I woke up to three inches of snow on the ground. THREE INCHES! On October 10th! Despite having grown up in what one of my college roommates lovingly referred to as the "TUNDRA!" (a.k.a, Wisconsin, and yes, she spoke this word in horrified all-caps), I am opposed to winter. I mean, I get that winter should not go away. Climate change is bad. And things like skiing, ice skating, snow forts, and hot chocolate do make winter a bit more bearable. But it's just so... cold. And icy. And dark.
Unfortunately, hibernation isn't really an option, and—in addition to extra doses of whining from yours truly—all of those cold, dark days can mean increased energy use. The heat's running, all the lights are on, comfort foods are cooking, the fireplace is going, and everyone spends just a few extra minutes under the hot shower. That can all add up.
To help you out, we of course have the Stay Warm, Save Money site that we've mentioned several times over the past few weeks. The site has a lot of good cold-weather energy-saving tips, and you should check it out.
But one resource you may not have thought of is the archive of the Energy Savers Blog. We've been around for more than a year now and many of last year's entries are still relevant. Here are a few of my favorites from our winter energy-saving discussions last year:
Financial Help:
Audits and Home Improvements:
Winter Tips:
Winter Driving:
Efficient Purchases:
Our snow is gone for now, but I know it will be back, so I guess now is the time to prepare. Check out the entries above and start making your own cold-weather preparations. And if there are other winter energy-saving topics you'd like us to cover here, please let us know in the comments.
Allison Casey is a senior communicator at DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, which assists EERE in providing technical content for many of its Web sites.