As the winter months drag on, the cold air turns frigid, and the snow piles grow to enormous heights, it becomes easier to seclude yourself in the warm, dry confines of your home.  Even when Central Wisconsin is covered in a blanket of white, with a few tips and reminders you can continue “being green” and practice environmentally friendly, energy efficient lifestyles when the snow falls. 

The winter months provide an invaluable opportunity to focus on the inside of your home.  Energy efficiency is especially essential due to the increased amount of electricity usage required by the harsh Wisconsin winters.

• Embrace the beauty of natural light, and the heating power of sunlight, by opening your shades during the day.
• Replace your regular light bulbs with Energy Star® certified light bulbs, such as Energy Star® compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL), which use 75% less energy and last up to 10 times longer.  CFLs come in different sizes, shapes, and wattages to fit specific lighting fixtures and desired lighting effects.  For more detailed information on Energy Star ® certified light bulbs, visit: http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=cfls.pr_cfls.
• Be conscious of your Christmas lights.  These festive additions to your household décor can consume extra energy.  Although slightly more expensive, replace your strings of lights with Light-Emitting Diode (LED) light strings.  These Christmas lights last significantly longer (up to 20 years) and require only pennies to light up your home the entire holiday season.  Another way to be energy efficient with your Christmas lights is to use a timer.  A timer allows you to monitor this extra source of energy usage, and eliminates the cost of forgetting to unplug them.  For other holiday energy saving tips, visit Holiday Energy-Saving Tips for Homes (Wisconsin Public Service Corporation)
• Make small tweaks to the routine heating of your home. 
• Lower your thermostat a degree or two—for every 1۫ you lower your thermostat you save from 1-3% on your energy bill.  With a few extra blankets, lower the temperature of your home at night and increase it when you wake up in the morning.  Instead of doing this manually, you might invest in an automatic timer for your thermostat.
• Clean your furnace filter and monitor its cleanliness throughout the winter months.
• Set your water heater to 120۫.
• Make sure your fireplace flue is shut when not in use.
• Survey the insulation of your home—windows, doors, and outlets.  Storm windows, caulk, and insulation plugs can block unwanted drafts and make your heating more efficient.
• Take advantage of the chilly Wisconsin air by leaving appropriate food containers in your garage.  This convenient, free, and natural outdoor refrigerator lightens the workload of your household refrigerator.
• When curled up on the couch, take a moment or two to consider changing the way you pay your electric bill.  Wisconsin Public Service offers paper-free alternatives, such as e-Billing or QuickCheck, which automatically withdraws your monthly bill from the account of your specification.  By making such a change, you can save a tree and increase your convenience. Go to http://www.wisconsinpublicservice.com/service/ebill.aspx for more detailed information.
• Snow removal is a unique sport in Central Wisconsin during the winter.  When snowfalls are light, make it a priority to manually shovel, eliminating the use of gas-powered snow blowers.  Also, be conscious of the environmental impacts of your chosen materials for ice removal.  Look for products that are biodegradable, less corrosive, and environmentally friendly.

By embracing and implementing such environmentally friendly and energy efficient winter household tips, community members of Central Wisconsin can ensure the presence of “green” lifestyles are not lost under the blanket of white.