As I write this in early January, the snow piles, ice-covered streets, and biting cold where I live have left many feeling trapped, not so much physically, but psychologically. No one wants to step out unless necessary. Even the normally fervent dog walkers now stand in the garage with a long leash. On such days, people can often be found staring out the window and pondering.

As I look out mine, the first thing I notice is the vapor of furnace exhaust rising from neighbors’ rooftops on my street. Not a good sign for a cluster development only a few years old. It means that all these new houses with their expensive upgrades still just have standard efficiency furnaces. A high-efficiency furnace like mine, vents out a sidewall. Remembering how I had to practically threaten the builder to get it, I’m thinking that making high-efficiency equipment more prevalent almost certainly requires government playing a greater role.

I also see strings of Christmas lights poking through blankets of snow on trees and shrubs awaiting a thaw so they can be packed away. And it reminds me how early adopters were frustrated with first generation “high-tech” LED light strings because many exhibited a high failure rate. This was often due to using cheap steel LED leads that rusted, or aluminum leads that resulted in galvanic corrosion with copper wires. The lesson: when introducing new technology, do it right, or you turn people off and stall its growth.

Thinking about LED Christmas lights turned my attention to the problems with energy-efficient LED traffic lights operating in wintry zones. When they get covered with snow and ice, they stay covered, unlike their incandescent counterparts whose waste heat melts the snow away. Accidents have resulted. People have been hurt. And this reminds us that, when introducing new technology, we must never forget the law of unintended consequences.

Thinking about the waste heat from ordinary light bulbs made me realize that the projected energy savings from compact fluorescent lights are likely exaggerated for cold climates for this simple reason. When a home is in a heating mode, the waste heat from lighting equivalently reduces the load on the heating system. If a house operates in a heating mode three-quarters of the year, then energy-efficient lighting only helps one quarter of the year. More efficient lighting is still a good idea, but the thought serves to remind us that, when crunching cost/benefit numbers, we need to think in terms of whole systems and not individual components.

One thing I don’t see looking out my window is any smoke from real wood-burning fireplaces, which is just as well, since they are now judged to be vile sources of air pollution that many municipalities are now reining in. Our emotions tell us that an old-fashioned wood fire just feels natural and right, but it takes a rational mind to realize it isn’t anymore. It’s true that nobody will write a sentimental Christmas song about a modern wood pellet stove, but if you want to burn wood cleanly, that’s the way to do it. In the quest for a “green” lifestyle, realism must trump romanticism.

My dominant thought when looking out the window is that everything will be much improved by springtime. With many of the chaotic state-run appliance rebate programs belatedly emerging in the months ahead, the appliance industry may see a spring boost. Of course, a uniform federal program initiated after the money was allocated last February might have brought a boost last spring, but better late than never.

The longing for a restorative spring reminds me of an optimist written about by Samuel Johnson. The essayist’s cheery friend routinely predicted that things would be better in the spring. The man’s secret was to never fully acknowledge the arrival of spring until it had passed. Thus, spring was something that was ever coming, leaving the man ever hopeful.

Not a bad thought.