Apartments and Electricity

**bamber** · 10-28-2007, 05:03 PM

Hi, I am looking for some tips on keeping my electric bill down over the winter. This will be the first winter on my own, in my own apartment. At my parents house, we used a woodburning stove, and hardly used the electric heat. My SO and myself have lived here since July and the bill was fairly high in the summer. The heat is electric so I am looking for ways to keep the bills down in the winter, and possibly ways to keep them down next summer too.

Our apartment is small, only 530 sq ft, but it has vaulted ceilings and it is old (at least 30-40 years old) and not that energy efficent. We cannot change very many things, because it is an apartment, and we plan on moving when the lease is out next Aug.

My main concern is the windows. The walls are all concrete/brick and are probably very efficient. The windows, however, are old and probably let out much of the heated and cooled air. I considered putting up some heavy curtains to help insulate, but I cannot hang curtains on the concrete. I also wonder if there is something you can do to help seal the door...or any tips on energy use would be helpful. Any tips for a newbie (not just here, but as a new 'home' owner?)

**Jaded** · 10-28-2007, 05:13 PM

Do the windows have wooden frames inside? You can buy kits that attach to the inside of the window frame that hold plastic in place. If you aren't concerned how it looks, just use duct tape to put up the plastic. It comes in lots of pretty colors now.

Why can't you put up curtains into the concrete? Is it not allowed? If it is, you can get masonry bits that drill right into the block, and then fill it in with concrete repair caulk when you leave.

**bamber** · 10-28-2007, 05:18 PM

No wood, and I don't know what plastic you are referring to, I'm really new.
It's probably not allowed, I don't own a drill, and I don't know what a masonry bit is....my dad explained it to me once, but that was a while ago.
Right now we are using duct tape to hold up a sheet because the blinds broke, so we are familiar with the ductg tape method

**Marie78** · 10-28-2007, 06:05 PM

I agree with the plastic on the window if possible. They have kits in home improvement stores, the plastic clings to the window frame and some of them you use a hairdryer to activate the cling.

I currently live in an apartment where our heat is paid for, I roll up hand towels and place along the windowsill to catch water dripping from the windows and to prevent any air coming in that might cause drafts.

I used to live in an apt where I paid for my heat and I would keep the temp. down when I wasn't home during the day. I also used to use something that went at the bottom of the door to stop drafts from coming in, maybe it was called a draft stopper, it was fabric filled with something (beads or polyfill) it helped when I was home and could push it against the door from the inside. I think drapes or anything you could hang against the window to keep the cold out would be helpful.

I would keep the temp. as low as you can stand it, I used to keep mine between 68-70 degrees when I was home and I would layer to keep warm and drink hot tea or cocoa

. I wish you luck. After paying for my own heat in my first apt., I made sure any other apt. I rented had heat included in my rent, I live in NY and we have winter like weather at least 6 months out of the year

.

**bamber** · 10-28-2007, 06:18 PM

Well, I live in AR so heat is not such a huge expense, AC is much worse in the winter. I guess I will have to take a trip to the home improvement store and see what they have...is the plastic terribly expensive?

**Marie78** · 10-28-2007, 06:47 PM

I found this advice by googling plastic shrink wrap for your windows:

Cover your windows
If the drafts are strong and you can't seem to solve the issue, another extra precaution worth the investment is covering windows with plastic and shrink-wrapping them by heating the plastic with a hair dryer. Again, you can buy a kit to shrink wrap your windows or do it yourself with a few basic materials. To do it yourself, line your window and frame with heavy-duty double sided tape. Stick shrink wrap (rolls of which can usually be found in moving stores) or plastic wrap (the kind you wrap leftovers in) and gently warm the plastic with a hair dryer until it becomes smooth. (Because it's going to shrink, make sure to rip off a little excess.) Move the dryer back and forth to avoid overheating one portion. You don't want the plastic to melt.

I hope this helps, I have never tried it before, I know my mom did this each year when I was a child, so she must have found it helped save money

.

**PB&J** · 10-28-2007, 09:05 PM

I used plastic painters drop cloth to cover my windows, once. They were very cheap, like $2 for a roll at Walmart. I just taped it around the windows.

**dcompton** · 10-28-2007, 11:32 PM

Are your windows built set into the wall-- like with a window sill inside and inside edge? Ok, so I obviously don't know how to describe this. Anyway, if so, you can always get a tension rod to put inside the "box" around the window and hang the curtains on that -- no drilling. I did that in an apartment when I was unable to hang curtains. But get a sturdy one if the curtains are going to be very heavy or it will sag.

If you have blinds, don't forget to keep them closed except when you need them open for the light.

**Alice Chalmers** · 10-29-2007, 12:15 PM

The plastic is attached by tape, so no reason you can't use it. It's quite cheap. A $10 kit will likely cover all the windows in your apartment.

An electric heating mattress pad may also be worth your while.

**lisettelovebug** · 10-29-2007, 03:21 PM

Last year, Dh installed draft guards on the front door and back door. If you have a light colored door, the landlord probably won't even notice because they look fine. Ours are white and the door is an off-white color. Many landlords do not care of you do imporvement like this. We also got a kit for weathersealing the door. These go on the door frame and again no one knows they're there. We have to put new up this year because dd pulled it off the frame last spring. Check the home depot or lowes'. They will even advise you on how to install. You can always check with the landlord before you do it too. We've also done things like a programmable thermostat (about $30) and those newer flourescent? lightbulbs ($7 for a pack of 4 - they last FOREVER).

**bamber** · 10-30-2007, 10:46 AM

Yeah, we have those lightbulbs...they are awesome. We only have 2 windows, so it would be easy. I don't know where a Lowe's is or a HD around here, but I can find one! Lol.

**Edna_E** · 10-30-2007, 05:07 PM

Windows can also be stuffed with thin sheets of styrofoam, which can just be lifted out when you want. It looks corny on the outside, but it is effective. A friend of mine in the mountains does that - and he covered them with a nice looking fabric so they look "on purpose".

Also, tempting though it is to blame the electric bill on heating and cooling, it is often significantly due to TV, computers, and so forth - so watch out for those.

**bamber** · 10-31-2007, 10:09 AM

Well, when our blinds fell down and we used a sheet we kind of got 'told' that we needed to have our windows look regular (blinds). So I am looking to do something (like plastic) that doesn't look too bad from the outside.

We try not to even have anything plugged in when not in use, because I know appliances can draw electricity even when not in use. Do you think electric toothbrushes draw a lot of electricity? We do leave those plugged in all the time. The tvs and stuff are on a power strip that gets turned off when not in use so I think that helps...