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I've lived in a total of eight apartments over the years, and each one has presented unique challenges in energy conservation. There was the one that came with a twenty-year-old electric water heater, another with huge windows and absolutely no shade, and yet another with gaps around most of the windows and doors.
In Houston, Texas, where I live, energy conservation is most important in the spring and summer months, when we have to run the air conditioning. I've had electricity bills as high as $450 in a three-bedroom apartment. So I've learned to choose and furnish apartments based on energy conservation efforts.
Choosing an Apartment for Maximum Energy Conservation
Geography plays a big part in saving money on electricity and gas. Here in Houston, I look for apartments facing other buildings or large trees so there is less sun exposure to heat the place up. I also look for good insulation and updated appliances, such as dish washers and water heaters.
I ask about the rules. Some apartment managers restrict the kinds of window treatments their tenants are allowed to install. I lived in one apartment where drapes and other coverings were prohibited, which made energy conservation difficult. I want to be able to block out the sun to keep the unit cool.
Cross-Ventilation
One of the great aspects of living in an apartment is the easy cross ventilation. In most of the units I've inhabited, there have been front and rear doors that I can open to create a cross-breeze in the apartment. If not, there have at least been windows on both sides of the unit.
I always ask prior to renting the apartment if I can install storm doors in addition to the regular doors. Storm doors allow me to open up the apartment without letting in bugs or risking my safety. Then, when I move to a new place, I can detach the doors and take them with me to my new place. An easy, relatively inexpensive investment.
Using cross-ventilation rather than air conditioning can save hundreds of dollars per year in energy bills. When we start running the air conditioning in March or April, our electricity bills jump by about $120 per month. But if we run the air only in the evenings, the jump is cut in half.
Filters
Most of the apartments I've lived in have supplied air conditioning filters to tenants. They are usually the cheapest brand, so I don't avail myself of that service. Instead, I purchase my own filters at a higher price point, which means better airflow and energy conservation.
The filters I prefer cost $12 at the supermarket and last three months, though during the summer I change them out every month.
Appliances
When I live in an apartment, I always try to run appliances in the evenings. Washers, dryers, dish washers, and others generate heat, which keeps the place warm in the winter months, but doesn't add to the heat from the sun in the summer.
I've also joined a plan with my energy company that provides reduced rates in the evenings. If I run my appliances then, I spend less money to wash my clothes or my dishes.The price per kilowatt hour drops from 14 cents to 11 cents, which means that if I use 30 kilowatt hours in a twenty-four hour period, I'll pay $3.30 instead of $4.20. If there are eight weekend days in a month, I'll pay $26.40 rather than $33.60. Over the course of a year, that's a savings of $86.40, just by running appliances on the weekends.
Thermostat
Each of the apartments I've rented has come with a standard dial-activated thermostat. These are convenient for the apartment management because they're cheap to replace, but they don't allow renters to fine-tune their temperature control.
This is why I purchase my own thermostat and install it myself. A digital thermostat is more accurate, and the programming options make it easy to stay on top of climate control. In the summer, for example, I can set it to automatically cool the place down in the evenings, then move to a higher setting during the day.
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