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Eco-friendly ways to heat your apartment
Keeping your apartment warm doesn’t have to be expensive, nor do you have to walk around your home wearing a winter coat. It is possible to stay cozy while being green and saving green. Check out these low-cost, energy efficient tips.
Recycled Heat Let your daily chores work for you! After using the oven, turn it off but leave the door open. Let the heat escape into your kitchen and the rest of the home. (Don’t do this if you live with children.) Have you ever noticed how warm your washroom gets when doing laundry? Open the door to the washroom and let the heat flow out when you’re drying clothes.
Let the Sun Shine If you have windows that get plenty of sunlight, open the blinds and curtains during the day to let the sun warm up your rooms. Make sure that your windows aren’t drafty, or you could defeat your intention. (If you have drafty windows, call maintenance to have them sealed properly. You could be wasting hundreds of dollars and lots of energy!)
Space Heater or Central Heating? There are mixed reviews about the energy efficiency of space heaters. True, space heaters can be murderous to your energy bill if used improperly. (Energy Star hasn’t even tried to make an efficient space heater, so that should give you an idea.) When used in conjunction with your central heating, however, they can be a big help. Here is a wise arrangement: if you prefer a warm home, set your central system to 68-70 degrees whether you’re home or away. This keeps your apartment from getting too cold and subsequently needing to blast your heater to warm up. When you’re at home, use a space heater in the room that you’re in to keep it at a comfortable temperature.
What not to do to heat up your apartment:
- Do not blast the central heating all day. It’s a waste of money.
- Do not turn off the central heating when you’re gone and kick it up when you return. Your apartment will take hours to warm up and you might damage your system in extreme situations.
- Do not attempt to heat your entire apartment with space heaters. That will likely cost you more than using central heating.
- Do not leave space heaters unattended. You could set the complex on fire! And then you won’t have any friends at the complex. Or a place to live.
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While I think most of the statements in this post are spot on, I would have to disagree with the point about keeping the temp at a constant 68-70 degrees whether or not your are in the house. If you will not be in the house for a period of time or sleeping at night, the temperature should be lowered. Probably somewhere between 55-62 depending on your preference. If the temperature is very high compared to the outside temp, physics tells us that you will lose heat at a faster rate since the indoor and outdoor air will want to reach an equilibrium temperature. Therefore, if you drop the temp down when you are not around or sleeping in a warm bed the rate at which you are losing heat is slower. In the morning or when you return from work, you may have some lag time before you are totally comfortable, but that’s what slippers and sweaters are for! Your gas or electric bill will thank you. Thanks for the article!!
Thanks for the feedback, Waste Not. You’re right. The closer that you can keep your thermostat to outside temps, the more money and energy you can save. (I, personally, would shiver to the point of convulsions at 55 degrees. Eh. I’m a Floridian.) Thanks for checking out the blog!
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