Tips for Tenants on Reducing Your Winter Energy Cost

Just when you thought we had seen the last days of snow this winter, another snow storm comes flying in as if to say, “well, you didn't think that sunshine was going to last, did you? (as it pours down with a smile)"

Keeping your apartment warm and comfortable this winter doesn't mean spending more on your utility bills. Reducing your heating needs and controlling your thermostat temperature settings will help you keep your energy costs down without sacrificing comfort.

WINTER ENERGY COSTS
Heating your apartment or condo is your biggest energy cost during the winter. Paying attention to a few details will help you manage those costs—and be more comfortable.

Keep the heat in
Spend your money keeping yourself warm instead of wasting energy heating the outdoors.

• If you have storm windows, make sure they are completely closed.
• Install plastic window film kits on windows that are leaky or that don’t have storms.
• Install covers on window and through-the-wall air conditioners.
• If you have a fireplace, close the damper when you’re not using it.
• Pull your shades or close your drapes at night (but leave them open on east, south and west windows during the day for solar heating).
• If you are renting and your apartment is too hot, don’t just open a window—work with your landlord to solve the problem. Helping your landlord save on heating will also save you money. Remember, you pay for your heat either directly or through your rent, so don’t throw that money out the window!

Control the temperature and humidity
The temperature at which you set the thermostat affects how much it costs to heat your apartment or condo. Regularly lowering your thermostat will save you money. Lowering the normal setting (all day, all night, every day) one degree saves three percent on your monthly heating bill. Two degrees will save six percent. You can save another one percent for every degree that you lower your thermostat for each 8 hour period you’re asleep or away at work.

• Set your thermostat no higher than 72°F when people are home.
• Lower your thermostat to 65°F or less when you are sleeping or when no one is home.
• If you have baseboard heat, turn down the units in unused rooms.
• Also, keep your furnace filters clean.

And remember: the thermostat is not like the gas pedal on your car—turning it to the highest (or even to a higher) setting does not warm you up any faster.

During the winter you’ll feel warmer if the air in your home is not too dry. Maintaining the relative humidity between 20 percent and 40 percent can let you lower the thermostat setting without making you feel cold.

MYTH Setting back the thermostat makes the furnace work harder when you raise the thermostat back to a comfortable temperature. You really don’t save energy.

FACT You save energy because your furnace uses less to maintain the lower temperature. The longer your house stays at the lower temperature, the more energy you save.

OTHER PLACES TO SAVE ENERGY
Water heating
Use a standard meat thermometer to test the water temperature at your kitchen sink. If it is higher than 120° F, you are spending more than you need to for hot water. Water that is hotter than 120°F is a burn hazard, especially to children and older people. If you have access to your water heater, lower the temperature setting, or have your landlord do it. Lowering the temperature setting 10°F will shave three percent to five percent off your water heating costs.

A one-person household uses 20 gallons to 35 gallons of hot water per day. A family of four uses 50 to 80 gallons.

To reduce your hot water use:

• Have the landlord fix leaky or dripping water faucets—a leak of one drop a second on a hot water faucet can waste as much as 48 gallons a week of hot water.
• Install a low-flow shower-head if yours uses more than three gallons per minute (if it fills a 1-gallon jug in 20 seconds or less).
• Wash clothes in cold water when possible and always use the cold-water rinse cycle.

Appliances
Refrigerators

• They use the most energy of all of your appliances. Keep refrigerator energy use down by:
• Keeping the refrigerator’s fresh food compartment at 37°F to 40°F and the freezer compartment at 0°F to 5°F.
• Regularly defrosting manual defrost refrigerators and freezers. Don’t let more than a quarter of an inch of frost build up.

Dishwashers

• To reduce the amount of hot water used for dish-washing  run the dishwasher only when it is fully loaded. 
• Use your dishwasher’s energy saving features (partial load setting, no heat drying cycle) if it has them.

Lighting

• Use natural light whenever possible.
• Replace incandescent bulbs with ENERGY STAR® qualified compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) in fixtures that you use for more than four hours a day.
• Replace halogen torchiere lamps with ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent lamps.
• Turn off lights when you are not using them.

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