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I guess I could have put this in "renting" but I get ignored over there (or it's just better for other kinds of questions?) I don't know.
Anyway we are moving this summer and we are renters. We have not lived in a big "apartment complex" in a long time... choosing instead to rent a duplex, a funky apartment built on top of and next to a garage (kitchen was up, bedrooms down!), and currently, an apartment that is part of an old house (early 1900s) split into seven units.
We've generally had manageable electric bills, living in Texas, and mostly we have had window unit air conditioners. Not great but we can pay it. We have almost exclusively lived in housing built before 1950 and it seems like it is well insulated and the walls are always decently thick so I guess that's part of it?
We are not sure what kind of place we're going to end up getting when we move (still in Texas, just an hour north). We will try to find something similar to what we have grown accustomed to, but we might end up in a big apartment complex, because it's a college town and they are plentiful.
What I am wondering is, how much difference does it make if something was built in 1960 vs 2008? With the complexes, that seems to be the most common age range. Is it possible to rent a 1970's built apartment and still have decent cooling costs or should we limit our search to newer complexes? I guess new stuff can be built badly too... right? So how do we get an idea of what to expect before hand? I just don't want any ugly suprises.
I don't think the year has anything to do with it.
I've lived in a 300 year old house that was completely weather tight. Not a leak anywhere in the entire house. And a different 300 year old house where the carpets would billow up off the floor when the wind blew.
No matter what year, some buildings were well built and some were built shoddy. Some older buildings have been retrofitted with double glazed windows, weather sealing, and newer insulation.
So, instead of the year built, look for quality of construction. One thing to look for is double glazed windows, because they reduce sound as well as heating bills. Good padding under the carpets will help to insulate and reduce noise.
I suspect that you are going to have more problems with neighbor noise in a poorly built building than with your heating bills.
I don't think the year has anything to do with it.
I've lived in a 300 year old house that was completely weather tight. Not a leak anywhere in the entire house. And a different 300 year old house where the carpets would billow up off the floor when the wind blew.
No matter what year, some buildings were well built and some were built shoddy. Some older buildings have been retrofitted with double glazed windows, weather sealing, and newer insulation.
So, instead of the year built, look for quality of construction. One thing to look for is double glazed windows, because they reduce sound as well as heating bills. Good padding under the carpets will help to insulate and reduce noise.
I suspect that you are going to have more problems with neighbor noise in a poorly built building than with your heating bills.
Thanks for this. I guess, because of homes and apartments I've lived in in the past, I have this stereotype about places built in the 70's as being cheaply built.
We currently live in a 100 year old place and the electric is nowhere out of the norm. We did live in a 100 year old place before (entire house) though, on a poorer side of town, and the electric was a nightmare each month...so I see your point. This house (the one we are in now) was originally someone's "fancy" home so I can see how it would probably have been built better.
I imagine neighbor noise will be an issue (but I can sleep through anything; slept through tornadoes as a kid! ) hopefully we can find a duplex or something and avoid the whole apartment complex issue entirely!
Another thing to look for is the age of the furnace/air conditioner. The furnace should be a high efficiency furnace - and the thermostat should be in good working order as well.
I know it sounds pretty elementary, but I was living in a very decent apartment complex. The thermostat wasn't working right for the 5 years I lived there. Even through changes in management, I couldn't get them to change the thermostat. So, the furnace would go on and on until it was really warm, then the apartment would get chilly before the furnace would back on for a long time again before shutting down.
The age of the actual air conditioning unit has a lot to do with the bill.
I had a 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment where the electric bill was $300 a month all summer. The building was built in the 70's, the air conditioner looked like it might be original to the apartment. I had another 2 bed 2 bath in that complex, with a new air conditioner and my electric bill was $80 in the summers and $40 in winter.
Another thing to look for is the age of the furnace/air conditioner. The furnace should be a high efficiency furnace - and the thermostat should be in good working order as well.
I know it sounds pretty elementary, but I was living in a very decent apartment complex. The thermostat wasn't working right for the 5 years I lived there. Even through changes in management, I couldn't get them to change the thermostat. So, the furnace would go on and on until it was really warm, then the apartment would get chilly before the furnace would back on for a long time again before shutting down.
I would have changed that thermostat myself! It's not that expensive or hard to do.
With an apartment to save electricity you want newer energy star appliances and a programmable thermostat. In a perfect world you would get perfectly air tight but most apartments aren't like that. The best you can hope for is dual pane windows and hope that they have pretty good insulation.
..............In a perfect world you would get perfectly air tight ..............
That would be good for heat conservation, but it would destroy your health. A home must have some fresh air exchange, if nothing else to discourage molds and mildews. Moisture must vet out of a house and fresh air come in. A well weatherized house controls the air exchange with the outdoors, it doesn't prevent it.
Generally, though it can be dangerous to generalize, newer homes are built to stricter energy standards. There were no requirements for insulation in the 1950's. Though very old homes have probably had their furnaces and air conditioning replaced with more efficient units.
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) hopefully we can find a duplex or something and avoid the whole apartment complex issue entirely!
