Insulation (wood, curtains, pay, poor)

[Texas User]

Is there something that I can buy to save electricity for the apartment?

Some device that the management would allow?

[forest beekeeper]

Within the context of: 'Insulation'?

We collect wool blankets. We used to hang wool blankets on the walls of our apartments, that helped some.

[formercalifornian]

If you want to save electricity, I would begin by replacing your light bulbs with CFLs. Then, put all your electronics on power strips and turn them off when not in use. Unplug non-essentials.

Try using a Kill-A-Watt to find leaky outlets. Have your landlord replace any outlets that are not working properly.

Now that you've done that, try caulking your windows during the winter to prevent cold air from leaking around the edges. If heat is the problem, I suggest draperies, since blinds are notoriously poor insulators.

If your doors open directly to the outside, make sure they seal properly. If not, buy adhesive foam weather stripping at your hardware store and install it. If air leaks through the bottom of the door, call your landlord to adjust it.

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Within the context of: 'Insulation'?

We collect wool blankets. We used to hang wool blankets on the walls of our apartments, that helped some.

You mean on the backyard porch? To block the sunlight?

[Texas User]

Originally Posted by formercalifornian

If you want to save electricity, I would begin by replacing your light bulbs with CFLs. Then, put all your electronics on power strips and turn them off when not in use. Unplug non-essentials.

Try using a Kill-A-Watt to find leaky outlets. Have your landlord replace any outlets that are not working properly.

Now that you've done that, try caulking your windows during the winter to prevent cold air from leaking around the edges. If heat is the problem, I suggest draperies, since blinds are notoriously poor insulators.

If your doors open directly to the outside, make sure they seal properly. If not, buy adhesive foam weather stripping at your hardware store and install it. If air leaks through the bottom of the door, call your landlord to adjust it.

CFL's? Is that the cheapest route to go ?

[forest beekeeper]

Originally Posted by Texas User

You mean on the backyard porch? To block the sunlight?

mm, no.

Hang them on the walls, as wall coverings to add insulation to a room.

We have lived in homes where there was no insulation, or very little insulation.

For example we owned a home in Scotland where the outer walls were stone, then inside those stone walls, with about 8 inches of air gap they built wooden paneling walls.

When the waves crash on the seawall, the salt spray covers the outside of the house and those stone walls get really chilly. An air current begins in that air-space between the outer stone-walls and the interior paneling. That is what the English call a 'drafty house'. It is not air blowing in from the outside, so much as that 'interior space' air that is being cooled and stirred around.

So folks hang wool blankets on the walls, as wall coverings.

There is no further insulation.

If you watch any British movies you often see curtains that cover the interior walls. And the actors sitting in their living rooms in front of a fire, and wearing wool sweaters, perhaps evening jackets even.

[Gandalara]

forest beekeeper's suggestion for cold weather makes me think of something else for hot weather though - I have either black-out curtains or insulated curtains on every single window on the house. In the summer they get closed at dawn and opened when the sun goes down. Stops a lot of the heat from coming in ...

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by Texas User

CFL's? Is that the cheapest route to go ?

CFL's are more expensive than incandescent bulbs, but they use significantly less electricity, and they last a really long time. You'll definitely notice a difference in your bill. In the end, the bulbs will pay for themselves.

[yellowsnow]

I put sheet foam insulation in all my windows. When I want the windows open the sheets store under the bed. Just takes a minute to put up and from the outside, it looks like I have blue curtains. The blinds go down over the foam sheets and it just looks like blue light coming in through the window/blinds. It was easy and cheap too.

[sterlinggirl]

Clean the refrigerator coils. It's the biggest energy hog in your house, and if the coils are halfway full of lint (which is very common), it's only running at 50% of it's rated efficiency.

If you have central AC or a heat pump, make sure those coils are clean too. I like to wash mine out with a hose (preferably a power washer) a couple times a year.

If you have an electric water heater, install a water saving shower head. It takes a lot of electricity to heat a little bit of water.