Energy Saving Tips for Apartment Renters? (Phoenix: house, buying, tenant)

[TinaXArte]

Good Morning everyone!

What are some energy saving tips (to deal with the summer) that you have learned over the years?

My family currently rents an apartment. We moved here late in 2016, so our first REAL PHX summer was last year. I googled a few tips, but nothing really helped besides buying fans and just dealing with it.

This year, I put blackout curtains on every single window (by the way, the windows face South and East). I try to do chores like laundry, vacuuming, etc right when I wake up. I checked all the fans to make them counter clockwise and I've started using the fans in the bathroom and the kitchen (after showering and cooking). Is there anything else I can do to keep the house cooler?

Also, I have a question: Yesterday was a pretty hot day and our A/C would only go up to 80 (no matter how low we set it). Is this normal or is something wrong with our A/C? I lean towards this simply being the new normal (no matter where you live), but my husband insists that it isn't. I just think we live in a desert, you know? lol.

Any answers are greatly appreciated! Thank you!

[Obadno]

Google “supercooling”. Also get on the saver plan for aps/srp make sure you don’t wash dishes or run the washing machine for clothes during peak hours.

Also, to late for this but always make sure you avoid east/west facing windows/units or being on the end of a building with large walls facing directly west because the heat will come right through the wall.

Also don’t turn the air off when you aren’t home because trying to cool the house down after it heats up wastes power, leave the air at like 84 when you are out and then lower it when you are there.

That’s kind of it, hard to avoid higher bills in the summer but your winter bill should be small to offset it

[hikernut]

Check for air leaks around your entry door, and around windows. For the door you can look for gaps at night by shutting your indoor lights off, then have someone outside shining a flashlight around the door seal while someone inside looks for the light to come through. If you have gaps in the weather stripping get them fixed.

For windows you could add another air gap by putting a plastic film over the window. 3M makes these if you want to take a look. Of course you cannot open the windows when these are installed, but that's not an issue for Phoenix summers!

Don't use incandescent light bulbs, as they not only consume more power than LEDs, but they also add more heat to the apartment that needs to be removed by a/c.

Beyond this, about all you can do is set the thermostat as high as you can tolerate, and limit activities that add heat to the house like using the oven or the clothes dryer.

[DougStark]

Tina, it sounds like your AC unit is not working properly. You should be able to get more cooling than 80 degrees, even if we hit 115 yesterday.

I would ask the mgr. to schedule an AC tech to check your unit. If the system is improperly charged or has a refrigerant leak, you'll have problems like you've described.

BTW, can you see the outdoor AC unit? Does it look old or fairly new? Older units will use more juice than new ones, obviously.

I had an apt years ago with an old roof mounted AC unit. My bill was huge and barely kept the place cool. I didn't stay there long...

[Burning Madolf]

Originally Posted by TinaXArte

Also, I have a question: Yesterday was a pretty hot day and our A/C would only go up to 80 (no matter how low we set it). Is this normal or is something wrong with our A/C? I lean towards this simply being the new normal (no matter where you live), but my husband insists that it isn't. I just think we live in a desert, you know? lol.

Really not enough info to determine if your A/C is working properly or not.

[DetroitN8V]

Not being able to get below 80 is not normal for all. Mine was set at 70 and had no trouble getting there.

[WSPHXPELON]

Originally Posted by Obadno

Google “supercooling”.

I googled it. I've never heard that term, but that's exactly what we do, and YES it works!

Originally Posted by TinaXArte

My family currently rents an apartment.

You rent an apartment? Then you should NOT have to deal with this issue at all! Tell your husband to put on his angry face and go down to the office and respectfully demand that they fix the faulty air conditioner. Have him explain to them exactly what you told us and have him assert that he knows his rights as a tenant and demand that the situation be resolved for you.

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by WSPHXPELON

I googled it. I've never heard that term, but that's exactly what we do, and YES it works!



You rent an apartment? Then you should NOT have to deal with this issue at all! Tell your husband to put on his angry face and go down to the office and respectfully demand that they fix the faulty air conditioner. Have him explain to them exactly what you told us and have him assert that he knows his rights as a tenant and demand that the situation be resolved for you.

Why does she need to send her husband to do that?

[wase4711]

men negotiate better than women

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by wase4711

men negotiate better than women

I mean, should we even let them vote?