Save Energy in Your Apartment This Winter: 6 Tips

By Allie Mitchell on January 29, 2017

There are three types of people in the world when it comes to the winter weather: people either love the winter, hate the winter, or could honestly care less about whatever season it is because they are prepared for everything.

Regardless of where you fall into those categories, your love or hate for the winter can’t change the fact that you need to be prepared for when it comes. And I don’t mean your clothes. Where you live is affected by the winter just as much as you are; taking care of your apartment for the winter can save you from having a miserable season and even save you some money in the long run.

Depending on where you live, the winter season can hit you out of nowhere and have you running around wondering what you are going to do to survive the season. There are plenty of ways you can winter proof your apartment and have it just as prepared for the winter as you are.

The main purpose of winterizing your apartment means you will be saving energy when you do certain things and follow certain steps when prepping your apartment for the winter. The winter doesn’t have to be much of a hassle to you, even though it may seem like it. If you follow and keep these different tips in mind, then the winter will be no problem for you or your living space. You probably won’t even notice the amount of energy that decreases and will be surprised when your bill is much lower than you thought it would be.

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1. Use the Sun: The sun can be your best friend in this situation. Open up your curtains when the sun is out and use its heat to warm up your apartment. Of course, it won’t be the same as when you use your heat, but it will help cut down on energy costs when you see your heat bill. When the sun disappears, close your curtains so the heat the sun provided is trapped inside, kind of like rollover heat for your apartment.

2. Warm Clothes: This may seem like an obvious fact, but you would be surprised by how many people don’t take advantage of this idea. During the wintertime, you need to dress like it, even when you are inside your place. You don’t need to completely bundle up as if you were outside, but instead of turning on your heat you could start wearing fuzzy socks and long sleeve shirts instead of shorts and tank tops. Use blankets to cover yourself up if needed or a fuzzy robe.

3. Furnace Maintenance: Making sure that your furnace is properly maintained is one of the key things to do when making sure that you are not consuming too much energy. If your furnace is blocked that will eat up your energy and cause it to be heavily consumed. When your furnace is too dirty, replacing it will save you in the long run; you are trying to use less energy, remember?

4. LED Lights: Wintertime means the holidays are approaching and you are going to want to decorate your space with lots of lights and be heavily festive. When purchasing lights for your apartment take into account how much energy the lights you are buying give off. LED lights tend to give off way less energy and they last a lot longer than the lights you are used to buying. LED lights don’t emit as much heat as the lights people normally purchase and they are less prone to breakage which is much safer.

As an added bonus tip: unplug your lights when you are leaving the house or going to bed, as energy can be used up even if the lights are not in use and are just plugged up.

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5. Heat Where You Need It: Only heating rooms where you necessarily need the heat can save you energy. In rooms where you don’t use a lot or ever, seal and close off the vents to those rooms so that the heat can be more directed towards the rooms that need it. Using a space heater can also help you cut on costs, but only using them in rooms that you need and not anywhere else.

6. Humidifier: Lastly, a humidifier can help you trap in heat and hold it better in a room where you need it most. Set your thermostat to a low temperature that won’t run your bill up and add a humidifier and let the heat set it.

Also an added bonus tip: house plants can also increase the humidity in your apartment, so if you are a plant person and wouldn’t mind owning some then this plan could also help you as well.

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