Keep Your Apartment Warm - Keep Warm In Your Apartment: Apartment Guide

Keep Your Apartment Warm - Keep Warm In Your Apartment: Apartment Guide

Keep Warm in Your Apartment

When the weather outside is frightful, the temperatures inside your apartment can be less than delightful. Here are some tips on keeping your apartment warm when colder temperatures raise their frosty heads.

• Let there be light. Open shades and curtains on south-facing windows during the day to let in the sun. While you may not be home during the day to appreciate the mid-day warmth, your apartment should stay warm enough to reduce your heating costs during the day (you are turning your thermostat down before you leave for the day, aren’t you?)
• Cover the floors. If you have bare floors (tile or hardwood, for example), use rugs to help them feel warmer in the morning and evening.
• Be a draft dodger. If you have a draft, block it. This is best done with weather stripping around leaky doors and windows, but check with your landlord or property manager before attempting anything like that. If that’s not an option, placing a blanket in front of the door could help reduce drafts.
• Heat spaces, not your whole place. If you spend the majority of your time in one or two rooms, consider the use of a space heater to warm that space instead of using the furnace to heat your whole apartment.
• Dress in layers. As mom used to always say, “Put on a sweater.” Wearing an extra layer of clothing can go a long way in keeping your body temperature up and your heating bill down. And don’t forget that thick socks or slippers can help a lot with keeping you warm.
• Be more like Linus from Peanuts – use a blanket. Why heat the whole place when you’re sleeping? Plug in the electric blanket and you can have a most cozy bed, while your house remains at an affordable temperature during the night hours. A blanket with dual temperature controls is best if you share your bed.
• Change is good. Have your furnace filter changed regularly. A dirty filter makes the furnace have to work harder, decreasing its efficiency and increasing your heating costs.
• Close the door. If you have a multi-room apartment, close the doors of any unused rooms, and close those rooms’ vents. (If you don’t use the room, there’s no need to heat it.)