Winter is fast approaching, beckoning a drop in temperatures that will leave most people wanting nothing more than to curl up inside. But with energy prices on the rise, heating your home might be more expensive this winter season—especially for renters who can’t readily make big changes to their home to better prepare for the cold.
“It’s a little challenging for renters, because they can’t make a lot of adjustments to the design of their home or add insulation,” says Nicholas Rajkovich, associate professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo, whose work covers energy efficiency. “But there certainly are things that you can try to do inside an apartment or a house that you’re renting.”
The simplest solution might not be the one you want to hear. “To save energy, turn the thermostat down,” says Ian Shapiro, professor of practice in mechanical and aerospace engineering at Syracuse University, whose work focuses on sustainability. “Setting the temperature lower will save energy.”
Read more: How To Stay Safe and Warm In Extreme Cold Weather
If you control the heating in your home, turn the heat off entirely if you’re leaving the house. If you’re able to, avoid heating rooms that are unoccupied.
As the temperatures begin to drop, do an audit of your windows and doors to make sure they are properly sealed. Roughly 30% of a home’s heating and cooling energy is lost through the windows.
Before checking, Shapiro recommends running your hand under the faucet. The water’s temperature doesn’t matter, but the moisture will make you more attuned to air movement. “[Your hand] becomes even more sensitive to leaks,” he says. Once you’ve figured out where cold air might be coming in from, you can apply temporary caulking or removable foam insulation to deal with the draft.
While it might be tempting to break out a space heater, experts warn against relying on them. For one, they can be a safety hazard—fuel-burning space heaters can produce carbon monoxide, and even electric heaters can cause fires if not used properly.
More so, if your landlord pays for the heat, you might be taking on an additional expense. “In most apartments the heat is paid for by the landlord, and if you plug in an electric resistance heater, you’re now taking on the cost of the heat yourself,” says Shapiro. “So I’d caution [against them] because typically the electricity in an apartment is [likely] paid for by the tenant, but the heat is paid for centrally by the landlord.”
If you can, consider purchasing a window heat pump, which operates by moving heat rather than generating it. It’s an efficient way to supplement your central heating system and heat a single room—and can also serve as an air conditioner in the summer.
At the end of the day, the simplest tricks can get the job done. “Reduce the temperature in the house, put on an extra sweater, and wear a blanket,” says Rajkovich. “All of those things are very inexpensive ways to save some money.”
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