Theres no insulation in this apartment, and Im wondering if theres anything else I can do other than..?

Question

pay an outrageous heat bill again this winter. We have absolutley no insulation here, and I live in Connecticut, we have cold winters. Last year we paid almost 500 dollars a month to heat the apartment, and the heat was kept on low. The apartment is situated odd, and it has 5 rooms, so we had to use the other heater off and on, but used it at a minimum. Even when it was on we still froze.

I should have left last May when my lease was up, but apartments in my area are hard to come by, especially one that will allow a cat.

Can anyone suggest something? I'll be out of here next spring but in the mean time I was wondering if I can do something to make it warmer without destroying the property in any way?

Thanks

Answer 1

Cut down drafts as much as you can. Windows need to be covered as well as you can. Sheets of material like sunscreens for cars are made of cardboard and foil will reflex sunlight so helps with air conditioning bills. Winter start with Styrofoam sheets cut to window size place against the glass hand quilts or isolated drapes against them from cup hooks above the windows, finish with isolated drapes. Make sure all floors have carpets or rugs even bathrooms so you never step on cold tile.
If you spend most of the time in one room try to isolate it buy hanging quilts over doorways if you can't without harming the doorways try those trifold screens with blankets over them. You want to stop all air movement.
Make sure furnace filters are changed frequently so they don't block the heat. Turn off vents in unused rooms, use electric blankets at night so you don't need to heat your bedroom.
Wear slippers, warm PJs and bathrobes even night caps like in old movies. Keep a blanket in on the couch to snuggle under to watch TV.

Answer 2

It may not look good but you can put plastic on the inside of the windows to keep the draft out and also get some sort of a roll (I use a rolled up towel) and place it down at the bottom of the doors. This keeps the cold out too. This will help a little bit. Here is some more info.

http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/housing/weather/weather.htm
http://www.homeownernet.com/articles/energyeff.html

Answer 3

Ask the owner to caulk around the windows, and do it yourself if they won't. As ugly as it looks, tape plastic bags over the windows and a/c units. Saying it is situated odd, you must have many walls exposed to weather, and there may not be much you can do. Talk to your electric company about levelized billing. They average your yearly bills and charge monthly accordingly, so your monthly bills are equal, regardless of how much energy you use. So every month, your electric bills are the same, even though you may use more in different seasons.

Answer 4

Follow all suggestions above. You can also get an electric heater or two and place them in the rooms where you spend most of your time. Electric blankets are nice too. You can also put shower curtains and rods between familyroom and kitchen to keep the warm air in the familyroom.
And check humidity in your apartment. Dry air will feel a lot colder than moist air.

Answer 5

Use plastic to seal as many windows as possible. Check the seals on the doors, they also make foam insulation for use around electrical outlets, which can cut down on quite a bit of drafting.

Answer 6

There are these things that you can buy to go over your windows, they are plastic cover like things, I honsetly can't remember the name of them, but my mom used them before she bought new windows because she had the same problem, and they insulated really well

Answer 7

You can move out. there is an implied warranty of habitability.