For economic savings and environmental protection, everyone should use less energy. Instilling energy-saving practices at home is easier if you own the property, but what about if you rent your home? Do you have any methods for lowering your home’s energy consumption?
The truth is that you can manage your rental home’s energy bills whether you lease or own it.
When renting a home, if you are paying for the heat and/or air conditioning, the landlord has little or no motivation to better seal and insulate the home. With this being the case, you could choose to make these improvements on your own and save energy or you could choose to not do anything because it's not your home, while eventually spending more money on wasted energy that it would have cost you to fix the problems in the first place. The bottom line is that it's not helpful to purposely not improve the home just to spite the landlord or future tenants, especially if the money you spend on improvements will return to you in savings and comfort.
Simply put, unless you know you are leaving the rental home within a year, think of the home as your home and allow yourself to realize that you will benefit by making improvements to how the home uses energy.
Don't let it matter if the landlord will reimburse you or not, because you could immediately benefit from the improvements, so don't allow anything to hinder your choice to reduce your energy consumption.
Here are some pointers to get you going.
Turn off unused lights
Rooms that are empty should have their lights turned off. Making this work can be a little difficult if there are young children and teenagers living in the house. But you can come up with inventive ways to convince your family to support this.
Replace the HVAC air filter regularly
It is frequently the tenant’s obligation to change the HVAC air filter. To cut costs, tenants frequently put off replacing the filter. However, doing so merely increases the workload on the HVAC system. HVAC systems that are inefficient consume more energy than necessary and are more expensive.
Unplug unused appliances
Many of the equipment in your house utilize energy even when they are not in use. These devices consume a lot of energy and include toasters, gaming consoles, and phone chargers. Stop draining your wallet by unplugging electronics while not in use.
Reduce shower time
Showers in the morning and at night are a part of our ritual for getting ready for the day or winding down. By reducing the amount of time spent in the shower, you can indulge your preference for warm or cold showers while still conserving electricity. More than 5 gallons of water can be saved by cutting the length of a shower from ten to five minutes.
Adjust the thermostat
Ask your landlord about installing a smart thermostat. Smart thermostats modify the HVAC’s temperature settings based on the season and outside temperature. It can change the settings while no one is home to help you save money. When dusk falls, and you are expected home again, the thermostat will return to your optimal settings.
Reduce hot water usage
You don’t need to wash the majority of your clothing in hot or warm water. If you wash most of your garments in cold water, they will last longer. Only use warm or hot water if the manufacturer clearly advises it on the clothing label.
As a renter, the choices you make can save a significant amount of energy and money. Beyond that, consider sharing information about potential energy-saving upgrades with your landlord.
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