How to Winterize your apartment and save up on energy costs!

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16th December 2020 Safrine Mouajou
Lifestyle
Montreal
Students

Winter is here, and here are some tips to keep your apartment warm at all times!

1. Get heavy drapes for your windows. It helps with insulation

2. Seal any gaps or cracks around your doors, electric plugs, window seals etc,to seal in drafts. Make sure you get the right type of caulking for the surface in question.

3. Buy shrink-film plastic insulation to cover your windows and seal in drafts

4. Just as your ceiling fan can help you cool in the summer months, it can warm your home in the winter. Warm air rises so simply switch it on in reverse

Additional tips on keeping your energy bill low

  • Replace your incandescent bulbs with compact fluorescent lights  – these use less than about ¼ the energy and last a lot longer. 
  • Take short showers.  A five-to-ten minute shower uses about half as much hot water as a bath. 
  •  Turn off your lights!  Turning off the lights when you leave a room will save you a considerable amount of energy – and why light an empty room anyway? 
  •  Unplug your standby appliances – your computer won’t suffer if it’s turned off, and your DVD player will have a longer life if you keep it off when it’s not being used.  This can save you several hundred kWhs/year.  Attach them to a power bar, to cut their power off easily. 
  •  Make sure you inform your landlord about leaks and drips – you are paying for that wasted water and energy!  Better yet, come to our office for all the paperwork to take recourse against the landlord! 

If you would like to know about what the average heating cost would be in an apartment where heating is not included, you can call the following companies: 

Hydro Quebec:  (514) 363-7443 

Gaz Metro: (514) 598-3222, option 3 

TIP: Remember to ask Hydro Quebec about the ‘Equalized Payment Plan’ if you are worried about huge bills during the winter (for apartments where heating is NOT included in the rent).  This means you can pay the same amount of hydro each month during the year.