Deb’s energy efficiency story

Here’s our member Deb’s story on making her apartment more comfortable and getting off gas.

I feel incredibly lucky to have purchased an apartment two years back. As an older woman without assets, I am terribly aware of the situation for people on limited incomes in this rental market. My apartment is mid-century and run down. My bedroom is west facing and the first summer I slept on living room couch as bedroom was unbearably hot and loud. I am surrounded by apartments with a lot of young backpackers so summer parties are a constant noise issue. Since then, I have installed awnings, insulated curtains, ceiling fan and air conditioning. By far the awnings on west facing bedroom and bathroom have been best investment as they reduce heat significantly all summer. Ceiling fans in bedroom, living room and kitchen keep air moving and fresh. I rarely use air con in either bedroom or living room but great to drop temperature on really hot days. I stuck foam strips on all window and door frames and that made enormous difference to winter temperatures – and as a bonus reduced noise from outside. I have Eco panel heater in living area which I use on colder days to lift overall temperature and a heated knee rug. If it’s really cold, or people are visiting, I will run air con heater for few hours but don’t like the feel of that kind of heating so mainly just keep adding layers. I replaced ancient hot water system with a subsidised heat pump one, which sits on balcony. I am not convinced it was best decision as it’s very large and the motor is quite loud. I have also got off gas and am adjusting to an electric stove – not loving it! Getting rid of gas has saved about $900 a year and my electricity bills sit at around $65 a month. The best investment were awnings (about $1500), foam stuff around windows and doors ($40) and cheap Ikea curtain liners. I am still trying to work out living room heating as the reverse cycle air conditioner heating is effective but horrible and saving up for insulating honeycomb blinds for large living room windows.

This is part of a series of CoPower members sharing stories with other members on saving energy. Your circumstances may differ, and each member’s experience might not be appropriate for your context. We encourage all members to share their stories here: https://bit.ly/EnergyStories.