My Apartment is frickin' freezing

Sci-Fi Wasabi

I live on the third floor of my building on open grounds (you use a staircase to get up to my apartment instead of traversing through a building) , facing a nearby river by about two miles, on top of a hill. So it's a little windy. Since late October, my apartment has been getting extremely cold, like beyond the bounds of human tolerance. At first I tried dressing warmer, and that worked, but lately the temps outside have been in the 30's and it just gets too cold.

So during November I used the electric heat more and my bill was huge. Everyone in my family said I'd probably have no use for it since I'm on the top floor; as my neighbors would probably be doing my heating for me. Well to me that's a bunch of bullshit because even the carpet is freezing. So I think the main suspect is my windows. They are huge, about 5 feet tall and maybe 5 1/2 feet wide. I have that large window in my living room, a backdoor just next to it, another large window in the bedroom (facing the same direction as the one in the living room) and a 5 foot by maybe two foot window near the kitchen, also facing the same direction. So My apartment all kind of faces the outside, as opposed to receding into the building.

These are newish windows and the apartment isn't what I would label 'old'. Would sealing up the windows keep the warmth in? Even when we run the heater, when it shuts off, the temperature plummets over the next 10 minutes or so.

Any advice?

SkyGheNe

Sci-Fi Wasabi wrote: »

I live on the third floor of my building on open grounds (you use a staircase to get up to my apartment instead of traversing through a building) , facing a nearby river by about two miles, on top of a hill. So it's a little windy. Since late October, my apartment has been getting extremely cold, like beyond the bounds of human tolerance. At first I tried dressing warmer, and that worked, but lately the temps outside have been in the 30's and it just gets too cold.

So during November I used the electric heat more and my bill was huge. Everyone in my family said I'd probably have no use for it since I'm on the top floor; as my neighbors would probably be doing my heating for me. Well to me that's a bunch of bullshit because even the carpet is freezing. So I think the main suspect is my windows. They are huge, about 5 feet tall and maybe 5 1/2 feet wide. I have that large window in my living room, a backdoor just next to it, another large window in the bedroom (facing the same direction as the one in the living room) and a 5 foot by maybe two foot window near the kitchen, also facing the same direction. So My apartment all kind of faces the outside, as opposed to receding into the building.

These are newish windows and the apartment isn't what I would label 'old'. Would sealing up the windows keep the warmth in? Even when we run the heater, when it shuts off, the temperature plummets over the next 10 minutes or so.

Any advice?

I had this same issue - as a temp solution, I duct taped the seems.

As a long term solution, you should really head to home depot or lowes and pick up a window sealant. Just explain your problem to a worker and they should be able to help you find this plastic stuff that seals windows. It is really awesome at keeping in the heat and I noticed a HUGE difference in heat retention once I put a lining in on the door and sealed the windows. I'm talking before, I would freeze my ass off with the heat at 70, now I can keep it at 60-65 and be pretty comfortable.

But you should expect the heating bill to jump a bit...mine doubled...because honestly, you went from using no heat to using it constantly in order to prevent your pipes from freezing.

*edit*

Also, be sure to search for trouble spots and leaking air. I would hold my hand a few inches from corners/seems/window frames and would locate where heat was escaping and handle it accordingly or just acknowledge where it was at least happening.

Lord Yod

You could also invest in a small portable electric heater if you live by yourself. I use one because it's a lot cheaper than turning on the main heater, and it works just about as well if you're sitting in one spot.

Sci-Fi Wasabi

Awesome, I'm glad the window sealant is a long term solution. That's the plastic wrap you affix to each window seal and heat to seal, right? I have some where I work I can pick up.

It's so crazy, even if we effectively heat the living room, the bedroom will be FREEZING like someone left a door open in there. For the record my apartment is pretty damn small.

SkyGheNe

Sci-Fi Wasabi wrote: »

Awesome, I'm glad the window sealant is a long term solution. That's the plastic wrap you affix to each window seal and heat to seal, right? I have some where I work I can pick up.

It's so crazy, even if we effectively heat the living room, the bedroom will be FREEZING like someone left a door open in there. For the record my apartment is pretty damn small.

Yup, that's the stuff I'm talking about. For the doors I used a rope-like sticky foam that I put around the door frame...it's snug and took care of the major air leak I was experiencing.

Reiten

Seal any seams in/around the window (if the windows open, along the lines between the different panes) with the string like putty before using the shrink wrap plastic over the window. That will help to keep the coldest air out (you're helping create an insulating layer of air between the outside and inside).

Slagmire

Another thing to consider is to roll up an old blanket or large towel and put it at the base of the main door going outside; sometimes those doors don't make a firm seal either.

saltiness

Curtains?

Nrthstar

if worse comes to worse, this was passed to me by a coworker, and it worked for me till we got our landlord to fix our oil heat. Get thick sheets and hang them on the walls around the room. Basically like using a tapestry. It helped a little.

Shadowfire

saltiness wrote: »

Curtains?

I thought this too. You can get some -really- thick curtains that do a good job keeping the heat in.

Specularity

Electric blanket! I just got one a couple years back, and living in Nebraska, this is probably the best investment I ever made. They're very safe, so you can go to sleep with it on (obviously) unlike with a space heater (the blanket I have turns off automatically if it's been on for eight hours). I know that doesn't help much for when you're not in bed, but it can help if you'd like to keep heating costs down at night.

Casual Eddy

I second the space heater, but only after you've decided if the windows are the problem.

They take a minute to heat up but are absolutely wonderful for cold, isolated rooms.