Hey there all you tenants, landlords, property owners and property managers. The holiday seasons are upon us, and with them have come the cold weather. Depending on where you live in the country, this will mean more or less to you, but most of us will be impacted by the weather in the winter, at least a little bit. Lucky for you, the hometown rant has the guide to keeping you warm and cozy inside your house, apartment, condo or duplex all season long.
If the weather does get cold enough to make it uncomfortable inside your rental property, you’ve probably already got some coping strategies, ranging from wearing a lot of layers to burning your possessions in a little pile on the floor. Hopefully you haven’t got to that point yet, although it is the last step before sucking it up and actually turning on your heat.
Once you’ve given in though, you’re going to want to take some steps to conserve the heat, so you get the most bang for your buck. A big part of this process depends on the age of your rental property, specifically as it impacts the seals around the doors and windows. Older places tend to have more gaps and cracks, making any attempts to heat the interior more and more futile. If you do plan on running the heat in an old house, we suggest you get some easily removable rubber seals, something like these, which, if applied correctly, can make a big difference in the heat retention of older houses, apartments, condos or duplexes.
If your rental property doesn’t have central heating, you could consider using space heaters in the rooms you’ll be occupying most frequently, but keep in mind that multiple space heaters will quickly run up your electric bill, and can even blow a fuse if used at the same time as a few other electronic devices. If you have central heating, it’s probably going to be more efficient to run that and take measures to keep that heat in.
As a landlord, property owner or property manager, you probably have a general idea of how your properties fare in terms of winterization, so let your tenants know how to best seal in that warmth. They’ll probably appreciate the advice, and if not, hey, it’s their loss. Above all, stay warm and have fun!