There are online expense calculators and whatnot, but are expenses all you care about ?  You must consider – Nulla ut eros leo. Fusce nunc erat, pellentesque id egestas in, suscipit a felis. Cum sociis natoque.leo et mi elementum posuere et sit ametThis is a test to see if permalink structure will pull the post name. leo et mi elementum posuere et sit amet mauris. Donec tristique interdum pulvinar.

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“Its hot most everywhere and these 8 cooling tips and energy saving tips should work just about anywhere.”

Houston apartments are hot…., literally!  If you are new to Houston, this post is about how to cool a room in your apartment and keep those electric bills to the minimum during the hot humid summer.   If you are looking for a new apartment and you like to stick to a budget then you need to know a little about the local energy costs required to cool a room or rooms.   It’s expensive because cooling a building is serious business Houston.  Humidity is a good thing for your skin but it’s bad for the budget!   It can be done but at a cost!  Energy costs can add 20-30% to the rent if you are not careful.   That’s 2-$300 more for a $1000 dollar apartment rental.

“It’s expensive because cooling a building is serious business in Houston.”

While loft apartments are really cool…., not really a good choice of words, how about hip! Yea Hip, while loft apartments and Town Homes are really hip and tend to be more spacious than your average apartment, they are an energy zapper and require huge amounts of conditioned air to keep cool.  Remember, heat rises and all of that hot air is building above your head and slowly creeping down to your level.   If your priorities rest in keeping that power bill to a minimum then take note of the following:

1. Don’t rent an apartment with cathedral ceilings, you know the high ones!  The more cubic feet of airspace you have the harder it is to keep cool and the more energy you will use.
2. If you already have a loft style apartment with the cathedral ceilings and your bedroom is upstairs then be sure and keep the bedroom door closed during the day to minimize the air from the high ceilings from creeping into your bedroom.  There is also more hope for you further below so please read on.
3. Rent on the ground floor if possible, or middle floor of a 3 story building. That gives you more insulation.  It may be a trade off that you are willing to accept because of the possibility of a higher noise level and less seclusion.
4. Try to rent a unit out of the path of the afternoon sun.  Just know what direction the apartment faces and stay away from west facing apartments.  If this is not possible then you can always dress the windows with dark cloth/blinds during the day to block the heat from entering through the windows.  It will save a bundle and be 10 degrees cooler.
5. Change your filter monthly or sooner.  Apartment management is only going to do this so many times a year but you can go to Home Depot and get few of these filters for 10 Bucks!  It’s difficult to measure but you will save $$$ and keep your Houston apartment Cooler by keeping a clean filter in the a/c unit.  Change  it every 3 weeks or so for maximum effectiveness.
6. Consider buying a programmable thermostat for the apartment, most management companies will allow you to put it on and they cost as little as $20 bucks and could save you 10-15%.  Hint (be nice to the onsite management and they may very well install it for you) but if not, these devices come with very easy to understand instructions for a do-it-yourself installation.  You can program the thermometer to go higher when you are away and have the apartment already cooled down by the time you get home.    Check this buyers guide on programmable thermostats.
7. What’s more important, saving energy costs or quietness? OK, both are very important so have you tried a sleep machine app from your iphone/android yet?  I use one every night and sleep very well.  It’s probably the best 2 bucks I’ve spent in a long time, except the time I got two beers for 2 bucks at the 702 Patio Bar.
8. If you have to have it cold at night to sleep well then close the other vents around the apartment and that will cool down a room very quickly.   It helps with the pressure and you don’t have to turn it down so low.

Also, www.houstonapartments.com lists some of the hippest apartments in and around the Houston area.  If you call them up they can go through the tedious task of calling and asking who has a ground floor or a middle floor, or non-cathedral non-energy wasting apartment available.  They do not charge anything for this service (the cliché of you get what you pay for does not apply here because they are paid very well by the management companies for supplying a potential renter) so save yourself some time and let em make the calls for you.  Oh and they don’t accept tips either.

Hopefully this will help educate you on “how to cool a room” but I don’t have all the answers so I would love to hear some other ideas on this…..

by; Houston apartments.com staff 8-30-11