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Comment on What are some things I can do as an apartment dweller to fight climate change/deal with the coming effects?

compostgoblin@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

You could do some dialing in of your HVAC settings so it’s heating and cooling as little as needed to keep you comfortable, like pre-cooling at night when it’s colder outside, setting the temperature higher when you’re gone, and sealing up any gaps that let air in or out. You could see if your utility has a community choice aggregator or voluntary green pricing or some other way to allocate your power usage towards renewables.

I’m an energy manager as my day job, so this is like my favorite subject! If you have any other questions, feel free to ask away 😊

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Redditmodstouchgrass@lemmy.zip ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Unfortunately it’s an older model that doesn’t allow you to program different temps throughout the day. I do try to put it up to about 80 during work hours.

Is there a way to detect spots where you lose cold air during the summer short of buying a thermal scope?

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- compostgoblin@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Ah, darn. If it’s an older model, you would probably save a lot of energy just by upgrading. But if it’s owned by the landlord… split incentives suck.
  
  And yes! You can get a stick of incense (they also make dedicated tools that do it with glycol) and waft it by your doors and windows to see where the air is flowing through
  
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  - WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    
    If it’s an older model, you would probably save a lot of energy just by upgrading.
    
    sometimes people say newer HVAC systems use a more eco friendly gas that loses its efficiency when there’s hot enough out there. is that true? what would you recommend for people to pay attention to regarding this?
    
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- Hello_there@fedia.io ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  See if your utility or a nonprofit offers energy assessments. Sometimes they have someone that can come to your house and use one of those. Or they give free LED bulbs. Or free switches so you can turn off outlets when not in use.
  
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  - compostgoblin@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨21⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Yep! A lot of utilities offer low/no cost assessments, and I know mine give out smart power strips, LEDs, and lowflow faucets and shower heads if you get an assessment done
    
    It’s not going to be nearly as comprehensive as a paid audit, but still worth looking into!
    
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