What is a good way for apartment dweller?

HooRU

My apartment is very drafty, bad windows, hatches, small holes. What items and materials can I get to seal off some of these leaks? In the summer it's very hard to cool things down in here, my heat is included, but I dont' like the idea of waste.

What tape, sealers, and other things should I use?

Guy54435

HooRU Something like this works on windows, Frost King
E/O Indoor Window Insulation Kit (4 per Pack)
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-E-O-Indoor-Window-Insulation-Kit-4-per-Pack-V73-4QPD2/301643819
These for your Switch and outlet plates.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-King-1-Gang-Socket-Switch-and-Deco-Wall-Plate-14-Pack-OS14H/100180324?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&gQT=1

Somewhat-Reticent

HooRU I dont' like the idea of waste

Be careful though - sealing too well can bring mold (humidity mis-managed) or asphyxiation.

Somewhat-Reticent

Removable no-residue masking tape like 3M blue - not always pretty, but useful.

Rich221976

I have used the Frost King before and it worked pretty good. The windows in the house I used to live in needed to be replaced a long time ago.

In this house, The windows are better but are due for replacement. What I like to do for my office is because I have a AC unit in the window, I use a thick black out curtain in the window. The temp drops, I just lower the curtain completely and stops some of the drafts from getting in.

real_aurgathor

Since your description is a bit generic, here are some generic ideas (terms) that you may want to take a look.

patching compound
putty knife
drywall repair kit
foam strip adhesive
caulk
expanding foam

When I was college I bought two big pieces of plexiglass and mounted them on the inside to cover 2 of the windows in my room.. That was mostly for noise reduction, but it should help with draft, too.

And BTW, if you leave them on long enough, most 'non-residue' masking tape will leave some residue, and it might be difficult to remove them if they are left on long enough. Don't ask me how do I know that. 🙁

Their intended usage is masking for painting, and it's expected that they'll be removed in no more than a few days, if that much.

AMDUSER

real_aurgathor Ridged foam board https://www.homedepot.com/b/Building-Materials-Insulation-Foam-Board-Insulation/XPS/N-5yc1vZbaxxZ1z0w1xo They do have small project size as well...

I used this in my basement - for one of the windows that was leaking. Worked great with gorilla tape..

Rich221976

real_aurgathor

I would say he could do that if he owned the house he is in. I wouldn't put that type of work into a place that you don't own.

My repairs when living in an apartment was mostly basic. Like replacing a toilet flapper. Otherwise it's a call to maintenance.

However, in @HooRU case, I don't think the landlord will bother with any types of repairs.

real_aurgathor

Yes, you can use those if you don't need to worry about also blocking the light, and those rigid boards also make a pretty decent insulation.

Somewhat-Reticent

Foam-board with shrink-wrap window film on both sides of viewport cutout?

taraf

ask your landlord if they have any desire to fix it? if heat's included, then it's costing them money to not fix the draft.

Splitpair

taraf

No kidding if the LL doesn't want to winterize the apartment, eff em, crank up the heat to a comfortable level, that is what a tenant is paying rent for and should receive for the money paid..

Rich221976

Splitpair

I would do that personally, especially if the landlord is paying for the utilities. I bet if the bill gets high enough they might be inclined to fix it. Also if the draft is bad enough that the heat isn't warming the place up, then I would get a space heater or two.

1.5 kW unit running 24 hours a day adds about = 36 kW a day to the bill alone. Don't ask me how I know that. If you run 2 space heaters at 1.5 kW then it would be 72 kW. That will get expensive as well. Still don't ask me know I know that.

david3

Either way, take care to get some fresh air. I recently put a carbon dioxide monitor in my home office and found it doesn't take long to get close to and beyond 2,000 ppm, which is the level that you start to get headaches. Now when it starts to get too high, I open the door for awhile to get some fresh air.

computerman2

Heck our stove in our Rental Townhome set off our Carbon Monoxide detector–Christmas 2023, and when fire department got here, and checked if it was faulty alarm or real.

Wouldn’t even let us back in at 70 parts per million, requested a second crew–then deployed the PPV electric fan, and after ventalating the Townhome, discovered was coming from the stove, and turned it off

Management did replace stove a couple days later

2,000 ppm seems very very high level

real_aurgathor

computerman2 Heck our stove in our Rental Townhome set off our Carbon Monoxide detector

Note well, david3 was talking about a carbon dioxide (C02) monitor, not a carbon monoxide (CO) monitor.

While both can be lethal carbon dioxide is lethal only by decreasing the amount of oxygen in the air, but carbon monoxide essentially permanently binds to the iron in hemoglobin, so it can no longer carry oxygen.

A long and very detailed answer: https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/33780/why-does-carbon-monoxide-have-a-greater-affinity-for-hemoglobin-than-oxygen

geek

Simple solution for winter at least https://snuggiestore.com/collections/e-original-snuggie