A Renter's Tale: My gas bill dropped $40 after I sealed one drafty window in my Humboldt Park apartment last January

I used a $6 roll of weatherstripping from the hardware store on that old single-pane window and within a month my monthly bill went from $120 to $80, has anyone else seen that kind of jump from such a small fix?

2 comments

2 Comments

finley7297d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy in Albany Park sealed two windows with that same dollar store foam tape and his January bill dropped by $50. I did my kitchen window in my Logan Square basement unit and saw a $35 difference the next month. Those old frames leak like crazy once the wind hits them right. It's wild what a few bucks of tape can do when the landlord won't fix the draft.

kim6937d ago

Wait, did your buddy actually see a $50 drop just from the tape alone? I mean, that sounds a bit high unless his windows were totally falling apart. I did the same thing in my old place in Bridgeport and only saw like a $15-$20 difference each month. But then again, my landlord had already replaced the main seals on the big windows, just not the weird basement ones. I wonder if the outdoor temp that month makes a difference too because January last year was brutal so maybe his furnace was working harder anyway. Point is, cheap tape helps but I'd be careful telling people they'll save $50 cause it really depends on how leaky the original windows are.