How-To Guide #9 Opportunities for Renters

More than half of Brookline’s residents rent their homes. As a renter, you have opportunities to save energy, save money on utility bills, and improve the comfort of your home. And all of these efforts will also help to make a significant impact on reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of the Brookline community.

Not every electrification solution will apply to every Brookline renter,  depending on factors such as:

• Whether you live in an apartment in a 2- or 3-family home, in a larger multi-family building, or in a free-standing single family home.
• Whether you rent in Brookline for a limited time-frame (for employment or education, for example), rent with the intent of eventually owning a condo or a home, or rent your apartment as your permanent home.
• Whether or not you live in the same building with your landlord, or deal with a property management company for apartment repairs.

This guide presents a range of approaches that may or may not be applicable to your specific Brookline rental. The Mass Save website provides information on programs specifically for renters; Green Energy Consumers Alliance also provides helpful information on programs for renters and landlords.  

Background

The recently published Massachusetts 2050 Decarbonization Roadmap includes an ambitious near-term goal of the complete electrification of one million homes across the state by 2030 and ALL homes by 2050, whether owner-occupied or rented. The Roadmap outlines an approach to reach the Commonwealth’s goals to reduce carbon emissions through these straightforward efforts:

1. Reduce Energy Demand
2. Use 100% Renewable Electricity
3. Electrify Everything

All Brookline residents – both renters and owners – can take actions in their homes to further these efforts. There are several ways to start your journey towards energy efficiency and emissions reductions on your own, and you may also be able to work with your landlord or property manager on pursuing larger improvements to the building.

1. Reduce Energy Demand

Even if your appliances and systems run on fossil fuels like gas or oil, as a renter you can still take individual actions to reduce your climate-damaging emissions by reducing your energy demand through efficiency and conservation.

• If you have a programmable thermostat for your unit, lower the winter heating setpoint to 55 or 60 degrees while you are away or when you sleep. On sunny days during the winter, keep your window blinds open to warm your apartment naturally with the sun.
• If you have air conditioning, raise the summer cooling setpoint to 75 or 80 degrees, but do consider indoor humidity levels and your personal health and well-being. Use fans to keep the air moving and make you feel more comfortable. If you close window blinds, shades or curtains during the day, you can use less energy to keep your apartment cool.
• Install LED Light bulbs, and turn off lights when they are not being used.
• Avoid running hot water continuously while doing dishes, washing up, brushing teeth, or shaving.
• If OK with your landlord, install low-flow shower heads to use less hot water.
• Wash your clothes in cold water. They will get clean – honest.
• Use smart power strips to turn off electronics when not in use (many plugged-in appliances use energy even when off)
• Use plastic window kits inside to cut down on drafts. They will likely pay for themselves in a year with reduced energy costs.

2. Choose 100% Clean Energy through Brookline’s BGE Program

If you pay your own electricity bill, you can participate in the Brookline Green Electricity (BGE) program, which can reduce your carbon footprint by as much as 25%!  BGE is an official Community Choice Aggregation program whereby the Town negotiates with an electricity supplier to bulk purchase electricity at stable rates for all Eversource account holders in the Town. Not participating? Use the online form at brooklinegreen.com or call our supplier, Direct Energy, at (866)968-8065 to join.

For more details, read the How-To Guide #8: Renewable, Clean, Green Electricity.

3. Electrify Everything

As a renter, even if your landlord isn’t able to change appliances and energy systems in your apartment, there are still steps you can take to reduce your emissions.

Air-Source Heat Pumps for Apartments

• If you are thinking about purchasing window air conditioners, consider window heat pumps or portable heat pumps instead. They are better than a window AC unit because they’re able to provide both cooling in the hot months and heating during cold weather. And you can take them with you if you move.  Two vendors who supply window heat pumps are Gradient and Midea.

Electric Cooking

• Consider using countertop electrical cooking small appliances instead of your gas stove, but do verify with your landlord that the kitchen outlets can support additional small appliances. Maybe you have or can borrow a crockpot, an instapot, an electric tea kettle, microwave or toaster oven. Consider a portable induction cookplate. You can borrow a kit from the Brookline Library to “check out” induction cooking. Every time you use an electrical appliance instead of your gas stove, you can reduce your emissions as well as the negative health impacts of gas cooking.
• For more details, read the How-To Guide #3: Induction Cooking.

Get a Home Energy Assessment

• A home energy assessment from MassSave is FREE and is available for renters in 1-4 unit buildings as well as to landlords of buildings of any size. MassSave has specific programs and recommendations for renters. You can ask for a MassSave assessment without needing approval from your landlord. The assessment allows you to:
  • Connect with an Energy Specialist to help you find energy-saving opportunities in your house or apartment.
  • Receive recommended no-cost energy-saving products delivered directly to your door, such as advanced power strips, low-flow showerheads, LED lightbulbs, faucet aerators and programmable thermostats or discounted smart thermostats.
  • Get recommendations that you can work with your landlord to take advantage of.
• If you live in a building with 5 or more units, the building owner or property manager will need to sign up for the assessment. To do so, call the Town of Brookline at 617-329-4823. Under Mass Save’s Community First Partnership, the Town’s Energy Advocate can answer questions and provide support in moving through the Mass Save process. Look for details, including a brochure and case studies, at Rebates and Incentives for Multi-Family Properties.

For more details on Home Energy Assessments, read the How-To Guide #2:  Weatherization, Insulation and Air Sealing.

Work with Your Landlord to Make Improvements

Talking to your landlord about energy efficiency is an opportunity to find shared benefits. An improved apartment will be more comfortable for you and can save on utility costs for both you and your landlord. 

• Ask your landlord to have a Mass Save assessment for the entire property. This will allow the property owner to access rebates to improve and add value to their property and retain tenants by providing a more comfortable living space. Mass Save research shows that every $1 spent on energy efficiency can add up to $10 in property value.
• Be sure your landlord is aware of Mass Save’s financial incentives for insulating the property.  Insulation qualifies for a 75% or up to a 100% instant rebate after a home energy assessment.  Rebates are also available for the heating system, for the hot water heating system, for electric cooking, and laundry appliances.

How Your Neighbors Made the Switch

Story #1:  A Renter in a Drafty Single-Family Home

This Brookline resident has lived with her family in a rented single-family home for over ten years.  The landlord is out of state and has not been particularly interested in updating the house to make it more energy efficient. Since the renter pays the utilities, keeping the home as comfortable as possible in the winter, while saving energy, is important and they’ve taken some steps that have helped.

When the landlord needed to improve the heating and hot water system, he had MassSave perform a free energy assessment in hopes of getting a discount on the installation, but the assessment found knob and tube wiring that would need to be replaced and the landlord didn’t take the project further.

So the renter and her family have focused on doing what they can do themselves to make the space more comfortable, especially in winter when the old, leaky windows – even some with storm windows –cause drafts. There is a single thermostat on the first floor for the whole house. Since heat rises, the first floor can be quite cold while the top floor gets too warm – a real waste of energy. They decided that one strategy would be to trap the heat on the first floor as much as possible.  Another would be to make their windows less drafty.

What have they done to keep the first floor warmer?

• They’ve installed a heavy curtain at the foot of the stairs to the second floor. This can keep at least some of the heat from rising up the staircase.
• They keep the bedroom doors closed on the upper floors.
• They made a theater curtain to hang between the dining room and the living room. This helps keep the heat in the living room.

What have they done for the leaky windows?

• They shrink-wrapped the seven windows on the first floor with window insulating kits that provide sheets of plastic and double-sided tape. They’ve tried several different brands, including 3M and Frost King, both of which have worked well. They comment that the double stick tape needs to be high quality and the windows need to be clean before installing the sheeting, otherwise the sheeting may not stay in place and the leaks will persist.
• They weatherstripped all 26 windows in the home. They also weatherstripped along the bottoms of their outside doors.

It’s work that needs to be done before each winter season and it can be costly, but they’ve found that it makes a real difference both to their comfort and their heating costs. YouTube has some videos that provide guidelines on shrink-wrapping windows. One good one is How to Insulate Windows.

IMPORTANT: Verify with your installers that they have the proper licenses and insurance, and confirm that they have or will obtain all required permits and inspections from the Town of Brookline.