Some super cheap (and not quite so cheap) things to buy
These sustainability gadgets are renter friendly, and lots of them fit firmly into the less-than-$20 budget too. So head down to your local hardware store or environment shop or have a surf on the wide world of the web, and see what you can find.
quick links
Saving water
Heating and cooling
Lighting
Hot water system
Appliances
Saving water
Flow restrictors and tap aerators
These are nifty little gadgets that are cheap, easy to install, and will halve the flow out of your taps while still feeling like plenty of water. A flow restrictor is a little plastic disk that fits in the joint in your tap. And a tap aerator is a small cylinder with mesh at the end, which fits on the end of your tap.
Newer taps often already have tap aerators on them, although they're not necessarily efficient – stick a bucket under the running tap to see how much it uses per minute. 15 litres per minute is about what you get with a normal tap, 6 or 9 litres is what you get with a good aerator.
Tap aerators and flow restrictors come with a range of flow rates, which are listed on the packet. They’re available from most hardware stores and environment shops, for $8-18, and you can even get a $30 rebate if you spend $100 or more on water savings products like this, without having to apply for it via your landlord.
Legal alert: It’s fairly unlikely that installing either of these without permission will cause you problems, but the law is unclear on if you’re allowed to do this. If you do install them yourself, make sure you wrap a cloth around the tap before grabbing it with a shifting wrench, so you don’t scratch the tap.
Get a low flow showerhead
This one you don’t usually have to buy – you can swap an old style showerhead for a low flow one for free, through your local water corporation (the company that sends you water bills).
If you’re not sure if your current showerhead is a low flow one, hold a bucket under it for a minute. Your standard bucket holds about nine litres. If it's about overflowing after a minute, you already have a low flow showerhead. If it overflows well before the time's up, it’s worth making the switch.
If you have an instantaneous hot water system (a small box on the wall, instead of a large tank) or a gravity fed system, standard low flow showerheads might not work. Get the low down here.
Legal alert: The law on rental properties tends to be ambiguous, so it’s unclear if you can change your showerhead yourself without your landlord’s permission. It’s easy to do, and lots of landlords wouldn’t mind, or even notice, but some might. If you think your landlord won’t give you permission and won’t want you to exchange the existing showerhead, go for a flow restrictor instead. These do the same thing as a low flow showerhead, they’re super cheap and you can take it with you when you leave.
Heating and cooling
Block your draughts
In your average Victorian home, if you added up all the cracks and gaps, it would be like having a window open all the time.
You can block gaps around doors and windows by buying weather seals from your local hardware store. These are strips of foam which stick to your doorway or window frame, are super easy to install and cost less than $10 a packet. You can also buy weather seals in the form of rubber strips, brushes or rollers which you cut to size and either stick or nail them to the bottom of your door.
Legal alert: Legally, you should get permission from your landlord before installing either of these, even though most landlords wouldn’t mind or even notice.
The cheapest alternative for blocking the draft under doors is draught snakes. These cost less than $5, and are also easy to make yourself.
Get some curtains
Up to 40 per cent of the heat escaping from your home in winter is from uncovered windows.
To be effective at keeping the cold in or the heat out, curtains need to be thick and/or lined and should completely cover the window and extend a long way below the bottom of the window frame. If you can’t afford new curtains ($80 - $180 ready to hang), consider buying them second hand, for example from garage sales or op shops, or second hand websites. Or make them yourself! If you’re feeling nervous about sewing, you can buy curtain clips from fabric and home wares shops for about $10 a packet. They clip to the top of the curtain, instead of being sewn on, so all you need to do is find a piece of material the right size and hem it.
Your landlord isn’t obliged to install curtains if there weren’t already curtains there, although you might be able to convince them that this is a good investment.
Get some window shading
Shading your north and west facing windows will make a big difference to how much heat makes it into your house on those stinking hot summer days. Try asking your landlord to install awnings, external blinds or a pergola – use our tips on working with your landlord or real estate agent, which explain how this could increase the value of their property.
Do it yourself: The DIY alternative is to go and buy some shade cloth and rig up some temporary shade of your own. Growing plants outside the windows (especially deciduous ones) also works well, although technically you’re not allowed to make alterations to your rental property or its garden without your landlord’s permission.
The other option is shiny reflective paper you stick on your window with Velcro dots. That means you can take it down in winter, or when you move out. Be careful to get the dots off without damaging the windows.
Get a better heater
OK, so ideally you’d pick a rental property with decent heating in the first place. But most of us don’t have the luxury of being too fussy about the finer details. If you’re using electric heaters (other than reverse cycle) to heat your home, it’s worth seeing if you can switch to something which doesn’t chew through the greenhouse gases or your heating bill so fast.
Try getting your landlord to install something better – it’s actually in their financial interests to do it. Our heating fact sheet will help them choose a better system, or if you’re stuck with buying an electric heater, it will help you work out which type is best for you.
The other important ways for keeping your heating bills and emissions down are:
- shut the doors and only heat the room your in
- block all the draughts
- get some curtains
- don’t turn up the heating too high, keep it down around 19 – 20 and wear a jumper
- get some insulation installed
Insulation should increase the value of the property much more than the cost of putting it in – a fact it wouldn’t hurt to tell your landlord. See our working with your landlord section for tips on how to approach this.
Don’t let your warmth escape through the ceiling exhaust fan
Ceiling exhaust fans let heat escape when they’re not in use. You can buy a special device which allows exhaust out, but blocks the gap when it’s not in use. It’s called the DraftStoppa, and it just sits over the top of the fan, inside the roof cavity, which if you can get into your roof cavity you can install it yourself and take it with you when you move house. They cost about $35, and are available from environment shops, some hardware stores and online.
Double glazing on the cheap
You can get a handy product called Clear Comfort, which is a sheet of plastic that you stick to your window and then heat with a hair dryer till it goes taut. It ends up looking like a piece of glass (in fact you can barely see it at all) and it helps keep the warmth inside your house.
Legal alert: You can’t install normal Clear Comfort without your landlord’s permission, but you can get it with special temporary tape which lasts six months to a year and should only leave a yellow dust on the window frame when you remove it, which you can then dust off.
Do it yourself: The lower tech alternative is to just tape bubble wrap to the window.
Lighting
Buy some better downlights
Downlights are energy guzzlers and a fire risk. An easy alternative is to not use them and use lamps instead.
Alternative two is to head to the supermarket and switch them to 25 or 35 watt halogens, available for a couple of dollars each. Take one of your existing globes with you, so you can make sure you get the right size, shape and voltage, but a lower wattage. An even better option is to replace them with really efficient downlight globes available from environment shops and specialty lighting shops. They are more expensive – ideally your landlord would foot the bill. If you have insulation, you should also talk to your landlord about getting downlight covers, because the ordinary high energy halogens are a fire hazard.
Hot water system
Get some insulation for your pipes
Head down to your local hardware store and get some pipe insulation (known as lagging) and some gaffa or packing tape to attach it. It usually costs less than $10. Then wrap it around any of the pipes coming out of your hot water system which are outside or any long stretches of pipe, and tape it on. Your hot water system will be happy, and will run more efficiently.
Appliances
Before you buy
Check out the Victorian Government's Energy Saver Incentive. Discounts and special offers are available on selected energy saving products and appliances from participating businesses.
Got a concession card? Buying or fixing essential household items, like white goods?
If you’ve got an essential household item like a fridge or washing machine which isn’t working and your landlord owns it, you should get them to repair it.
If you own it and you have a pensioner concession card or a health care card, you may be eligible to have it repaired, or if necessary replaced, through the Home Wise Grant Program. You are only eligible if you can’t afford to repair or replace it yourself.
You may also be eligible to get a no interest loan to replace the appliance yourself, through the No Interest Loan Scheme. If you buy an energy efficient fridge or washing machine through this scheme, you can even get a $100 rebate.
Sustainability information for landlords
other renters resources
Things you can do right now - no need to talk to your landlord first
Things to ask your landlord to do
How to approach your real estate agent or landlord
Sustainable renting and the law
