Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#11

Post by tharkun__ » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:10 AM UTC

foxglacier wrote: post #5

Could be solved with more free markets. What a funny phenomenon this is: "reluctance to make even basic upgrades" -- landlords don't care because they have too much market power and aren't even attempting to compete with each other. Imagine if car makers didn't bother with fuel efficiency because buyers had almost no choice and any car is better than nothing. We'd say that market isn't functioning well. Perhaps the p…

Car makers really don't care about fuel economy and have to be made to care about it by regulations and even those they try to skirt.

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#12

Post by antonymoose » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:11 AM UTC

kubb wrote: post #9

antonymoose wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would certainly need to be a serious long-term renter. I purchased a home with a walk-out basement (brick exterior, cinder block foundation, >80% above grade). As it turned out, the prior owners had pulled a fast one and faked their framing with 1x4s and added no insulation. Our monthly power bills ranged from 400-500$ on a 2,000 sqft home. I spent most of last year gutting the interior of the basement, framing,…

[flagged]

If you read my comment you would find that I own my own home?

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#13

Post by OoooooooO » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:12 AM UTC

kubb wrote: post #9

antonymoose wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You would certainly need to be a serious long-term renter. I purchased a home with a walk-out basement (brick exterior, cinder block foundation, >80% above grade). As it turned out, the prior owners had pulled a fast one and faked their framing with 1x4s and added no insulation. Our monthly power bills ranged from 400-500$ on a 2,000 sqft home. I spent most of last year gutting the interior of the basement, framing,…

[flagged]

"I purchased"

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#14

Post by gruez » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:12 AM UTC

foxglacier wrote: post #5

Could be solved with more free markets. What a funny phenomenon this is: "reluctance to make even basic upgrades" -- landlords don't care because they have too much market power and aren't even attempting to compete with each other. Imagine if car makers didn't bother with fuel efficiency because buyers had almost no choice and any car is better than nothing. We'd say that market isn't functioning well. Perhaps the p…

Cars are regulated for efficiency though, CAFE for instance.

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#15

Post by Aurornis » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:14 AM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #4

How many renters would even want to replace appliances, get new insulation installed, get all their lights replaced, etc.? I had a bunch of work done after a kitchen fire in my house and it did genuinely cut my electrical bill. It also cost a lot of money and is something I wouldn't have done by choice especially in a rental property.

Replacing kitchen appliances is a quick job for common pieces like refrigerators. Most other kitchen appliances can be done in a day even if they're built-in as long as you get something that occupies the same space.

Insulation upgrades are heavy remodel jobs: Opening the walls requires people to leave the space for the duration of the job. Even if you can stack contractors back to back perfectly it's still a lot of time and displacement.

These things usually happen between renters when the space is vacant. In larger units you can some times shuffle renters between similar spaces but it's a huge pain and they usually don't want to do it.

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#16

Post by Aurornis » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:19 AM UTC

foxglacier wrote: post #5

Could be solved with more free markets. What a funny phenomenon this is: "reluctance to make even basic upgrades" -- landlords don't care because they have too much market power and aren't even attempting to compete with each other. Imagine if car makers didn't bother with fuel efficiency because buyers had almost no choice and any car is better than nothing. We'd say that market isn't functioning well. Perhaps the p…

Available rentals are still priced according to their relative value.

If most landlords have newly updated units on the market for $2000/month and someone tries to rent a similar unit untouched since 1970 for $2000/month, that unrenovated unit is going to sit on the market for a very, very long time.

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#17

Post by ghaff » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:19 AM UTC

Aurornis wrote: post #15

ghaff wrote: post #4

How many renters would even want to replace appliances, get new insulation installed, get all their lights replaced, etc.? I had a bunch of work done after a kitchen fire in my house and it did genuinely cut my electrical bill. It also cost a lot of money and is something I wouldn't have done by choice especially in a rental property.

Replacing kitchen appliances is a quick job for common pieces like refrigerators. Most other kitchen appliances can be done in a day even if they're built-in as long as you get something that occupies the same space. Insulation upgrades are heavy remodel jobs: Opening the walls requires people to leave the space for the duration of the job. Even if you can stack contractors back to back perfectly it's still a lot of…

Some things are less standardized than others. That said my kitchen was totally redone after a fire. Dishwasher was basically a 1 for 1 replacement pre-fire but everything else had to be redone.

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#18

Post by Aurornis » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:19 AM UTC

antonymoose wrote: post #2

Considering that tax credits cover only 1/3rd of the materials (not the installation) and have hard caps of 1,500 it should come as no surprise that landlords don’t care and won’t cover improvements. They’re not paying the power or suffering the cold at the end of the day.

And the tenants have to be moved out of the unit and housed somewhere else during some of these renovations, which is going to cost the landlord far more than $1500.

This article is silly.

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#19

Post by Glyptodon » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:22 AM UTC

Nobody has incentives or cashflow that will change this. At best if we built more housing it's something landlords might face competitive pressure over. In which case it might change. But currently cases where someone has a choice between two equivalent rentals and can try to pick the efficient one are pretty few and far between. Most people just try to balance as low of a monthly rent payment as possible with their commute and not having to rent from a slumlord type.

Re: Most renters shut out of energy-saving upgrades – study

#20

Post by Aurornis » Sat, Jan 17, 2026, 12:22 AM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #17

Aurornis wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Replacing kitchen appliances is a quick job for common pieces like refrigerators. Most other kitchen appliances can be done in a day even if they're built-in as long as you get something that occupies the same space. Insulation upgrades are heavy remodel jobs: Opening the walls requires people to leave the space for the duration of the job. Even if you can stack contractors back to back perfectly it's still a lot of…

Some things are less standardized than others. That said my kitchen was totally redone after a fire. Dishwasher was basically a 1 for 1 replacement pre-fire but everything else had to be redone.

Most kitchen appliances are very standardized. Refrigerators come in certain widths (30", 32", 34"). Over the range microwaves are a standard size. Dishwashers fit into a 24" wide space unless you specifically get a compact or oversized dishwasher (rare). Ovens come in certain widths.

It's rare to have a kitchen appliance that requires a specialized space that you have to build the kitchen around. Unless you're dealing with odd very high end appliances, a skilled installer can almost always find something from the local home store that fits into the old space.

(Source: Time spent in construction and renovation)