Sophie and Jason’s energy efficient apartment upgrades
05 December 2025
When you live in an apartment, making energy efficiency upgrades can feel challenging. There’s lots to consider, like where to start, who to talk to and how involved strata actually needs to be.
Sophie and Jason share their story and show how small upgrades in their apartment made a big difference.
What we did
After investigating our options, we made the following changes.
To help stay cool in summer, we installed:
- ceiling fans throughout the apartment
- reverse cycle air conditioning in the living room and main bedroom
- honeycomb blinds and block-out curtains.
To reduce noise and heat, we installed:
- double glazing on the balcony door and windows on the noisiest side of the apartment using unplasticised polyvinyl chloride (known as uPVC), a strong, lightweight plastic.
- double glazing on the window on the quieter (but hotter) side of the apartment using magnetite retrofit, a more affordable option that adds clear acrylic panels to our existing windows.
- cheap door strip and weather strip tape on the front door of the apartment to block air leaks.
To reduce energy bills and electrify, we replaced our gas stovetop with an electric induction cooktop. Getting off gas was important to us because of increasing gas prices and the impact of gas on Sophie’s asthma.
The results were just what we’d hoped for. The noise from outside has been significantly reduced, the apartment stays warm enough in winter that we barely need to heat it, and in summer we can use the air conditioner and not worry about leakage of that cool air out of our windows and doors. Our energy bills have reduced slightly, but even more importantly our home is quieter and more comfortable.
Our top tips
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Engage with strata early
When upgrading an apartment, it’s important to work closely with your strata. In most apartment buildings, windows are considered common property, so you need approval from the owners’ corporation before making any changes.
To get approval, we gave the owners’ corporation and strata manager detailed information about how the new windows would look and how they’d be installed. Strata’s main concern was that the new windows would match the rest of the building and not stand out. Luckily, the design was very similar to the existing windows, and the neighbours agreed to the upgrade.
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Plan for tricky installations
Getting the double-glazed windows and door installed was the hardest and most expensive part. We had to remove our 2 existing sliding doors and 2 windows, and the replacements were winched on to our balcony from a neighbour’s courtyard. If your apartment is above the ground floor, you’ll need to make a plan with your installers and neighbours about how to get double glazed windows and doors up to your apartment safely.
What's next
We’re really happy with our results so far and are looking at more ways to improve energy efficiency. Some ideas we’re considering include:
- replacing gas hot water with electric hot water pump to get off gas altogether
- installing solar panels for the building
- installing outdoor blinds on the building.
Solar panels and blinds will be more challenging, as they require owners’ corporation approval, strata buy-in and involve a cost to the building. These upgrades are something we’ll explore further if we stay in the apartment long term.
Key takeaway
Even in an apartment, small upgrades can add up to big benefits – from lower bills, to better comfort and air quality. Start with what you can control, engage strata early and look for staged upgrades that fit your budget.
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