There’s nothing like coming home to a cool apartment, especially in the middle of a heat wave. Having an air conditioner in your apartment will make life so much more enjoyable, not to mention comfortable. It means you won’t be perspiring all day or tossing and turning all night. When summertime temperatures hit close to 30 °C, indoor heat can become unbearable, even if you have dark window coverings and a fan turned on high. Just like apartments, air conditioners come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but choosing the right air conditioner for your apartment doesn’t have to be confusing or overwhelming. It’s actually pretty simple. If you’re in the market for a new air conditioner for your Gold Seal apartment and don’t know where to begin, then be sure to check out our handy guide below.

Window AC vs. portable AC

Most air conditioning units will either be portable, meaning you can easily move them from room to room, or they will fit in a window to cool down a specific room. Both types have its own unique advantages, depending on the layout of your apartment. Let’s take a look at what each of them have to offer.

Advantages of a portable air conditioner

• A great option if you’re looking to cool down the whole apartment
• Portable air conditioners are easy to install, and can be ready to go in 10 minutes
• Can be rolled from room to room if necessary

Advantages of a window air conditioner

• Great for controlling temperatures in single rooms and small apartments
• With a decibel level of roughly 50, window units are fairly quiet
• A window unit won’t take up any space in your apartment
• Window units typically use less electricity than a portable air conditioner

Other considerations

Regardless of the model, one of the most important things you need to look at when choosing the right air conditioner for your apartment is its British Thermal Unit number or BTU, which measures energy. This is the number that measures the amount of heat an air conditioner can remove from the air over a certain period of time, relative to the room’s size. Essentially, the higher the BTU number, the more capacity the air conditioner has to cool air. A 14,000 BTU air conditioner can cool a room of up to 640 square feet in size, which is ideal for a small apartment. When deciding on which air conditioner is right for your Gold Seal apartment, it’s also important to consider the cost. Look for an Energy Star rating to ensure that your new air conditioner not only runs efficiently, but that it also won’t use up too much electricity and cause a significant increase to your electric bill. For more tips on how to find the right air conditioner for your apartment, or to view apartments for rent by Gold Seal Management in Toronto, be sure to visit goldsealmanagement.com today.

Do common household cleaners sting your eyes, make you cough or give you a headache every time you clean your apartment? Cleaning your Gold Seal apartment doesn’t have to make you feel sick or hurt the planet, especially when you opt to make your own products at home, without harsh chemicals. Not only are DIY and alternative cleaning products healthier for you and better for the environment but they’re also much more affordable. In fact, many of the ingredients needed to make cleaning products are likely already in your Gold Seal apartment. When the next cleaning day rolls around, why not set aside your usual products and whip up a few eco-friendly solutions instead. Here are a few tips: General cleaning around your Gold Seal apartment

• Use white vinegar to clean countertops, chrome, grease, floors and to get your windows sparkling. For an all-purpose cleaner, use a 50:50 mix of water and vinegar.
• Easily absorb odours, scrub ovens, sinks and countertops with a bit of baking soda. To get your oven looking like new, sprinkle with baking soda, spray with water and leave on for 12 hours. Respray the water every few hours and then scrub until it’s spotless.
• Remove tough grease stains, wipe windows, and clean mucky sinks with fresh lemon juice.
• Use vegetable oil or lemon oil to polish furniture.
• Instead of using harmful air fresheners, get your Gold Seal apartment smelling fresh by boiling a lemon or your favourite herbs and spices.
• Try baking soda and vinegar to open a clogged drain. Pour a pot of boiling water down the drain first, then a solution of one cup baking soda and one cup vinegar. Cover the drain for 10 minutes and then pour a final pot of boiling water down.
• Wash dishes with plant-based dish soaps. For example, Dawn is biodegradable and contains zero phosphates.

Laundry day without detergent

• Borax, sodium perborate and hydrogen peroxide can all be used, separately, as environmentally friendly alternatives to chlorine bleach.
• Washing soda can remove stubborn stains and whiten laundry just as well as detergent. Try a mixture of one cup soap flakes, half a cup borax and half a cup washing soda instead of laundry detergent.
• Instead of fabric softener, try tossing one cup of white vinegar into the rinse cycle of your laundry to soften clothes, eliminate odours and lift lingering detergent.

In addition to making your own cleaning products with natural ingredients, there is a growing number of eco-friendly cleaning products on the market that you can try using around your Gold Seal apartment. In Canada, products that are deemed safe for humans and the environment have an EcoLogo (three doves intertwined to form a maple leaf). Gold Seal owns and manages a number of gorgeous townhomes and well-maintained apartment buildings across the GTA including Etobicoke, North York, Scarborough, and Toronto. Apartments are located in thriving neighbourhoods close to public transportation, parks, schools, a wide variety of restaurants and bars, and family-friendly attractions. To view Gold Seal apartments for rent, be sure to visit goldsealmanagement.com today.