Have you seen those infomercials that show hundreds of dollars literally flying out from under a drafty door? Meet my pet door. If I had hundreds of dollars, I’d have taped them to the bottom of it to pretend like they, too, were flying out. Instead, I “staged” this picture with an old, brightly striped beach towel so you could really tell how much it blows open.
Okay, I lie. That picture isn’t staged…I just have a really junky back patio right now.
Anyway, this picture shows what my dog door does on a perfectly normal day. I live in a really flat area, so it’s perpetually windy here. Our builder installed the world’s cheapest (to them) pet door, and it blows open about 75% of the time. I guess my money (in the form of heating/cooling) really was flying out of the pet door! The door is right by my seat at our dinner table, and my feet froze all winter long. Don’t even get me started about what happens every time it rains.
So, as part of Apartment Guide‘s “Green Up a New Space” Blogger Challenge, we decided to replace our dysfunctional pet door with one that would stay closed. We chose the”energy saver” Ruff Weather pet door, because it a) has dual flaps that will keep the rain out, b) is rated to stay closed in winds of 30 mph, and c) was in stock at my local Home Depot. It cost $109 (but we needed the extra large size, as you’ll see below). The new door is slightly larger than our last one, so my husband had to cut a slightly larger hole in the door with a jigsaw – no big deal.
The new door was greeted with some initial hesitation.
“Um, you want me to go through TWO doors?” -Duke
“Huh?” -Jackson (he’s really simple minded.)
Now that it’s been installed for a few days, we can already tell a night and day difference. The door(s) have not blown open a single time. My feet no longer get cold when I’m eating. The dogs have even figured out to how to use it.
Keeping our heat and cold air inside our house is going to make a huge difference for us. We won’t be “air conditioning the whole neighborhood” as my mother used to say, which means that we won’t be using as much electricity. Installing a more energy efficient pet door is just one way you can go green without spending a ton of green.
Want to make some easy changes for yourself? Here’s your chance to do it for free! Apartment Guide is giving away a gift basket with tons of green items, such as cleaning and sustainable materials products.
Want to win it? Yay! All you have to do is either follow Apartment Guide on Twitter or “Like” them on Facebook. Then, just leave me a comment below letting me know which one you did! You are welcomed to do both, but you need to leave me a comment for each so that you’ll be counted for both. This giveaway will end at midnight CDT on Thursday, March 17. Good luck!
Apartment Guide is owned by Consumer Source, Inc. Apartment Guide partnered with bloggers such as me to participate in its “Green Up a New Space” Blogger Challenge. As part of that program, I received compensation. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about the products used for the “Green Up a New Space” Blogger Challenge. Apartment Guide and Consumer Source believe that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. Consumer Source’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.
I liked AG on facebook! Thanks for offering the giveaway!
I liked AG on facebook……going green one day at a time. Thanks for the opportunity to win some great goodies.
What about those of us who don’t have facebook or twitter?
I liked AG on FaceBook. Thanks for the great give away.
I liked AG on facebook (I don’t twitter un fortunately). I am slowly trying to make the world a little more green. In our house we recycle everything that can eb recyclce, we compost, I use cloth bags for groceries and I even have cloth sandwich bags. I would love to know what else I could do to be even more green.
I am following on facebook!
I follow AG on twitter (owlandphoenix)
I ‘like’ AG on Facebook =)
I liked them on Facebook. I have been trying to make this year my year of supporting sustainable resources so this basket would be great!
Great giveaway! Thanks! I “like” them on facebook! We have started using all green products in our home (thank you Melaleuca) and my hubby is slowly but surely switching out all our lightbulbs (those boogers are expensive!) We recycle thanks to a great program in our city. Little by little we’re getting there!
I liked Apartment Guide on Facebook!
I liked AG on FB. I would love to win this package. Thanks!
I liked them on facebook!
I “liked” Apartment Guide on Facebook. Thanks!
I’m not a tweeter, but I did like them on facebook!
I liked them on facebook 🙂
Following AG on twitter! ps- my 2 dogs would totally flip out over the change in doggy doors, too!
I liked Apartment Guide on Facebook!
I am a foller of Apartment Guide on Twitter!
Follow them on Twitter! (@charlestonmegan) Thanks for the giveaway!
I “liked” this on facebook. Thanks so much for sharing this give away!!!!!! Love your blog:)
I liked them on FB. Thanks for the chance!
Love the new dog door!
I ‘liked’ them on Facebook!
That dog door looks awesome! We are thinking about getting a dog and that would work perfectly!
I follow apartment guide on twitter! We are just getting ready to move into a new house, so these would be awesome! A great start!
I liked them on Facebook! Hope I win!
I liked Apartment Guide on Facebook. We’re trying to “green” up our home, too. The biggest decision on our plate is whether to go with the new energy efficient “swirly bulbs” or go with LEDs. One thing I’ve noticed is that the swirly ones don’t like to turn on quickly if it’s cold. Does anyone know a way around this or are we stuck with it?
I “liked” Apartment Guide on Facebook;i t’s good to go green! Thanks for the chance to win!
i “liked” AG on facebook!
I liked AG on FB! 😛
Very nice. I liked them on FB.
aw, i don’t have facebook… but i did follow AG on twitter! count me in!
I “liked” them on facebook! I hope I win!!! I have wanted to make this change for a while…what perfect motivation!!! Thanks!
Good idea! I want to install a cat door, but I never thought about the impact it might have on the heating. I will definitely look more closely before I buy one.
I liked AG on Facebook 😉 Thanks for hosting this great giveaway…I love learning about ways to go green and supporting the environment!
The door turned out great Lindsay, our back door has a gap right now so I know about the whole rain and cold weather thing. We should be replacing it soon!
I liked them on FB, even though my friends will probably think we are looking for an apartment now :p
I became a FB fan!
I liked AG on Facebook! Thanks for hosting this giveaway! I’ll be moving to a house (from an apartment) in a few months and this has definitely given me something to think about when it comes to installing a dog door.
I liked it on facebook. This would help me in my mission to become more green 🙂
I liked AG on Facebook.
I follow AG on Twitter.
I liked AG on facebook. We are slowly trying to go more green around our house….thanks for sharing!
Julie
I liked them on Facebook. Thanks for the giveaway!
I liked them on Facebook! What a fun giveaway!
Following on Facebook!
And on Twitter! (I really need to clean my apartment!)
I am agree with you Lindsey. Pert door should be a little bit open so your pet could easily go in and out. Any way Really cool dogies.
You proved that going “green” is not just for St. Patty’s Day!!
I liked them on facebook…Thanks for a chance to win!
I followed them on Twitter! @MojoMamaBlog
I liked them on Facebook!
I am following AG on twitter. Thanks!
I may have to look into a better dog door… we have the same cheap one and live in
West Texas where the 3omph guarentee may not be high enough… mine blows open and dirt blows in!
i like apartment guide on fb