12 Ways to Lower Your Electric Bill, Ranked by How Much They Save
Most lists of energy tips treat unplugging a phone charger and adjusting the thermostat as equals. They are not. Heating, cooling and hot water make up well over half of a typical home's electricity use, so that is where meaningful savings are found.
Start with heating and cooling
1. Adjust the thermostat. Setting it a few degrees closer to the outdoor temperature for eight hours a day, while asleep or away, is the largest no-cost saving available in most homes.
2. Change the air filter. A clogged filter lengthens every heating and cooling cycle. Check it monthly in heavy-use seasons.
3. Seal air leaks. Weatherstripping and caulk around doors, windows and the attic hatch cost little and work for years.
4. Use fans to raise the AC set point. A ceiling fan uses about 50 watts; a central air conditioner about 3,500.
Then hot water
5. Set the water heater to 120°F. It reduces standby loss and the energy used per gallon.
6. Wash laundry in cold water. Most of a washer's energy use is heating the water.
7. Fit low-flow showerheads. Showers are the biggest hot-water use in most households. See what an electric water heater costs to run in your state.
Then the big appliances
8. Retire the second refrigerator. An old refrigerator in a garage can cost more to run than every light in the house.
9. Dry full loads on the sensor cycle, and clean the lint screen each time. A dryer is among the highest-wattage appliances you own.
10. Run a dehumidifier at 50 percent, not at its lowest setting.
Then the rate itself
11. Check your rate plan. Many utilities offer time-of-use or EV plans that are cheaper if you can shift laundry, dishwashing and car charging to off-peak hours. In states with retail choice, compare supplier offers against the utility's default price, and read the contract term and fees carefully.
Last, the small stuff
12. Standby power. Game consoles in instant-on mode, old cable boxes and always-on desktop computers are worth addressing. Phone chargers and modern TVs in standby are not; they cost pennies a year.
How to find your own biggest load
Compare a spring or fall bill, when heating and cooling are off, with a summer or winter bill. The difference is roughly what climate control costs you. Then use the calculator to estimate your largest appliances and see which ones account for the rest.