Your smart home should be saving you money, not just looking cool on
your kitchen counter. But let’s be honest — most “energy saving” guides
just list gadgets to buy. That’s not what this is.
This is a list of 12 specific things you can do this weekend to
actually cut your electric bill, ranked by real impact. Some cost
nothing. Some cost fifty bucks. All of them put money back in your
pocket, and I’m including rough dollar estimates so you can prioritize
what’s worth your time.
Already read our posts on energy monitoring and thermostat
savings? Good. This is different — it’s action-focused, not
product-focused. Let’s get into it.
1. Set a
Smart Thermostat Schedule (Biggest Single Impact)
What to do: Program your smart thermostat with a
real schedule — lower temps when you sleep and when nobody’s home, and
only ramp up when people are actually around.
Why it works: Heating and cooling accounts for
roughly half your energy bill. A thermostat that runs 70°F all day while
everyone’s at work is burning money. A proper schedule — say 62°F
overnight and when away, 68°F when home — can cut HVAC usage by
10-15%.
Estimated savings: 150-200 dollars per year,
depending on your climate and current habits.
Difficulty: Easy. Spend 20 minutes in the app, set
it, and forget it.
If you don’t have a smart thermostat yet, the Ecobee
and Nest
are the top picks, but honestly any programmable thermostat with
scheduling beats “set it and leave it.”
2. Kill Vampire Draw with
Smart Plugs
What to do: Put smart plugs on your TV, gaming
consoles, chargers, and anything with a standby light. Set them to cut
power completely when not in use.
Why it works: Vampire draw — also called phantom
load or standby power — is the electricity devices suck down even when
“off.” Your TV, cable box, game console, and phone chargers are all
guilty. The average home wastes 5-10% of its total electricity on
devices that aren’t even being used. That’s not nothing.
A smart plug with a schedule or power threshold can shut these off
completely. No more paying to keep your Xbox in warm standby mode.
Estimated savings: 50-100 dollars per year.
Difficulty: Easy. Plug it in, set a schedule, done.
Check out our best smart plugs
review for picks.
3. Motion-Sensor Lighting
What to do: Replace high-traffic light switches with
motion-sensor switches, or add motion-sensor smart bulbs to hallways,
bathrooms, garages, and laundry rooms.
Why it works: How many times has someone left the
bathroom light on all night? Or the garage light for three days? Motion
sensors fix this by turning lights off when nobody’s around. In rooms
where people come and go frequently — bathrooms, hallways, laundry rooms
— this eliminates waste completely.
Estimated savings: 20-50 dollars per year (more if
you have kids who treat every light switch like a suggestion).
Difficulty: Easy to moderate. Swapping a switch
takes 10 minutes if you’re comfortable with wiring; smart bulbs are even
easier.
4. Smart Blinds and Curtains
What to do: Install motorized blinds or curtains on
south- and west-facing windows. Automate them to block sun in summer and
open for warmth in winter.
Why it works: Windows are where your home gains the
most unwanted heat in summer and loses the most warmth in winter. Smart
blinds that close automatically when the sun hits them can reduce your
AC load significantly — we’re talking 10-25% less solar heat gain. In
winter, opening blinds during sunny days lets free heat in, then closing
them at night traps it.
This is one of those upgrades where the savings grow the more extreme
your climate is. If you live in Phoenix or Minneapolis, smart blinds are
a no-brainer.
Estimated savings: 50-150 dollars per year,
depending on climate and window exposure.
Difficulty: Moderate. Installation varies by
product; budget a weekend afternoon.
5. Schedule Your Water Heater
What to do: If you have an electric water heater,
put it on a smart plug or inline timer so it only heats water during the
hours you actually need it — typically morning and evening.
Why it works: Your water heater keeps 40-50 gallons
of water hot 24/7, even at 2 AM when nobody’s showering. That’s constant
cycling. Setting it to heat only from 6-9 AM and 5-10 PM means it runs a
fraction of the time. If you have a heat pump water heater, this matters
less (they’re already efficient), but for traditional electric tanks,
it’s a real saver.
Estimated savings: 50-100 dollars per year for
electric tank heaters.
Difficulty: Moderate. Requires a heavy-duty smart
plug rated for water heaters (check the amperage) or a dedicated
timer.
6. Geofencing for HVAC
What to do: Enable geofencing on your smart
thermostat so it automatically adjusts when everyone leaves and
returns.
Why it works: This is the upgrade to Tip #1. Instead
of relying on a fixed schedule, geofencing uses your phone’s location to
detect when the last person leaves home and when the first person’s on
their way back. No more heating an empty house “just in case” someone
comes home early. No more coming home to a freezing house because the
schedule hasn’t kicked in yet.
Most smart thermostats support this out of the box — you just need to
enable it in the app and make sure everyone in the household is
added.
Estimated savings: 30-80 dollars per year on top of
what you’re already saving with scheduling.
Difficulty: Easy. It’s a settings toggle, not a new
purchase.
7. Smart Power Strips
for Your Home Office
What to do: Replace your home office power strip
with a smart power strip that cuts power to peripherals (monitor,
speakers, charger, desk lamp) when your computer goes to sleep or shuts
down.
Why it works: Home offices are vampire draw
champions. Monitors in standby, speakers on idle, phone chargers plugged
in 24/7, desk lamps nobody turns off. A smart power strip with a
“master” outlet senses when your computer powers down and kills
everything else automatically. Come back, turn the computer on,
everything else wakes up too.
If you’re working from home full-time, this saves you 8-12 hours of
peripheral waste every weekday — and full 24-hour waste on weekends if
you’re not touching the office.
Estimated savings: 20-40 dollars per year.
Difficulty: Easy. Swap one power strip.
8. LED Smart Bulbs on
Schedules
What to do: Put your most-used LED bulbs on smart
schedules so they turn off automatically at bedtime and aren’t left
running when nobody’s home.
Why it works: Yes, LEDs are efficient. But an LED
bulb left on 24/7 still costs about 5-7 dollars per year per bulb.
Multiply that by every light in your house that someone forgot to turn
off, and you’re looking at 30-60 dollars of pure waste. Smart schedules
eliminate that.
The real win is outdoor lights and porch lights — these are the ones
people forget most often. Set them to turn on at sunset and off at
bedtime. Done.
Estimated savings: 20-50 dollars per year.
Difficulty: Easy. Set it once in the app.
9. Smart Irrigation
What to do: Replace your sprinkler timer with a
smart irrigation controller that adjusts watering based on weather
forecasts and soil moisture, not just a dumb clock.
Why it works: Most sprinkler systems run on a fixed
schedule — rain or shine, hot or cold. A smart controller like the Rachio
or Orbit
B-hyve skips watering when it’s raining, reduces run time when it’s
cool, and increases it during heat waves. It also zones your yard so
you’re not watering the shady spots as much as the sunny ones.
This doesn’t just save water — it saves the electricity your pump
uses, and in many areas, water bills are tiered, so reducing usage drops
you into a cheaper bracket.
Estimated savings: 40-80 dollars per year on water,
plus a bit on electricity if you have a well pump.
Difficulty: Easy to moderate. Swapping a controller
takes about 30 minutes; zoning properly takes more thought.
10. Monitor with a
Whole-Home Energy Monitor
What to do: Install a whole-home energy monitor like
the Emporia
Vue or Sense
Energy Monitor to see exactly where your electricity goes in real
time.
Why it works: You can’t fix what you can’t see. An
energy monitor won’t save you money by itself, but it tells you which
appliances are the biggest drains so you can prioritize. You might
discover your old second fridge in the garage is costing you 20 dollars
a month, or that your well pump runs twice as often as it should. That
knowledge is power — literally.
We did a deep dive on this in our smart home energy monitoring
guide, so check that out for full setup details.
Estimated savings: Indirect — but users typically
find 100-200 dollars per year in “easy wins” after seeing their real
usage data.
Difficulty: Moderate. Requires opening your
electrical panel. If you’re not comfortable with that, hire an
electrician (it’s a 30-minute job for them).
11. Smart Ceiling Fans
What to do: Add smart controls to your ceiling fans
so they run automatically when the AC is working hard, and set them to
turn off when nobody’s in the room.
Why it works: Ceiling fans don’t cool rooms — they
cool people. Running a fan lets you set your thermostat 4-5°F
higher without feeling a difference. That’s a big deal, because every
degree you raise your AC saves roughly 3% on cooling costs. A smart fan
that kicks on automatically when the house hits 75°F and turns off when
you leave the room is a set-and-forget way to make that math work.
The trick is automating the coordination. If you have to remember to
turn the fan on and bump the AC up, you won’t do it consistently.
Automation makes it effortless.
Estimated savings: 30-60 dollars per year.
Difficulty: Easy. Smart fan switches or bonded fans
pair in minutes.
12. Run Your
Washer and Dryer During Off-Peak Hours
What to do: Schedule your smart washer and dryer (or
set a reminder) to run during off-peak hours — typically late evening or
early morning, depending on your utility.
Why it works: Many utilities charge more for
electricity during peak hours (usually 2-7 PM). Running your dryer at 5
PM might cost 50% more per kWh than running it at 10 PM. If your utility
has time-of-use rates, this is free money — same load of laundry, lower
price.
Check your utility’s rate schedule. If they offer time-of-use
pricing, this tip alone can save you hundreds over a year, especially if
you do a lot of laundry.
Estimated savings: 20-60 dollars per year, depending
on your rate structure.
Difficulty: Easy. It’s a habit change, not a
purchase. Smart washers can be scheduled in the app.
The 3 Things to Do This
Weekend
If you want the fastest return on your time, start here:
Set a smart thermostat schedule (Tip #1). It’s
free if you already have the thermostat, takes 20 minutes, and saves
more than anything else on this list. If you don’t have one, it’s the best single
upgrade you can make.Put smart plugs on your worst vampire-draw
offenders (Tip #2). TV, cable box, game console, chargers.
These are draining power right now, 24/7. A pack of smart plugs costs
25-30 dollars and pays for itself in a few months.Schedule your outdoor and frequently-forgotten
lights (Tip #8). Porch lights, garage lights, the hall light
nobody ever turns off. Set them on a sunset-to-bedtime schedule and
never think about them again.
Do those three things and you’ll likely cut 150-300 dollars a year
off your energy bill. The rest of the list is stacking incremental
savings on top of that foundation — and every single one of these smart home devices can
pay for themselves over time.
Start small. Stack wins. Watch your bill drop.