Reduce Electricity Costs

12 Ways to Cut Electricity Costs (2024 Update)

  • Written By: Kelly Bedrich
  • Edited By: Rebecca Bridges

  • Looking for ways to reduce your electricity costs? Electricity customers should always be on the lookout for cheap electricity plans, but there are more ways to save money than to simply buy your electricity for less.

    For most, a combination of lower electricity prices and smarter electricity usage leads to the lowest electricity bills overall. We’ve come up with a list of updated tips (2024 update) to help you save money and conserve electricity so you can make the most of your electricity plan.

    Easy Ways to Save on Your Electricity Bill

    Here are some simple, effective ways you can save money and conserve electricity today:

    1. Save money with the right electricity plan

    If you live in a deregulated electricity market like Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Connecticut, you can shop and save money on your electricity bill. The electricity plan you choose can make a big impact. Compare your current electricity rate to what you could be paying. And make sure you are on a fixed rate electricity plan to avoid paying off-contract rates. Shop electricity rates in Texas, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Connecticut.

    2. Turn off electronics that aren’t in use

    You’ve probably heard this one a few times, but that doesn’t make it less true or helpful. Your television, computer and stereo can be enormous energy vampires when not in use. That little light that stays lit means that these items are still consuming power. By using a shared power strip, it’s easy to turn your television, DVR and other  equipment off with one button.

    Other equipment may need to remain on for software updates, like your smart TV or Roku, but you can still enable power saving mode when they’re not being used. Go into the settings and change the default to the shortest time before sleep mode takes over to reap the biggest cost savings with these items.



    3. Install ceiling fans

    Although you can’t use ceiling fans in place of air conditioning in every home or geographical region, you can still take advantage of their ability to boost the reach of your main heating or cooling unit.

    Ceiling fans are great at circulating both heat and cold, depending on what’s needed at the time. There’s a switch on the motor that will allow your fan to spin either clockwise or counterclockwise. When you need to circulate cold air, run the fan on high in a counterclockwise direction; when you need heat, run it clockwise on low to pull warm air away from the ceiling.

    Just remember, fans cool the person, not the room. Fans cool by evaporating tiny beads of sweat on your skin. Turn fans off when you leave the room.

    4. Change your A/C air filters more often

    You see a lot of advice about saving money on electricity that centers on the heating and air conditioning system in your home because it’s one of the biggest electricity draws. The harder that system works, the more power it needs, so you should do everything you can to keep it running smoothly.

    Cleaning or changing filters regularly makes the most noticeable impact on your HVAC system’s efficiency.

    Here’s more information on how often to change your air filters.

    5. Buy Energy Star appliances

    When you see an Energy Star tag on an appliance, it’s not just a gimmick to make you think you’ll save money on electricity, you actually will.

    Energy Star rated appliances use 10 to 50 percent less electricity than non-Energy Star appliances, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

    Since appliances account for about 20 percent of an average household’s electricity usage, choosing equipment that saves power can really add up to a massive effort to conserve electricity without your having to do anything else. Energy Star washing machines and dishwashers are also designed to help save water, giving you even bigger benefits over the long term.

    Energy.gov has a helpful appliance and electronics calculator to estimate how much energy specific devices use.

    6. Insulate your home

    Insulation is not just a one and done part of your home. It breaks down over time and must be replaced.

    Check your attic insulation. If you can see the rafters in your floor, you don’t have enough insulation. A well insulated attic helps secure the building envelope around your home. You’ll keep cold air out during the winter, and hot air out of your home in the summer.

    7. Switch to LEDs to conserve electricity

    The average 60 watt equivalent LED only uses nine watts of electricity, where your average CFL (compact fluorescent light) of the same equivalency uses 13 watts.

    That might not seem like a lot, but that’s a full 30% reduction in electricity usage per LED bulb. When you consider the number of light bulbs in your house, that’s a cost savings that cannot be ignored. LEDs also outlast CFLs on average, making them an even better value.

    8. Plant strategically

    No matter if your peak energy use is in summer or winter, there’s a lot of value to planting trees and shrubs in smart locations.

    For example, if you’re interested in adding some shade trees in an area with hot summers, placing them on the west side of your home can block a lot of the hottest sun of the day and makes it easier for your air conditioner to keep up.

    If you live in the northern U.S., you may want to leave your west-facing windows unblocked to allow as much sun as possible to penetrate windows and increase your indoor air temperature.

    Shading your outdoor air conditioning condenser is also a smart way to save money. The cooler it is, the less it has to work to cool your home’s air supply. But, make sure that you keep any vegetation at least 3 feet from the outside air conditioning unit. Leaves, grass clipping and weeds don’t belong in your outside unit, and will impede the flow of air.

    9. Get an energy audit

    You may think that you’re already doing so much to conserve electricity that there’s nothing left to do, but you’re wrong. There’s always something that can be improved since no home is 100 percent efficient.

    An energy audit is a great way to have a professional look your home over and find even more ways that you can save money on electricity.

    By utilizing thermal cameras and other specialized equipment, they can determine where your home is leaking air or lacks sufficient insulation and give suggestions for improvement. Energy audits are a very affordable way to save money on electricity and many local utilities provide this service for little or no cost.

    If not, try our DIY Energy Audit. We’ll help you through the steps and tell you what to look for.

    10. Understand your usage to save more

    Most electric utilities use smart meters, which rely on the internet to transmit data on your usage. Instead of just one reading per month, they have access to your data in 15 minute intervals.

    That means your energy company can provide daily usage reports to help you track your usage. When you understand when you’re using power, you can save more.

    Check with your utility or electricity provider to find out if they offer these reports.

    11. Get an A/C tune-Up

    Your HVAC system is at the heart of your electricity bill. Typically 50% of your electricity bill is driven by heating and cooling costs. And, if your HVAC system isn’t running properly, you can have a big summer expense.

    A quick test of your aid conditioning system to to compare the air temperature in each room, at the air vent. If it varies from room to room your HVAC is struggling to keep up.

    A simple air conditioning tune-up every spring and every fall can ensure your system is running efficiently.

    12. Use natural light & heat

    The sun warms up your home by letting light (and heat) through the window. Instead of dropping the temperature on your thermostat, start shutting the blinds every day when you leave for work. You’ll keep the warm air out. In the winter, leave your blinds open to help warm your home.

    Get the Kids Involved!

    Use electricity conservation as a teachable moment. Our children are watching us and often mimic our behavior. Set a good conservation example and they will follow.

    One idea is to get your kids involved in doing all sorts of energy saving chores. Teach them how to change air conditioner filters, install new LED light bulbs, vacuum leaves out of the outside air conditioning unit, or vacuum the living room air vents. Take advantage of these times to teach children why these jobs are important, and how you save energy by doing them.

    You can find more ideas in our article, 6 Tips for Raising Energy Smart Kids.

    About Kelly Bedrich

    Kelly Bedrich co-founded ElectricityPlans in 2016 with the goal of simplifying the complicated process of buying energy. As president and chief technology officer, Kelly keeps our development team focused on providing a user-friendly website. When not reading the latest on technology and finance, Kelly enjoys celebrating Taco Tuesday, listening to live music at local venues, and hiking.

    We just need your ZIP code

    To show you the right plan, please enter your ZIP code below

    Please enter a valid Commercial Service Address or ESID to proceed