Heating & Cooling
Heat Pump Aux Heat Raising Your Bill? Thermostat Settings That Fix It (and When to Upgrade)
Backup heat strips are expensive. These thermostat settings keep them from kicking in early.
Home energy, minus the guesswork
Lower bills start with knowing where the heat goes.
Short, practical guides for US homes. Find the leak or the power hog first, fix what's cheap, and only then decide what's worth buying.
Browse by topic
Drafts & Sealing10 guides · Find the leaks you can feel, then close them cheaply.
Heating & Cooling19 guides · Thermostats, heat pumps, space heaters and the math behind them.
Insulation7 guides · Attics, rim joists, crawl spaces and the gaps between them.
Water Heating7 guides · Showerheads, pipe wrap, timers and heat pump water heaters.
Appliances & Electricity11 guides · Measure what each plug really costs before replacing anything.
Kitchen4 guides · What it costs to boil, bake, slow-cook and keep food cold.
Laundry3 guides · Cold washes, drying racks and keeping the dryer vent clear.
Worth reading before the cold sets in
Reading order →
Heating & Cooling
Space Heater Cost to Run
Every electric heater turns watts into heat the same way. Your bill is watts × hours × rate.
Drafts & Sealing
Best Weatherstripping and Door Draft Stoppers for Leaky US Homes
Door sweeps, foam tape and V-strip matched to the gap you actually have.
Heating & Cooling
Thermostat Setback Savings Math
What one degree, a night setback or an away schedule saves, and how to test it in your home.
Drafts & Sealing
Window Insulation Kits for Winter
Indoor shrink film adds a still-air layer to drafty single-pane windows for a few dollars.
Appliances & Electricity
Kill A Watt & Plug-In Energy Meters
A $25 plug-in meter tells you what an appliance really costs before you replace it.
1
Measure first
A $25 plug meter or a stick of incense often tells you more than a new gadget.
2
Fix the cheap things
Drafts, setpoints and filters usually come before anything with a plug.
3
Buy only what pays off
We show the math for typical homes so you can run it for yours.
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Appliances & Electricity
Engine Block Heater Cost to Run, and Why It Belongs on a Timer
Two hours of plugging in warms most engines. A timer cuts a winter of block heater power by about 80 percent.
Appliances & Electricity
Heated Pet Beds and Water Bowls
A heated pet bed runs on 4 to 60 watts. Here is what beds, bowls and bird baths cost per month.
Insulation
Roof Heat Cable Cost to Run (and What Actually Stops Ice Dams)
A 100-foot cable costs about $2 a day to run. When it is worth it, and the attic fixes that stop ice dams for good.
Heating & Cooling
Garage Heater Cost to Run
What an hour of garage heat costs with electric, propane or a heat pump, and the door fixes to do first.
Water Heating
Hot Tub Cost to Run in Winter (and the Cover Fixes That Cut It)
A tired cover is the usual reason a winter hot tub bill jumps. Here is how to check it and what to fix first.
Heating & Cooling
Electric Fireplace Cost to Run
Heat mode runs about 26¢ an hour. The flame effect alone costs almost nothing.
Not sure where to begin? The priority checklist ranks the free and cheap steps first.