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Where to begin

Most homes waste the most money in a few predictable places. Read these six first, in order: they cost little or nothing and tell you whether anything else is worth buying.

How to Lower Your Electric Bill This Month

The free and cheap steps worth doing this month, in the order we would do them.

HVAC Air Filters for Lower Electric Bills

Which MERV rating your system can handle, and when a thick filter hurts airflow.

Best Weatherstripping and Door Draft Stoppers for Leaky US Homes

Door sweeps, foam tape and V-strip matched to the gap you actually have.

Seal Air Leaks with Caulk, Foam & Outlet Gaskets (Before Heating Season)

Caulk, spray foam and foam outlet gaskets for the small leaks that add up.

How to Stop Cold Air From a Fireplace (Draft Stoppers)

Cold air from an unused fireplace is usually a leaky damper. Here is how to plug it safely.

Window Insulation Kits for Winter

Indoor shrink film adds a still-air layer to drafty single-pane windows for a few dollars.

Then pick your topic

Go to whatever is bothering you most: a cold room, a high electric bill, a drafty door.

Drafts & Sealing

Thermal & Blackout Curtains for Energy Savings. Lined curtains help most over cold glass you still want to open during the day.
Garage Door Weather Seals & Bottom Seals for Drafty US Garages. Bottom seals and perimeter strips for attached garages that leak cold into the house.
Window AC Winter Covers. If the window unit stays in all winter, cover it inside and out to stop the draft.
Sliding Glass Door Draft Sealing for Winter. Weatherstrip, shrink film or a heavy curtain for the patio door that lets winter in.
Cellular (Honeycomb) Shades for Winter. How much heat cellular shades hold in at night, and how to pick ones that fit.
Thermal Camera vs. Infrared Thermometer. Start with incense or a $20 IR thermometer. Get a thermal camera only if you need the whole wall.

Heating & Cooling

Best Smart Thermostats for Lowering Heating Bills (2026 Buyer’s Guide). Nest, ecobee and Honeywell compared on the features that actually change your heating schedule.
Smart Thermostat Install Cost vs DIY (C-Wire, Labor & When to Hire). What a pro charges, what a C-wire is and when installing it yourself is fine.
Window AC Smart Controllers & Ceiling Fan + Thermostat Savings Guide. Put a schedule on a window AC and pair it with a ceiling fan to run it less.
Oil-Filled Space Heaters for Zone Heating. Heat the room you use with an oil-filled radiator and turn the rest of the house down.
Heated Mattress Pads for Zone Heating (Sleep Warm, Lower the Thermostat). Warm the bed instead of the house and drop the overnight thermostat.
Furnace Humidifier Water Panels. Replace the right water panel and dry winter air feels warmer at the same setting.
Electric Baseboard Heater Thermostats. Baseboard heaters need line-voltage thermostats. Match the voltage, poles and amps.
Radiator Heat Reflectors. A reflective panel behind a radiator sends heat into the room instead of the outside wall.
Register Booster Fans for Cold Rooms. A booster fan moves more warm air to a cold room. It cannot create heat that is not there.
DIY HVAC Duct Sealing. Seal the duct joints you can reach with mastic and real foil tape, never cloth duct tape.
Under-Desk Heaters & Heated Foot Warmers. Warm your feet at the desk and turn the house down while you work.
Plug-In Thermostats for Space Heaters. Space heater dials overshoot. A plug-in thermostat holds the temperature you actually set.
Space Heater Cost to Run. Every electric heater turns watts into heat the same way. Your bill is watts × hours × rate.
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.
Heated Throw or Electric Blanket vs. Turning Up the Heat. A heated throw costs pennies an hour, but it only saves money if the thermostat goes down.
Electric Fireplace Cost to Run. Heat mode runs about 26¢ an hour. The flame effect alone costs almost nothing.
Thermostat Setback Savings Math. What one degree, a night setback or an away schedule saves, and how to test it in your home.
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.

Insulation

Attic Stair & Hatch Insulation Covers. An uninsulated attic hatch is often the largest hole in an otherwise insulated ceiling.
Best Attic Insulation Approaches for US Homes (and When to Call a Pro). Blown-in, batts or air sealing first, and the attic jobs worth handing to a pro.
Whole-House Fan Winter Covers. Whole-house fan shutters leak all winter. Cover them from below or box them from the attic.
Crawl Space Vent Covers for Winter. Foam plugs, damper vents and the vents you should never block.
Recessed Light Covers for Attic Air Sealing. Fire-rated covers for recessed lights that leak into the attic, and which cans to leave alone.
Rim Joist Insulation. Cut foam board to fit each bay along the basement rim and seal the edges with spray foam.
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.

Water Heating

Insulate Hot Water Pipes (and When a Tank Jacket Helps). Foam sleeves on the first few feet of pipe, and when an old tank still needs a jacket.
Low-Flow Showerheads & Faucet Aerators. Less hot water per shower means less work for the water heater, with no new tank.
Heat Pump Water Heater vs Standard. A heat pump water heater costs more up front. Here is how to tell if it pays back in your home.
Electric Water Heater Timers. When a timer on an electric tank helps, and when your schedule makes it pointless.
Pipe Freeze Protection. Insulate exposed lines first and add heat tape only where pipes still freeze.
Outdoor Faucet Covers for Freeze Protection. Drain the spigot first, then pick a foam cup, hard shell or sock before the first freeze.
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.

Appliances & Electricity

Do LED Bulbs Actually Save Money? A Wattage Swap Guide. Which bulbs to swap first, what wattage to buy and how fast LEDs pay off.
Best Smart Plugs to Kill Vampire Power (Measure First). Find which devices draw power while off, then decide if a smart plug is worth it.
Kill A Watt & Plug-In Energy Meters. A $25 plug-in meter tells you what an appliance really costs before you replace it.
Emporia Vue vs Sense. Two whole-home energy monitors compared: install, accuracy and what you learn from each.
Dehumidifier Cost to Run. Check your basement humidity and fix the moisture source before buying a bigger unit.
Holiday Lights Cost to Run. Four example displays, from about $1 to $90 a season, plus timers and outdoor safety.
Humidifier Cost to Run. Cool-mist models look cheap to run, but part of their cost shows up on the furnace bill.
TV, Gaming Console & PC Cost to Run. Three example households show where standby power hides behind the TV and under the desk.
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.
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.

Kitchen

Air Fryer & Toaster Oven vs. Full Oven. A small oven uses less power per meal, but it takes years of cooking to pay for itself.
Refrigerator & Freezer Cost to Run. Measure your fridge, set the right temperatures and test the door seal. Coil cleaning matters less than you think.
Electric Kettle vs. Stove vs. Microwave. A liter costs about 2¢ in a kettle. Overfilling and reboiling cost more than which device you use.
Slow Cooker vs. Instant Pot vs. Oven. What a pot of chili or a roast costs to cook each way, with food-safety notes.

Laundry

Dryer Vent Cleaning Kits. A clogged vent stretches every dry cycle and raises fire risk. Here is how to clear it.
Indoor Clothes Drying Racks. Figure out what a dryer load costs, then air-dry without making the house damp.
Washer and Dryer Cost Per Load. Hot water and the dryer make up most of what a load costs. Here is the per-load math.

Four rules we follow

Read your bill first: kWh or therms, your rate and how it changes by season.
Fix the obvious waste: setpoints, filters, drafts, water heater temperature.
Measure before you upgrade. A plug-in meter or your utility's usage data beats a guess.
Leave panel, gas and HVAC electrical work to a licensed pro.