The ranking
Each figure below is computed from the appliance model on this site, at the US average rate. Yours will differ — the rate alone varies by four times across the country — but the order is stable, and the order is the useful part.
At 18.34¢/kWh, on this site’s standard usage assumptions. Only applicable if you have the thing in question — most households have four or five of these, not fifteen.
| Do this | Saves a year | Costs | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Replace electric resistance heating with a heat pump | $1,230 | Equipment | The largest single line in a cold all-electric home. |
| Replace an electric water heater with a heat pump model | $322 | Equipment | Roughly two thirds off the second-largest line in an all-electric home. |
| Stop backup heat engaging unnecessarily | $307 | Free | A thermostat setting. The most common cause of a tripled winter bill. |
| Replace a single-speed pool pump with a variable-speed one | $277 | Equipment | Power falls with the cube of flow rate, so half speed is an eighth the power. |
| Cover a hot tub properly, or replace a waterlogged cover | $211 | Under $400 | Nearly all of a hot tub cost is standing loss, not use. |
| Turn off a heated towel rail outside shower hours | $174 | Under $20 | Most have no thermostat and are simply left on all year. |
| Retire a second refrigerator in the garage | $130 | Free | Many utilities collect it free and pay a rebate on top. |
| Switch the furnace fan from ON to AUTO | $114 | Free | A continuously running blower is a refrigerator’s worth of electricity. |
| Fit a timer to an engine block heater | $72 | Under $20 | A block reaches temperature in about three hours; most run for ten. |
| Fit a timer to an untimed hot water recirculation pump | $61 | Under $30 | The highest return per dollar spent anywhere on this list. |
| Raise the cooling setpoint by 3°F | $51 | Free | Roughly 3–5% of cooling energy per degree. |
| Replace the last incandescent bulb with LED | $17 | Under $5 | Per bulb. Multiply by however many are left. |
| Turn off heated dry on the dishwasher | $13 | Free | About a third of the cycle’s energy is drying air. |
| Switch off a games console’s network rest mode | $5.00 | Free | A setting, not a sacrifice. |
| Unplug four phone chargers | $3.21 | Free | Included to show the scale. This is the advice everyone gives. |
Free things first, in order
If you want a sequence rather than a table, this is it. Everything here costs nothing and can be done this afternoon.
- Check the thermostat is not on emergency or auxiliary heat. In winter this can be the entire problem.
- Set the HVAC fan to AUTO, not ON. A continuously running blower is one of the largest silent loads in a house.
- Move the setpoint by two or three degrees — down in winter, up in summer.
- Take an overnight baseline reading. If it is above about 100 W, go and find out why before doing anything else.
- Walk round the parts of the house you do not use. Garage, basement, spare room, garden. Every expensive surprise on this site was found in one of those.
What is not on this list, and why
- “Switch off appliances at the wall.” Real, tiny, and covered properly in the standby guide. A realistic whole-house always-on load is 50–100 W.
- “Wash clothes in cold water.” This one is genuinely good, but the saving lands on the water heater, not the washing machine, which is why it never shows up in appliance comparisons.
- “Buy energy-efficient appliances.” True but not actionable on its own — the question is always which one, and the answer is whichever line is largest on your particular bill.
- Solar panels. A different kind of decision, needing site-specific data this site deliberately does not model.
When to do each of these
Timing matters more than most advice admits, because equipment gets replaced when it fails rather than when it is optimal, and the decision is usually made in a hurry by whoever is standing in your basement.
| Decision | When to make it | Why then |
|---|---|---|
| Heat pump water heater | Before the current tank fails | A failed tank is an emergency and emergencies get replaced like for like. Deciding in advance is the only way this happens. |
| Heat pump for heating | Spring or autumn | Installers are busiest — and most expensive — during the first cold snap and the first heatwave. |
| Variable-speed pool pump | At opening, not at closing | A season of savings starts immediately rather than after a winter of nothing. |
| Thermostat settings | Now | Free, reversible, and the largest single saving that costs nothing. |
| Retiring a second fridge | Now | Utility rebate programmes usually run continuously and collect for free. |
| Insulation and air sealing | Before any equipment change | It shrinks the load, so it also shrinks the system you need to buy. |
Questions
What is the single biggest way to cut an electricity bill?
In an all-electric home, replacing electric resistance heating or an electric resistance water heater with a heat pump version of the same thing. Both cut that end use by roughly two thirds, and both are the largest lines on the bill to begin with. If neither applies, the answer is usually a forgotten always-on appliance.
Does unplugging appliances really save money?
A little. A realistic whole-house always-on load is 50–100 W, which is worth roughly $80–160 a year in total — and most of that is devices doing their job, like the fridge and the router, rather than waste. It is worth doing and it will not explain a bill that has doubled.
How much does turning the thermostat down save?
Roughly 3–5% of that end use per degree, so three degrees is around 12%. It is the largest free saving available in most homes, and unlike most advice it works immediately and needs no equipment.
Is it worth replacing an old refrigerator?
Usually not on electricity alone if it is your only one and less than about fifteen years old — the payback runs long. Retiring a second refrigerator is a different matter entirely, because you save the whole running cost and spend nothing.
All guides · How the figures are computed · Break down your own bill