Most advice about utility bills is either obvious (use less energy, thanks) or useless outside one state. This list is neither. Each item below either has a Department of Energy number behind it or is a program your own utility already runs and simply does not advertise very loudly.
One more thing before we start. Number six is the one people tend to skip because they assume it does not apply to them. It is worth checking anyway. Hold that thought.
1 Set your thermostat back when nobody needs it
The Department of Energy estimates you can save as much as 10 percent a year on heating and cooling by turning your thermostat back 7 to 10 degrees for 8 hours a day (Iowa Utilities Commission, citing DOE). That is the overnight window, or the hours everyone is at work and school. You are not giving up comfort. You are refusing to heat an empty house.
Set it back before bed and before you leave. A basic programmable thermostat does this for you automatically.
2 Kill the electronics that never sleep
Your TV, game console, cable box, and that phone charger you leave plugged in all draw power around the clock. This standby drain, sometimes called phantom load, adds up. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy lab, says the products constantly drawing power in a typical American home together amount to 5 to 10 percent of residential electricity use (Berkeley Lab). Each device draws only a little, but a typical home has many of them.
Put the entertainment center and the desk setup on power strips. Two switches, flipped on the way to bed.
3 Turn your water heater down to 120
The Department of Energy says adjusting your water heater from 140 to 120 degrees can reduce the risk of scalding, slow build-up in your pipes, and save energy (energy.gov). DOE also says water heating can account for 14 to 25 percent of the energy consumed in your home (energy.gov), so trimming it matters more than it sounds.
Turn the dial to 120. Follow the manufacturer’s directions, especially on electric units.
4 Stop paying to heat the outdoors
Air leaks around doors, windows, and attic hatches quietly bleed heat all winter and cool air all summer. EPA’s ENERGY STAR program estimates that homeowners can save an average of 15 percent on heating and cooling costs, or an average of 11 percent on total energy costs, by air sealing and adding insulation (ENERGY STAR). DOE calls sealing around windows or doors with a tube of caulk “a great, inexpensive DIY energy project” (energy.gov).
On a cold or windy day, run your hand around door frames and window edges. Anywhere you feel air, seal it. Weatherstripping is a simple fix you can do yourself.
5 Call your utility and actually ask
This one has no national statistic because every utility is different, and that is exactly why it works. Your utility may offer assistance programs that are easy to miss, so it is worth asking. Ask about options such as budget billing that flattens your payments across the year, discount rates for income-qualified households, home energy audits, and plans for past-due balances. The mistake people make here is assuming that if they qualified for something, someone would have told them. Nobody is coming to tell you.
Call the number on your bill and ask one question. “What discount, budget billing, or assistance programs am I eligible for?” It is a short call, and it may turn up help you did not know about.
6 Check the programs you may qualify for
Here is the part most people miss. The federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP, helps pay heating and cooling bills in every state, but it is not an entitlement program. HHS says LIHEAP grant recipients “are unable to serve all of the households that are income eligible under the federal maximum income eligibility standard” (HHS ACF). So it is worth checking whether you may qualify and applying. States run LIHEAP under their own program names, and in Minnesota it is the Minnesota Energy Assistance Program for heating bills.
And LIHEAP has a quieter sibling. The Weatherization Assistance Program sends professionals to insulate and air-seal your home at no cost for eligible households, and DOE says households save on average an estimated $372 or more every year, according to a national evaluation of the program (energy.gov).
The eligibility math surprises people. Federal law caps LIHEAP income eligibility at the greater of 150 percent of the HHS poverty guidelines or 60 percent of state median income, and states can set their limits anywhere from 110 percent of the poverty guidelines up to that cap. HHS estimated that 37.3 million households had incomes at or under the federal maximum in FY 2022, and put the estimated average heating assistance benefit that year at $662 per household (HHS ACF). If your budget feels tight, it is worth five minutes to check.
Run a free eligibility check with Benefit Bull. We match your household against 119 federal and state programs, including LIHEAP and weatherization, and show you estimated dollar ranges and exactly where to apply. No Social Security number, no bank login, no cost.
7 Swap the five bulbs you actually use
Not every bulb in the house. Just the five that burn the most hours: kitchen, living room, porch. LEDs use 75 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and last far longer (energy.gov). This is the lowest-effort item on the list, which is why it goes last, not because it does not pay.
Next grocery run, grab a multi-pack of LEDs and replace the hardest-working bulbs first.
What this adds up to
Stack items one through five and seven and the savings add up, mostly with little or no money down. Then item six sits on top of all of it, because LIHEAP and weatherization are not percentage tweaks. LIHEAP helps pay heating and cooling bills, and DOE estimates that weatherized households save an average of $372 or more every year.
We built Benefit Bull because the help exists and the people it exists for never hear about it. The five minute check is free, and what you do with the results is entirely up to you.
Sources
Every claim above links to the source it came from. Figures checked October 2026.
- Iowa Utilities Commission, Reduce Energy Costs (citing U.S. Department of Energy)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (U.S. Department of Energy), Standby Power
- U.S. Department of Energy, Renters: Do-It-Yourself Tips and Tricks (water heater and caulk guidance)
- U.S. Department of Energy, Federal Energy Management Program, Home Energy Checklist
- ENERGY STAR, Why Seal and Insulate
- U.S. Department of Energy, Addressing Misinformation on DOE Appliance Standards
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACF, FY 2022 LIHEAP Home Energy Notebook Performance Measures
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACF, FY 2022 LIHEAP Report to Congress
- U.S. Department of Energy, Weatherization Assistance Program
