Source: Pexels
Smart home devices are everywhere, but can they actually help you lower your energy bills? To cut to the chase, yes. But only if you use them the way they’re meant to be used.
Smart thermostats, lighting controls, and appliance schedulers are helpful for this because they give you three important things: real-time control, automated setbacks, and data that reveals when energy is going to waste. Used together, they knock hours off HVAC run-time (the biggest slice of your bill) and cut standby loads. That’s why many certified smart thermostats report measurable savings instead of just convenience.
But again, the key is using them correctly. Here’s how you can do that.
Space heating and cooling account for more than half of a typical U.S. household’s energy use, so the fastest wins come from reducing that runtime. And smart thermostats reduce unnecessary HVAC runtime by automating temperature setbacks and adapting to occupancy. They also with your local utility to reduce energy use during peak-demand hours; ENERGY STAR cites average savings around 8% of heating and cooling bills (about $50/year), while product-owner studies report higher reductions in practice (10–15% on heating or cooling in some cases).
Practical setup (do these first):
If you want a practical user-facing guide to tactics and installers’ perspectives, see the Corbin Electric piece on how to reduce electrical waste and how to save energy with smart home devices.
You want ENERGY STAR-rated LEDs at the very least, but ideally smart controls, too (schedules, occupancy sensors, and simple dimming). LEDs are a much better option than incandescent and CFLs as they use significantly less lighting wattage. Automating off-times, on the other hand, prevents hours of unnecessary use in guest rooms, garages, and closets. The more rooms you have, the more useful this feature will be.
ENERGY STAR calculates household savings from efficient lighting and products can shave tens of dollars per year off your bills when scaled across a whole house.
Some tips:
Use large appliances during off-peak hours; it's much cheaper. Washers, dryers, dishwashers, and EV chargers respond well to timers and smart plugs/hubs.
Smart plugs also expose phantom loads (tiny draws from chargers, DVRs, etc.) so you can unplug or schedule them off. For clothes, run full loads and use lower-temperature cycles (software plus behavior trumps gadgetry alone).
You want to be able to measure your whole-home energy usage; it's the only way to control it and cut the costs.
Smart home energy monitors and hub dashboards are ideal for this. They give you per-circuit or per-device data, letting you prioritize measures that actually pay back. Models and pilots show integrated systems and home energy management systems (SHEMS) can produce meaningful aggregate savings when paired with behavior change and equipment upgrades.
But your comfort matters, too. No, you don’t have to live in a cold house to save. Instead, use adaptive schedules (slow pre-conditioning before arrival), humidity control for perceived comfort, and rolling setbacks that keep peak demand low without shocking occupants. Test any automation for a week, then tune. Yes, you’ll more than likely to tweak it. That’s normal
