1. Install door gaskets 2. Weather stripping on windows 3. Heat and cool your house less 4. Don't close off your heated basement 5. Turn down water heater temp Bonus. Use energy savings blinds

I am an old lady in England. In Winter, I wear a fleece jacket indoors rather than turn up the heating. Every little helps!

Personal milestone! 2200 square foot house, five people, and our energy bill last month was $87. For sure did a little dance in my living room that day!

My electric bill this month was $300 which is RIDICULOUS for only 2 people in an apartment I’m definitely gonna use these tips . Wish me luck ! 👌

We have an all electric house. We sealed the doors and windows like you did, changed out the bulbs to LED where ever we could, the rest were florescent, then we took our water heater and ran it only at night for about 3-5 hours. This gave us plenty of hot water to last all day including showers (morning). The Heat or air conditioning (we live down south) we run only for about 5 hours in the morning to heat up or cool down the house. The rest of the time it is off. We went from $397 per month down to $76 per month. Loving it!!! (This is with 7 people living in the house btw - 4 generations under 1 roof.)

4 years later, you've helped a desperate Wisconsin resident lower my bill a lot. Thank you!

My bill used to be between $73-$98. The past few month I've been doing a lot to save energy. It all works bc now my electric bill is now $48 and planing on getting it lower.

My previously electric bill was $47.42. Unplug, unplug. Use lights when necessary. Daylight saving helps a tremendous amount.

We used insulated drapes on our windows, eliminated drafts year round. Felt warmer in winter, cooler in summer. Took them to 3 houses and 3 apartments over a 28 year time frame. Actually wore them out.

I am a 61 yr old in Missouri. In the winter, I keep my house at 60. I have health issues and I seem to do better with the cooler temps. I also started unplugging my microwave when not using to save electricity. I am a firm believer in weather stripping and I bought Insulated curtain liners last year. They have saved me a huge amount of money from my utility bills. I also have put the foam insulation behind each outlet and I was surprised at how much air can come through there. My house was built in 1945 but since putting double pane windows all around and boosting the insulation in my attic, I do very well with utilities now! Thanks for the great video and God Bless you and your family! :)

as an energy consultant here in Louisiana there is so much I can talk about fixing a home up for energy management but two things you did fail to mention wrap your hot water heater and insulated blanket it cost about $20 at your home improvement store also get a setback thermostat they cost anywhere from 50 to $150 at your home improvement store it's going to take about two years to get your money back on those but they will save you money in the long run and weatherization to your home. Just a few tubes of caulking goes a long way and don't forget your outlets around the perimeter of your house air escapes do those too

When In started having hot flashes, I saved a fortune on my hearing bill. I'm not joking.

Turn off the heater at night and sleep with tons of blankets, wear tons of clothes indoors, turn off the water heater when you are not using it! My electric bill is 7 dlls a week

I came back Just to say that this video has helped me so much to save my budget! My bill from 189 went to $89. I noticed that the Heat was not working as often as it was, in fact, in the last 2 months has been activated just once. Incredible how the tape/strips and keep your termostat constant and the water heater low made such difference. I still have lots of hot water, no need for me to turn I back on. I may have to spin the tap all the way back but that’s ok. Numbers talk. Thank you so much for this video!

I invested a couple of thousands of dollars to make my house more efficient. I have all LED lights, I got new windows, radiant heat barrier, extra insulation in the attic, and two new HVAC units. My electricity bill at the height of summer is now around $135 for a 4,000 sq ft house.

Thank you for this. Hopefully I see a difference. Tired of over paying. I changed the boiler temp, left thermostat at 68 and will cover the doorway for now with a blanket at the bottom. ❤️

I live in Wisconsin and our total LP+electric cost per year is around $2100 for 3,000 sqft. We put our living room electronics and and lights on a switch controlled outlet so they are only "on" when we are using them. We installed more attic insulation, found out our wood stove flu was open when we bought the house, so that is now closed. We closed the air vents in the basement since we don't use it in winter. We have a wifi and programmable thermostat so we can warm the house to 68 before we get home, but otherwise we let it drop down to 55 during the day and at night. And we have heavy curtains on the sliding doors and bedroom windows which really helps! Always on the lookout for more tips, thanks!

The wife and kids are probably rolling their eyes as he records himself doing this video while they're all wearing hoodies and blankets just trying to keep warm.

Just a heads up a company named Beato Bloom is using your clip off your energy bill savings to promote a device called eco watts claiming save as much

From a fellow Michigander, I can tell the difference in 2 degrees on the thermostat. We keep ours at 68° or lower.

What has really helped us to save on electricity is living without a clothes dryer. A clothes dryer gulps down energy like crazy. It can easily add $30-50 per month to your bill. We have a retractable clothesline and a few indoor drying racks. We also try to keep our air conditioning set at 78. Lowering it to 75 really spikes our energy usage.

Good tips! I have my streaming devices and TV on a power strip and when not in use I switch it off. I can't stand to see a red light on anything that is not being used. I even shut off my router box when it's not in use. my electric went from 160.00 to about 70.00 a month. I also dropped cable and bought a 7.00 antenna from Kmart and I still get all my favorite channels, I did pick up a fire stick to stream movies. Thanks !

Good tips. Our bills have been around the same amount $160.00. I am going to pick door sealers today and hope that helps a lot more and window sealers.

I live in Pensacola Florida and I rent a 2 bedroom very small little house, didn't use the a/c or heat at all last month and my energy bill was still $180

Great video man! Thank you. I'm an electricity broker down here in Texas, we can retail electricity and my way of making my website rank is by suggesting people how to lower their energy bill. I blog every day for one website or the other website. You gave me more ideas about how to write my next blog. Thanks again.

The Body is most comfortible at 70 degrees and you will feel a difference 2 degree lower. But a sweater can change the paradigm.

How about adding more insulation to your attic. If you can not afford to do it all at once, buy the type that you roll out and each time you have a little extra money buy another roll or more.

I was in the shower one morning when I ran out of hot water (never happened before). When I came out to investigate, I saw a SEMCO truck in my driveway. Went outside to see what was going on, SEMCO tech changing my gas meter. When I asked the guy "why are you changing my meter?" He answered "You're not using enough gas". Next month bill doubled yet our usage remained the same. Typical SEMCO tactics. Good luck!

im waiting for summer version of this enegy saving video. living in south east asian country, we only have hot or very hot day... 😆

I installed solar screens keeps house cool during hot summer months.👍🌞and I completely shut off heater during the beginning of winter months because home is well insulated and temperature stays at 70 degrees. Unless we have temperatures that stay low day and night.

If there is a part of your living space that you rarely use, that still may have power draining items installed, and it’s on its own circuit, you can turn that circuit off for quite sometime so that it utilizes 0 power.

We keep the house at 66 degrees in the winter (during the day) and 64 at night. I never understood how people have to have their house heat way high. Its not that hard to put on a sweater and slippers, and still be very comfortable. My kids are so used to it they walk around in t shirt more often than not. And at night time they are comfy and cozy in bed.

first time home owner here. These were great thanks!

one thing we do during winter months is closing up the kitchen and living room area from the rest of the house and keep the warmth in there. both of these areas are offset and can not be closed off from each other but when we use the oven to cook dinner. it helps a lot to keep the bills down

As a firefighter for 20 years, PLEASE for the love of god do not leave your basement doors open. Yes warm air rises but so dose heat from fire You are creating a chimney effect and fire will propagate very quickly adding significant risk to you, your family and firefighters.

Washing clothes in cold water saves alot too.also putting an off on switch on the electric water heater an keep it turned off until you need to bathe an turn it back off saves a ton.

Swap out that tank to a on demand tankless. Get a pellet stove or a wood stove. The on demand tankless doesn't cycle. It's on demand and you never run out of hot water NEVER. That bill would drop even more. Look into it. I have them in house in Maine and nh. Been running them for years with not one complaint. Check it out peeps.

Microwave saves big unplugged. tv stuff on strip cord on/off. Bubble wrap placed on w/water spray keeps condensation off windows. Some LED bulbs get very hot fast. Outside bulbs come w dusk-dawn sensor in bulb. Cost $15-20 but ive had my 3yrs now.

Remember to keep your curtains closed in the summer and open in the winter. The sun in the winter can help warm your house for free. Also don’t run an empty fridge. Motor runs harder if it’s empty. Fill up with bottles of water if nothing else.

Hmmm... My family notices a difference when we go just 1 degree lower.

In colder climates, a humidifier on the heater will make a big difference as well to keeping the furnace temps lower. Just like in the summer when it's humid it feels Hotter than it really is. In the wilnter this concept works in the same way. Even at 69f and humidity of 50% it will make the house feel like many degrees warmer

You can light candles at night to save power. Also you could get solar panel powered lights too.

I never knew the water heater one! Thank you so much!! I've had to slash our grocery fund to pay the gas bill and this will really help

Keeping your hot water heater at or below 120 degrees Fahrenheit will help prevent scalding. Flushing the water heater tank from the drain valve every 6 months will remove mineral deposits and other debris that collect on the bottom of the heater that reduces the efficiency at which the water is being heated. Replacing the sacrificial anode annually (sooner if your water has a high mineral content) will help extend the life of your water heater.

Forgot the biggest one. LED light bulbs. I couldn't believe my tiny 900 Sq ft house actually had about 30 bulbs. I am not talking lamps, I am talking light bulb fixtures that came with my house. I replaced all bulbs, even my T8s with LED equivalents. 60, 80, 100 watts vs 9 watt (60 watt equivalent) makes a huge difference. Sure we all like to get into the habit of turning lights off when we are not in the room, but we all know from time to tie we forget and kids always forget. I'd rather a few 9 watt bulbs be accidentally left on all day than a few 60-100 watt bulbs.

We replaced all light bulbs with LED, put foam pads behind outlets & safety plugs in unused outlets (could actually feel air coming in some prior). Our can lights (in kitchen ceiling) were vented to attic. Since we switched to LEDs, we could safely seal the vents from attic side to stop air leakage. We also sealed the sill plate in basement to stop leakage. Look for anywhere you see cobwebs or spider webs. Those are places that air may be leaking. Find the source of leak & seal. Invest in a programmable thermostat. Our new one can be controlled from our cellphones, so we can adjust the temp from anywhere! Check amount of insulation in attic. Increasing (if needed) can pay for itself rapidly. If you have a pool, the pump only needs to run during daylight hours. Put it on a timer (that only cost us $15 & saves a bundle). Check to see if your energy provider has free or low cost energy audit or incentive programs. We did pay $1800 for insulation/air sealing work, but got a $1,000 rebate from Louisville Gas & Electric and the savings will have the remainder paid off in under 6 months. Yup, we are saving THAT much!

Thank you! I just went down and turned down our water heater. It is electric and has the panel thing just like yours did. Ours was on hot and now it's on medium. It has been bugging me that we have to mix the hot water with so much cold just to take a shower. So you got me up and taking care of that. We have an adult kid in the basement keeping his room like a sauna with a space heater while the rest of the house is cool enough that we all wear sweats and jackets inside. Sigh.

we heat to between 61 and 66 depending on the time of day (Nights colder)

Good information we feel your pain with heating in Midwest. Don't forget LEDs helped save us on the electric part of the bill.

Welp and our lights got cut off because the bill it's 1268$.😭 My mom is gonna pay it when she gets off work but she told us to sit in the dark until we understand that we can't be running the lights all day long

I put on a sweater. But seriously, We insulated The sill plate in the basement, and threw some foam insulation on the copper for the heating system and probably save a ton, once we make up for the small cost of the couple rolls of insulation and packages of foam. The oil tank is in our basement, and when we bought the property it got cold in the room. But with all the holes and drafts sealed up, it's no longer the cold room.

How can you get the company to stop charging delivery fees monthly that are higher than the electric you use???

Great video and great tips! We have a 300 year old house so can relate to the gaps;) Clever tips and not only does it save money but it also cuts down your carbon footprint! I hope you and your family have a great Christmas :)

I live alone in a one bedroom apartment my electric bill used to be low like 40-50$ but this summer my bill was so high like 95.00 and it’s still high so I’m going to try this and see what my bill will be I definitely need the window sealer there’s a draft that come in my house thanks for the tips !

oddly enough, after you mentioned the water heater, i went to my attic and lowered mine. we have similar control panels! mine was on A, so i just lowered it to hot. thanks for that super easy tip!

When you start to 'do the math' on how much you save YEARLY doing certain tricks, here and there all adds up and you end up saving enough for a free yearly holiday !! well worth it

shout out to these kids who watch this, just trying to help parents pay bills a little less

68o set gas thermostat saves $40 mo. thermal room darkening drape used alone look nice & block harsh sun 100%. I used trim he did is perfect w/ 1side sticky for door & bottom part blocks air.

Condensation creating mold is my issue. In central Michigan, my gas bill in the winter is around $45, electric is $35...covering windows creates condensation and it makes mold. Family of 2 adults, a 4 year old and an 8 month old.

Luke, great video! We put plastic on our windows but I am going to get the weather stripping for the doors and windows. The plastic comes off the windows in the spring and all the AC goes out! The weather stripping will help! Thanks for the video! P.S. Lowering the hot water temp is also good when you have little ones. She will be growing and turning the water on herself in a few years.

My house has mostly fluorescent bulbs (once they burn out I replace them with LED bulbs). Should I replace my fluorescent bulbs with LED bulbs now or wait until they burn out and then change to LED bulbs like I am already doing? Would it even make that much of a difference changing from fluorescent bulbs to LED bulbs?

My dad keeps it at 80 even when we trying to sleep blankets are a thing of the past now

Do a segment on keeping power bills down in summer season. Especially when you live in Nevada n Arizona the hottest place to live. Winter is easy Put on a sweater, socks, sweatpants and also it's better to take cold showers.

Thanks for you

Just adjusted the hot water heater to medium hot. I'll see how low my next hydro bill goes. Our latest bill is $183 in the summer and we didn't use much electricity with central air system off, not to mention our place is only 910 square feet.

Good tips Luke, especially the door strip.

What an awesome idea for a video! Im going to give these a try! Especially with energy rates skyrocketing in the new year up in Alberta, we will need this!

Jeebus...Here in Oz, it is closer to $1,000 AUD/ 3 months. Cant wait until im on solar & battery (currently saving for these)

The AC is an absolute money sucker during the summer and I live on a 3rd floor 1 bedroom apt in Massachusetts. I save more during the fall and winter as it is warmer but I also work from home five days a week due to Caronavirus so the electric has gone up from last year. I am saving money on transportation to work so it balances out but the summer is typically the highest for electric

Great job... We keep our heat on 68, it keeps it from kicking on/off all day because it stays pretty even for the most part

Hello MIgardener! You advocates sealing of the house, I just want to point out that by doing so you might increase the radon concentration levels in you're house because of taking away the natural circulation of the house. Best Regards, Christoffer (Medical physicist)

I imagine some of these things might seem like common sense to some people but not for me. Thanks lol good vid

As a licensed HVAC individual can't help but notice your furnace has metal venting which dictates it's 80% or lower efficiency.....my second give away is the large accessory return air filter cabinet which usually were of the vintage of 70% efficiency draft hood furnaces.....this is without actually seeing your furnace. Research draft hood appliances and you'll learn a draft hood equipment feed chimney is like a vacuum cleaner sucking the heat out of your house 24/7....let alone the wasted efficiency of not fully extracting the heat potential of each cubic foot of gas at the heat exchanger to go into your home and not wasted in the flu gases leaving your structure.

In the winter open up the window blinds and get the sunlight inside. It’ll heat up your home.

My last apartment averaged $13/mo. I rarely turned on the thermostat. Space heaters were my friend.

did he mention LED bulbs or unplugging appliances

Electricity Bill before watching this video : $214-$187 Electricity Bill after watching this video : $145-$91 Varys depending on the season

Monitor those electrical outlets people. I unplug anything not in use including TV. The plug is my power button. Now my fridge is my big energy sucker. When I stock my fridge I use that as the opportunity to thaw frozen meat in the fridge. I been keeping my freezer stocked with plenty of ice from the ice maker in plastic grocery bags. If you do this your fridge use less energy. I'm retired so being a penny pincher is my side hustle. A tornado hit and knocked my power out for two days. I had ice on hand that saved my food. Once a year eat your food down in the winter and unplug your fridge for a month. It allows your fridge to defrost. My house is 58 when I plug that fridge back in. It's easier for it to cool it's self. I like my house cold I just add layers. Put a big bowl of white vinegar in there so it smells nice. Electric bill 64 bucks 2000 sq ft

All the electric bill companies disliked your video

My grandfather kept his water heater tank off at all times untill he went an took a shower then he would kick it on

During cooler summer days put silicone caulking around the outside of the windiws where window frame fits into the house.

97°F in Florida you can not save energy 🤭

Your house is a box of a finite volume. When you put heat into that box, it will stay there until it escapes the box or outside cooler air enters the box. If your thermostat is sensitive to 2 degrees and you have it set to 70 deg. F., your furnace will come on when the room temperature drops to 69 degrees and will turn off at 71 degrees. Your heating appliance (furnace) produces a constant BTU rating when it is operating and it will consume fuel at a constant rate. It will run for as long as required for that particular heat output to raise the temperature in your particular box by 2 degrees. If you set your thermostat to 67 degrees, it will cycle on at 66 degrees and turn off at 69 degrees. Your furnace will consume the same amount of fuel, at the same BTU rating, for the same amount of time to raise the temperature of the same box by the same 2 degrees. If you further insulate your hot water heater, the same principles apply. Your savings are real, but they are the result of the changes you made to seal and insulate your box only. Reducing the thermostat settings for your home or your hot water heater is a common misconception that will not reduce your energy cost. As a Thermal/Combustion Engineer I can provide you with proof in the math but, it would take a lot longer than the explanation I've provided you with here.

Again I've tried the hottest setting on the hot water heater and I have tried the medium setting. You're looking at a 10-minute shower before you get cold water on the medium and about a 20 minute shower on hot. Gigantic Difference!

Thanks brother

Good day MIgardener! Thank you for the video. There were a couple of things I have added to my winterizing list. :-) I had also never placed the insulation strips 'in-between' where the window locks are. That is brilliant. I am definitely trying that! I was wondering about insulation around the gas water heater. That would also help. Yes? Did you post an update with the energy saving blinds for the window?

Great tips

I changed out to low watt LED light bulbs...65% drop in electric bill. I keep my apt at 62°F daytime, 57°F night and sleep under 4 old blankets 2 fleese n' 2 wool. Insulated hot water pipes save on radiated heat. Hot water tank blanket saves energy. The door and window foam stripping really cuts drafts. And I like the other commentors idea about wall plug fiam inserts and plug inserts...off to the hardware store i go. Energy companies keep coming out to check my meters due to low energy consumption...haha.

Meanwhile I got charged $690 for one month in a two bedroom apartment

Thanks for your video. Very informative. I just put plastic all over my windows and some weather stripping but still notice the gas was kind of high. I do notice that my thermostat downstairs is not accurate. I have to turn it up past 70 just to get the heat to turn on downstairs. I have a separate thermostat upstairs and that seems to work good and accurate. I guess that would be the next thing to change thermostat. Problem Is I'm renting. Should I let the landlord know what's going on? Thanks

Utilities are super expensive where I live in canada. We have all energy efficient appliances, light bulbs, tripple pane windows, brand new build. 750sqft basement apartment. Almost never use the lights and keep the house at 69°c. It still costs is around $200/month for gas alone.

I bought solar panels. Huge up-front investment, but my energy bill is at most $48 a year. That's with electric: water heater, heat, w/d, dishwasher, and soon the range (house came with a gas range, of all things, while EVERYTHING else was electric, ugh...). I opted out of air conditioning, since my fans work fine in the summers. Maybe there's one or two weeks where I'm a little uncomfortable. When I go to sell the house, I'm installing that too (house came with central air, yay!). Edit: For context, that's possible because MT has a program where you get credit for whatever energy you produce, and you can use for free that energy within 12 mo.s of its production.

Wont work here in Ontario Canada. The delivery fee can be higher than the usage. The less energy we use the less income the companies/government makes so all they will do is raise the cost of electricity. No win.

buy the book Energy Saving Tips on AMZN

Very nice thanks

Use furnace filter w/o accordion stacked w/ 30 ft of paper in there. Use cheapest filters w cardboard frame toward blower for more suppirt and furnace wont work as hsrd. But Amazon box to save. Chabge filters 1x month. Candles, pet hair clog filters fast. Even if no pets chg every month.

I am all elic. Never heard of the stuf you but around Windows will get some soon. Thank you!

Here in Australia most people pay about $130 per quarter for power just for service charges, and then there is the high per Kwh for the actual usage. The gas isn't to bad at the moment.

My electric bill is about $50/month and my gas bill is about $10/month. If you are interested read further (this is without me watching this video): 1) Invest in blackout blinds and cover every window from sun 2) Turn thermostat to 65 in winter and 70 in summer. If you cold wear a jacket. 3) Stop using hot water all the time in shower. Your skin is rotting from hot water. 4) Replace all light bulbs with LEDs 5) Replace all appliances with modern energy savers 6) Turn off lights when not using them and keep them off at night unless you are reading 7) Invest in Gold 80+ PSU for computer 8) Get rid of any TV not made within last 5 years 9) Get rid of that theory of keeping thermostat at same temp all year long. I'm an engineer and I know about thermodynamics. That shit is a myth. 10) Cook with intelligence. If you using oven, make enough food for several meals. THE END

Just FYI, for electricity savings, use task lighting, not overall lighting. It can make a big difference. Light only where it's being used (and don't forget to light for security, of course, It's worth it.)