Water Heaters

Heating the water we use for taking showers, washing the clothes, and washing dishes is an enormous energy expenditure that most of us rarely take into consideration. Most homeowners take for granted that hot water will show up shortly after turning on the faucet. The energy required to keep an 80-gallon tank of water heated for on-demand use, however, can often require more yearly power than most other household functions.

A 4,000-watt tank-style electric water heater will most likely be running for about three hours each day to keep a steady supply of on-demand hot water. That amount will increase for households where each member enjoys their 20-minute hot shower each morning. Even if your water heater only runs for three hours each day, you are looking at 12 kWh of electricity per day. At an average cost of $0.12 per kWh, you can expect to spend upwards of $525 each year on hot water for 4,380 kWh of electricity.

Tankless, on-demand water heaters use a fraction of the energy of a tank heater. Most homeowners can expect to save around$95 per year, as per the estimates provided by the U.S. Energy Star Program. This tankless electric water heater promises savings of up to 60 percent on your hot water heating bill and is 99.8 percent efficient. It also only costs $219 and can efficiently heat up to 2 gallons of water per minute. When coupled with low-flow showerheads (the next item on our list), this efficient water heater could offer enough heating ability for most households.

Smart Thermostats 

The smart home revolution is here, and today you can find a “smart” technology for virtually every household need. Not all of these IoT technologies, however, represent significant energy savings, and in some cases, the increased energy demand from smart homes might actually increase overall energy usage.

Smart thermostats, on the other hand, are a great example of how technology can help to reduce overall household energy usage drastically. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) estimates that the average U.S. family spends about $1,411.80 a year on their energy bills. 

Nearly half of that energy expenditure goes to heating and cooling loads, though that percentage can increase significantly in areas with intense summer heat or unbearable winter cold.

The 2nd generation Ecobee smart thermostat currently only costs $139 on Amazon, though it can drastically reduce your home heating and cooling requirements. This smart thermostat option claims that homeowners can save up to 23 percent annually on their heating or cooling costs when compared to a hold of 72 degrees on the interior temperature. If you spend the national average of around $700 on heating and cooling, upgrading to a smart thermostat could save you upwards of $150 per year, which is less than the cost of many smart thermostats on the market today.