How to Lower Your Electric Bill in an Apartment

Living in an apartment doesn't mean you're stuck with high electric bills. You may not be able to install new insulation or replace the HVAC system, but you control more than you think. The average renter we hear from saves 10–20% within the first two months — using only behavioral changes and a handful of items that total under $40.

Here are 8 steps that work in any rental, in order of impact. Even doing the first three makes a measurable difference on your next bill.

Step 1: Do a quick audit (10 minutes)

Before you buy anything, pull out your last three electricity bills. Don't read every line — just look at the totals and the dates. If the bill spikes in summer, cooling is your biggest cost. If it spikes in winter, heating is. If it's flat and high year-round, the culprit is something running constantly — almost always the fridge, water heater, or a game console.

Write down one number: your highest bill of the year. That's your baseline. After making changes, compare against it.

Step 2: Swap every bulb you can reach (20 minutes, ~$30)

LED bulbs use 75% less electricity than incandescent for the same brightness. In a small apartment with 10–15 bulbs, swapping them all costs about $25–$35 and saves $40–$70 per year.

The key is picking the right ones. Buy 2700K for bedrooms and living areas (warm and cozy), and 3000K for kitchen and bathroom (crisp and bright). Match lumens to the old bulb: 800 lumens replaces an old 60W, 1600 lumens replaces a 100W.

If you rent, keep the old bulbs in a box and put them back when you move out. Your landlord won't know the difference.

Step 3: Kill phantom loads with a smart power strip (5 minutes, ~$30)

Your TV, game console, soundbar, and charger all draw power when they're "off." Together, in a typical apartment, they cost $60–$120 a year for nothing. A smart power strip fixes this automatically.

How it works: you plug your TV into the "control" outlet. Everything else — soundbar, console, streaming stick — goes into the "dependent" outlets. When the TV turns off, the strip cuts power to everything else. One purchase, zero habit changes, immediate savings.

Full setup guide: how to use a smart power strip.

Step 4: Adjust the thermostat — if you control it (2 minutes)

If your apartment has its own thermostat, this is the highest-impact change you can make. In winter, set it to 68°F while you're home and awake, and 60–62°F while you're asleep or away. In summer, 76°F while home and 80°F+ while away.

Each degree of setback for eight hours saves about 1% on your heating or cooling. A 10-degree setback overnight saves roughly 10%. That's $60–$100 per year for a change you'll barely notice.

If your apartment's heat or AC is controlled by the building, skip this step and go to the next one.

Step 5: Seal the obvious drafts (~$20)

Apartment doors and windows are usually the weakest point. A 1/4-inch gap under an exterior door is like leaving a small window open all year.

Three items cover 90% of the problem:

• Door draft stopper (fabric snake or slide-on sweep) — $10–$15 for the front door
• Removable weatherstripping for window frames — $8 for a roll
• Foam outlet gaskets for exterior-wall outlets — $5 for a pack of 10

All three are removable and don't damage anything. Full instructions in how to stop drafts from doors and windows.

Step 6: Wash cold, air-dry

About 75–90% of the energy used by a washing machine goes to heating water. Cold cycles work fine for most loads — the only exceptions are heavily soiled work clothes and items needing sanitizing.

If your apartment has a dryer, use it less. A folding rack in the bedroom or bathroom handles most loads in 12–24 hours. Even air-drying half your laundry saves $50–$80 a year in an apartment.

Step 7: Talk to your landlord (worth trying)

Landlords often don't realize how cheap some upgrades are — and they benefit from them too. If you're on good terms, ask about:

• Replacing old incandescent fixtures with LED-compatible ones
• Installing a low-flow showerhead (saves on water heating)
• Sealing obvious window gaps with caulk (one-time, permanent)
• Replacing an old, inefficient fridge with an Energy Star model

Frame it as "this would make the unit more attractive to future tenants" — that's the language that gets results.

Step 8: Track the results (5 minutes monthly)

Without tracking, you'll never know what's working. Read your meter on the same day each month at the same time. Write the number down. After three months, you'll see a clear trend, and you'll know exactly which changes paid off.

Use our Appliance Cost Calculator to estimate the monthly cost of any device, and the Home Energy Quick Audit to score your apartment in 60 seconds.

What realistic savings look like

Doing everything in this guide in a typical 1-bedroom apartment:

• Upfront cost: ~$40–$60
• First-year savings: $180–$300
• Second-year savings: $250–$400 (bulbs and strip already paid for)

The exact numbers depend on your climate, utility rates, and what you were doing before. In a hot climate with heavy AC use, savings skew higher. In a mild climate with gas heat, lower. But the direction is always the same.

Frequently Asked Questions