How to Cut Energy Costs When Working from Home

Working from home saves on commuting — but it adds to your electricity bill. When you're home all day, the heating or cooling runs during hours it used to stay off, the lights are on more, and your home office equipment is running for eight-plus hours straight.

The average remote worker adds $100–$250 per year to their household utility bill, mostly in heating and cooling. The good news: you can cut most of that back with changes to how you heat, cool, and power your workspace.

Zone your workspace (biggest savings)

The single largest cost of working from home is heating or cooling the whole house during the day, when in fact you're only using one room.

Winter strategy

Lower the main thermostat to 60–62°F during the day. Close the door to your office or work area and heat only that room with a space heater (a small 750–1,000W model is enough for a home office). With the door closed, the room stays warm at 68°F, and the rest of the house can drop to 60°F without feeling cold.

The savings from lowering the whole-house temperature by 6–8°F during the workday are $150–$250 over a winter. The space heater costs about $60–$80 to run over the same period. Net savings: $90–$170.

Summer strategy

The same principle, reversed. Keep the main AC set to 78°F in the rest of the house and use a fan or window AC unit in the office. A single-room window AC running on eco mode for 8 hours costs far less than cooling the entire home all day.

If you have a central AC that has to run regardless (for humidity control or in apartments where you don't control it), focus on the other tips in this guide — they still add up.

Equipment choices that matter

Laptop vs. desktop

A laptop uses 30–70W. A desktop with a monitor uses 100–250W. Over an 8-hour workday, that's 0.24–0.56 kWh for a laptop vs. 0.8–2.0 kWh for a desktop. At $0.14/kWh, that's $12–$28 per year for the laptop, $40–$100 per year for the desktop.

If you have the option, working on a laptop saves meaningful energy. If you need a desktop for performance, at least configure it to sleep aggressively during breaks.

Monitor

A 24-inch LED monitor uses 15–25W; a large 32-inch 4K uses 35–60W. If you don't need the larger screen, a smaller one saves $5–$15 per year.

Router and modem

Continuous 6–15W draw. You can't schedule these off (you need internet), but they're small. Some routers have power-saving modes worth enabling in the settings.

Webcam, speakers, dock

All small loads, but they add up — maybe 5–15W total. Put the whole workstation cluster on a smart power strip so everything turns off at the end of the day.

Lighting: use the daylight you already have

Offices tend to have lots of windows. Use them. During the day, position your desk to take advantage of natural light and keep overhead lights off when possible. Natural light is free, and it's also better for mood and focus.

When you do need lights, use LED bulbs (2700K or 3000K for office space — cooler white feels more alert). A single LED task lamp (10–15W) can replace turning on overhead lights (60–100W) for your entire workspace. That saves about $10–$20 per year.

The workstation power strip

Plug all your work equipment — laptop charger, monitor, printer, speakers, webcam, dock, desk lamp — into a single smart power strip. When you finish work for the day, one switch cuts power to all of it.

Phantom loads in a typical home office run 10–25W continuously. That's 87–220 kWh per year, or $12–$30 at typical rates. A smart power strip with a schedule (off at 6 PM, on at 8 AM) eliminates almost all of it automatically.

Full instructions: How to Use a Smart Power Strip.

Winter heating: what works and what doesn't

Space heater in the office

Best option for zoning. Choose 750–1,000W for a typical home office. Use a heater with a thermostat so it doesn't run continuously once the room reaches temperature.

Heated blanket or heated chair pad

Extremely efficient — 50–100W. Heats you directly rather than the room. For a home office where you're sitting at a desk, a heated chair pad keeps you warm at 60°F ambient temperature. Costs about $0.01/hour to run.

Warm clothing

Free, and the most efficient "heater" available. A hoodie, warm socks, and slippers let you keep the room 5°F cooler without discomfort.

Don't: heat the whole house to keep your office warm

Unless you have other people at home who need the warmth, heating empty rooms is pure waste.

Summer cooling: how to stay comfortable

Fan strategy

A ceiling fan or desk fan uses 15–75W. Running one on low while keeping the AC set to 78°F feels like 74°F. That's a 4°F "free" temperature drop.

Window AC in the office

If your home office has a window, a small window AC unit (5,000–6,000 BTU) cools one room for about $0.10/hour. Running it in one room with the door closed costs far less than cooling the whole house.

Blinds and curtains

Close blinds on west-facing windows in the afternoon. The heat from direct sun on a west-facing window can raise the room temperature by 10°F.

Don't: rely on opening windows and running AC

If the AC is running, windows should be closed. Same if the heat is running in winter.

Other ways remote work can save money

Laundry

If you're home anyway, you can air-dry laundry indoors more easily. Dryers cost $0.40–$0.55 per load. Air-drying saves $50–$100 per year, and being home to monitor it (and to flip items) helps.

Meal preparation

Working from home usually means eating lunch at home. That adds some cooking energy but saves on restaurant costs — not exactly an energy saver, but a cost saver overall.

Time-of-use rates

If your utility has time-of-use rates, you can schedule high-energy tasks (laundry, dishwasher, EV charging) for off-peak hours while you're working from home anyway. This can save 10–20% on those specific loads.

Pre-heat or pre-cool strategically

If your utility has peak hours (usually 4–9 PM), pre-heat or pre-cool the house in the late afternoon before peak starts. This works especially well with a heat pump or AC system.

Realistic savings

For a home office used 5 days a week, 8 hours a day:

• Zoning (heat/cool only the office): $100–$200/year
• Smart power strip on workstation: $15–$30/year
• Laptop instead of desktop: $25–$70/year
• LED task lamp instead of overhead: $10–$20/year
• Fan + higher AC setpoint in summer: $30–$60/year
• Heated chair pad instead of heating whole room: $20–$40/year

Combined: $200–$420 per year, with most changes costing nothing or under $50. The zoning strategy alone delivers more than half the savings.

Frequently Asked Questions