Quick answer
The appliances that use the most energy in a typical home — the refrigerator, water heater, HVAC system, washer and dryer — also happen to be the ones where a handful of free or cheap maintenance habits make a genuinely measurable difference. None of this requires buying new, more efficient appliances; most of it is just keeping the ones you have running the way they were designed to.
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Refrigerator
- Clean the condenser coils every six months — dust-covered coils force the compressor to work harder and run longer than necessary. See our condenser coil cleaning guide.
- Set the temperature correctly rather than colder than needed — see our temperature setting guide for the actual recommended numbers.
- Check the door seals. A seal that no longer grips lets cold air escape continuously, and the fridge runs constantly trying to compensate.
Water heater
- Flush sediment out of a tank water heater periodically — sediment insulates the heating element or burner from the water, forcing it to work harder for the same result. See our flushing guide.
- Avoid setting the tank hotter than necessary — see our guide on what temperature a water heater should be set to for the balance between efficiency and safety.
- Insulate exposed hot water pipes in unheated spaces, which reduces heat loss between the tank and the tap.
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Heating and cooling
- Change or clean the HVAC filter on the recommended schedule — a clogged filter forces the blower motor to work harder and can reduce overall system efficiency significantly. See our filter interval guide.
- Clear debris from around the outdoor AC unit and keep the condenser coils clean.
- Use a programmable or smart thermostat to avoid heating or cooling an empty house at full effort.
Washer and dryer
- Clean the dryer’s lint filter before every load, and the full vent duct periodically — a restricted vent makes the dryer run longer to achieve the same result. See our dryer vent cleaning guide.
- Wash full loads rather than frequent small ones where practical, since a washer uses a similar amount of energy regardless of load size within its capacity.
- Use cold water washes where appropriate — heating water is one of the largest energy costs of a wash cycle.
Standby power from small appliances
Many small appliances and electronics draw a small amount of power even when switched off but still plugged in. Individually this is minor, but across a household with many devices it adds up over a year — unplugging rarely used appliances, or using a power strip you can switch off, is a simple way to eliminate this.
