5 15-Minute Projects to Slash Your Utility Bills

Smart power strips will save you some serious cash. (chello700/Shutterstock)

Don’t assume there’s nothing you can do to stop spending so much of your hard-earned money on utility bills!

Check out these five projects that can be completed in 15 minutes or less and require no advanced skills or special equipment. Soon you'll be keeping more of your hard-earned money in your pocket—not your utility provider’s.

Ready ... set ... go!

Hot Water-Saving Shower Head

If you multitask while waiting for your shower to warm up—make the bed or a pot of coffee—the hot water could have been running for minutes, wasting water and adding unnecessary dollars to your utility bill.

The Evolve Ladybug Shower Head adapter saves the hot water. At about $20, the Ladybug is so smart it senses the moment the water is warm and stops the flow to a tiny trickle. When you’re ready, just flip a switch to restart the normal flow.

This adapter saves $75 in hot water costs plus 2,700 gallons of water each year, based on a family of three showering daily and saving one minute of hot water per shower.

Detect Power Leaks

The Black + Decker TLD100 Energy Series Thermal Leak Detector is an amazing tool that uses infrared sensors to measure surface temperature to help homeowners track down drafts in areas where energy is leaking out of your home.

This detector comes with a five-step guide to fix basic energy leaks. Plugging leaks can save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs. This device helps you decide where to seal and insulate your home. It comes with a two-year warranty.

Socket Sealers

You can cut 10 percent of your energy costs by properly sealing and insulating areas around the home to make it as airtight as possible. Start with all of the light switches and electrical outlets.

Install foam inserts (about 25 cents each) to stop warmed or cooled air from being sucked out of the house through the air gaps around every switch and outlet. Simply remove the cover plate, pop in a gasket, and replace the plate.

Smart Power Strips

Turn off all the lights and walk through your home, and you'll probably see green and red eyes peering through the darkness. All of those glowing LEDs, clocks, and power switches are sneaky electronic vampires. This phantom power drain costs you money and wastes electricity.

Smart power strips like the Tonbux WiFi Smart Power Strip work to reduce your power usage by automatically shutting down power to products that go into standby mode (no more crawling under desks and furniture to manually switch a power strip to OFF). It’s compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Home.

Smart power strips will save you some serious cash. Statistics vary, but experts say standby power consumption ranges from 5 percent to 10 percent of energy consumption in an average home.

Programmable Thermostat

A programmable thermostat lets homeowners program temperature settings for different times of the day and, with some models, different days of the week. For example, it can be set to increase or decrease the temperature during the day when the family is at work or school.

It can also be used to automatically adjust the temperature at night when everybody is sleeping and then reset the temperature a few minutes before reveille.

There are many programmable thermostats available ranging in price from about $50 to well over $300. My pick for the Best Inexpensive basic programmable thermostat is the Lux Products TX9600TS Universal. It offers seven-day programming, a touch screen, and vacation mode.

If you'd like specific sources for these energy-saving gadgets, I’ve prepared them for you at EverydayCheapskate.com/rockbottom. See you there!