Why your energy bill is so high: 7 things to check first

You open your bill, see the total, and your stomach drops. Before you blame the utility or rip out your furnace, take a breath and do a quick investigation.

In 10–20 minutes you can usually narrow the problem to one of a few causes. Once you know where the money is going, you can choose upgrades and fixes that give real value instead of guessing.

If you have a bill breakdown calculator, keep it open while you read. As soon as you gather the basics, plug in your numbers so you see how much goes to heating, cooling, water heating, and everything else.

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Start with the fastest wins

Before you look at equipment or insulation, rule out three simple issues:

• Billing errors.
• Changes in your rate.
• Weather swings.

Then move on to the house itself: how you heat, cool, and use hot water.

We will walk through 7 checks, in order. Many scary bills turn out to be two or three of these stacking together.

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1. Check the billing period and any “estimated” reads

This sounds obvious, but it catches people every year.

Open your latest bill and look at:

• Billing dates: did the period cover more days than usual? For example, 34 days instead of 28.
• Estimated vs actual: some utilities estimate usage when they cannot read the meter, then “true up” next time.
• Previous balance: is part of the total from a past bill you forgot to pay in full?

If the bill covers more days, the total will rise even if your daily use stayed the same. Divide the total by the number of days in the period. Compare that daily number to last month and to the same month last year.

If you see “estimated” anywhere, check the next bill as well. Sometimes a high bill reflects two periods of actual usage in one cycle after an estimate.

If something looks off and you do not find a home reason in the rest of this list, call the utility and ask them to walk the bill with you. Mistakes are rare, but they do happen.

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2. Compare to the same month last year, not only last month

Many people compare January to December and panic. That hides normal seasonal swings.

Instead, pull up:

• This year’s bill for the month in question.
• Last year’s bill for the same month.

For each, note:

• Total usage (kWh, therms, gallons).
• Total cost.
• Daily average cost.

Then ask:

• How much higher is usage than the same month last year?
• How much higher is the rate per unit?

If prices went up but usage stayed similar, you have a rate problem, not a home problem. Your focus then shifts to efficiency and behavior changes that cut usage, especially during expensive hours if you are on time-of-use pricing.

If both price and usage climbed, move down the list; something in the home changed.

Weather matters here. Many utilities include “degree day” information on bills or in online dashboards. If this winter was significantly colder than last winter, some increase is normal because your heating system had more work to do. The same goes for hotter summers and air conditioning.

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3. Check heating and cooling: thermostat, runtime, and filters

Space heating and cooling usually make up the largest slice of a home’s energy use. National survey data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows that in many U.S. homes, space heating alone accounts for roughly 40 percent of total energy use, with air conditioning adding a noticeable share in hot regions. Heating and cooling together often land around half of total usage.

That means small changes in how your systems run can move your bill more than any gadget.

Walk through this checklist:

• Thermostat settings

  • Did anyone raise the heat, lower the cooling setpoint, or switch to “hold” instead of a schedule?
  • Has the schedule changed, for example, more hours at “home” because someone now works from home?

• System runtime

  • Listen to how often your furnace, boiler, or heat pump runs. Is it running for long stretches with little break?
  • For AC, does the outdoor unit seem to run almost nonstop on hot days?

• Air filters

  • Check furnace or air handler filters. A clogged filter makes systems run longer for the same comfort.

• Vents and radiators

  • Are supply vents blocked by furniture or rugs?
  • Have you closed many registers to “force” air elsewhere? That can strain the system.

If you see obvious changes here, adjust the thermostat back toward efficient levels, swap the filter, free blocked vents, and watch the next one or two bills.

As a rule of thumb:

• Lowering the heating setpoint or raising the cooling setpoint by 1–2 degrees, for many homes and climates, can trim heating or cooling energy by several percent over a season.
• Programmable or smart thermostats that reduce heating and cooling when you sleep or are away can cut annual heating and cooling bills by around 8–10 percent for many households, according to long term program data.

If you use a bill breakdown tool, this is where you see how much of your total spend goes to space heating and cooling. A home that spends 1,800 dollars per year on energy with half of that on heating and cooling has far more upside from thermostat and shell improvements than a home where heating and cooling are small slices.

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4. Look at hot water: long showers, old heaters, and recirculation

Water heating is often the second or third biggest load in the house. Federal data and utility guides put it around 15–20 percent of total energy use for a typical home.

If your bill shot up and your space heating or AC did not change much, check:

• Shower patterns

  • Are kids taking long daily showers now?
  • Did someone move in, have a baby, or switch to showering at home instead of a gym?

• Water heater type and age

  • Standard electric tank heaters use more energy than heat pump water heaters.
  • Older gas units tend to be less efficient than current high efficiency models.

• Temperature setting

  • If someone turned the water heater up, you burn more energy to keep the tank hot.

• Recirculation pumps

  • Some homes have hot water recirculation so taps get hot water quickly. If the pump runs all day instead of on a timer, it can raise both gas and electric use.

Simple fixes include:

• Shorter showers and better showerheads.
• Setting water heater temperature to a safe but moderate level, usually around 120 °F for many homes.
• Putting recirculation pumps on timers or smart controls instead of running 24/7.

If you have an electric water heater and high electric bills, a heat pump water heater can cut water heating electricity use by roughly half or more in many homes, which often translates into annual savings in the low hundreds of dollars. That is a medium term project, but it starts with noticing that hot water sits high on your breakdown.

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5. List anything new in the last 3–6 months

New loads often explain bill jumps. Think back over the last few months and list anything you added or changed.

Common quiet culprits:

• Space heaters

  • Plug-in electric heaters can add 1,000–1,500 watts each while they run. A small heater running eight hours a day can add dozens of dollars per month, especially at higher electric rates.

• Dehumidifiers, air purifiers, or always-on fans

  • These help comfort and health, but they use steady power.

• Second refrigerators or freezers

  • That extra garage fridge or chest freezer, especially if old, can draw more energy than your main kitchen fridge.

• New electronics

  • Game consoles, large TVs, work-from-home setups with multiple monitors and always-on docking stations.

• EV charging or e-bike charging

  • Level 2 car charging at home can add a large new load. Even a Level 1 charger, running for many hours most nights, adds up.

Walk through the house with this question in mind:

“What uses power now that did not use power last year at this time?”

If you find one or two big additions, look up their typical annual energy use and see how it compares to your bill change. Then decide if you keep them, adjust how you use them, or replace them.

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6. Check for hidden electric loads that run more than you think

Some devices are easy to forget because they live out of sight.

Look for:

• Well pumps and sump pumps

  • Have you had more groundwater issues, leaks, or pump failures? A pump cycling frequently or running nearly nonstop means both a water issue and a bill issue.

• Pool pumps and heaters

  • Pump runtime and heater settings, especially electric resistance heaters, can be major loads.

• Old “phantom” devices

  • Old set-top boxes, always-on audio equipment, chargers, and smart home hubs plug in and stay warm. Individually they are small. In bulk they add up.

• Vampire loads from always-on modes

  • Some electronics draw meaningful power in standby. Smart plugs or an energy monitor can reveal which ones matter.

If your bill breakdown tool or an energy monitor shows a large “always on” or “other” slice, this is where you focus. Start with the devices you do not care about much. For example, unplug an old garage fridge for two weeks and see if next month’s bill drops. That kind of experiment reveals more than guesswork.

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7. Understand your rate plan and time-of-use pricing

Your usage can stay flat while your bill rises if the price per unit goes up or the way you are charged changes.

Check:

• Rate per kWh or therm now vs last year

  • Many utilities raised prices over the last few years. Even a modest increase, applied to a high-usage month, adds noticeable cost.

• Time-of-use or demand charges

  • If you switched to a plan that charges more during peak hours, running laundry, dishwashers, car charging, and cooking during those peak times can raise your bill even if your total energy use is similar.

• Tiered pricing

  • Some utilities charge higher rates once you cross certain monthly usage thresholds.

If you are on time-of-use pricing, look at your hourly usage in the utility’s online portal if they offer that data. Check whether you are running big loads during expensive blocks.

Shifting:

• Laundry
• Dishwashing
• EV charging
• Pool pumps

out of peak hours can cut the bill without any hardware changes.

Once you understand your rate structure, your plan can focus on both using less and using power at smarter times.

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What to do with what you found

After walking through these 7 checks and feeding your numbers into a bill breakdown tool, you should have a clearer picture of why your bill is high.

At that point, you can:

• Write one sentence that describes your home’s pattern; for example,

  • “Our gas use in winter doubled compared with last year, and the furnace runs constantly, so heating and the shell need attention first.”
  • “Our electric bill jumped when we started charging an EV at home, and we use a time-of-use rate, so we need a smarter charging schedule and maybe a plan for solar later.”

• Pick one or two focus areas for the next 12 months, such as:

  • Tightening the shell and fixing thermostat schedules.
  • Replacing an old electric water heater with a heat pump unit.
  • Cutting always-on loads and shifting use away from peak hours.

• Start a simple home energy plan that lists:

  • Quick, no-cost or low-cost actions this month.
  • One medium project this year.
  • Bigger upgrades to prepare for over the next few years.

Your bill stopped being a mysterious number once you broke it into pieces. From here on, every decision can respond to that picture instead of to fear or sales pressure. That is how you stop throwing money at random fixes and start spending it where it really counts.