How to Lower Your Heating Bill in the US: Part 1 — Set Your Thermostat the Smart Way

If the first cold week of the season has already made you nervous about opening your next utility bill, you are not alone. Heating is one of the biggest single costs of running a home in the United States, and it arrives at exactly the moment when holiday spending starts competing for the same paycheck.

The good news is that the single most effective heating saving costs nothing at all. It is not a gadget or a renovation — it is how you set your thermostat, hour by hour. This first part of our winter heating series walks through the settings the U.S. Department of Energy actually recommends, the one schedule change that can save up to 10% a year on heating and cooling, the important exception for heat pump owners, and where to get help if the bill is still too much.

About this series: "How to Lower Your Heating Bill in the US" is a two-part series. Part 1 (this post) covers thermostat settings and daily heating habits. Part 2, coming tomorrow, covers sealing drafts, insulation basics and the free or low-cost fixes that stop warm air from leaving your home in the first place.

Small setting changes at the thermostat are the cheapest heating upgrade there is. (Symbolic generated image)

Key points

Start at 68°F: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) suggests setting your thermostat to around 68°F while you are awake and at home in winter, then adjusting from there for comfort.
Set it back 7–10°F for 8 hours: Doing this while you sleep or are out can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling, according to the DOE.
Heat pumps are the exception: Deep setbacks can trigger expensive backup electric heat, so heat pump owners should use a thermostat designed for heat pumps.
A certified smart thermostat helps automate it: ENERGY STAR puts the average saving at about 8% of heating and cooling bills, or roughly $50 a year.
Help exists if you are struggling: The federal LIHEAP program helps eligible low-income households pay heating bills; income limits vary by state.

Why does the thermostat matter so much?

Your heating system does not use energy at a flat rate. The warmer you keep your home compared with the cold air outside, the faster heat escapes through walls, windows and the roof — and the more fuel or electricity your system burns to replace it. That is why a house held at 72°F all day and all night costs noticeably more to run than the same house held at 68°F during the day and lower overnight, even though the difference feels small when you walk past the thermostat.

It also explains why the savings from turning the temperature down are real, not a trick. The DOE addresses the most common objection directly: a furnace does not "work harder" to warm a house back up and cancel out the saving. As soon as your home drops below its normal temperature, it loses heat to the outside more slowly, so the longer it stays at the lower temperature, the more energy you save overall.

Step 1: Set your daytime temperature to around 68°F

The DOE's winter guidance is to set the thermostat as low as is comfortable while you are home and awake, and it suggests 68°F as a practical starting point. Treat that number as a starting point, not a rule. Try it for two or three days with a sweater and warm socks before deciding it is too cold; many households find their comfort adjusts within a week. If 68°F genuinely does not work for your family — for example with a baby, an older relative or a health condition at home — set it at the lowest temperature that keeps everyone comfortable and healthy, and take the savings from the steps below instead. Comfort and health always come first; the goal is to stop paying to heat rooms to a temperature nobody actually needs.

Step 2: Add an 8-hour setback while you sleep or are out

This is the highest-value move in this guide. The DOE says you can save as much as 10% a year on heating and cooling by simply turning your thermostat back 7 to 10°F from its normal setting for 8 hours a day. From a 68°F daytime setting, that means roughly 58–61°F overnight or while the house is empty during the workday.

Why it works: those are the hours when nobody benefits from a fully warm house. You are asleep under blankets, or away entirely — but without a setback, your heating system keeps replacing heat that leaks out all night long. Eight hours is about a third of the day, which is why the saving can reach the DOE's "up to 10%" figure rather than a token amount.

A simple schedule to start with:

Wake / home in the evening: 68°F
Asleep (about 8 hours): set back 7–10°F
Away at work (if the house is empty): set back 7–10°F, with the heat coming back on shortly before you return

If a full 7–10°F drop feels like too much at first, start with 4–5°F for a week and deepen it once the routine feels normal. A smaller setback you actually keep beats an aggressive one you override every night.

Step 3: Let a programmable or smart thermostat do it for you

The setback only saves money if it happens every day, including the nights you fall asleep on the sofa. That is the real value of automation — not the technology itself, but consistency. A basic programmable thermostat can run the schedule above on its own once you set it. If you are considering a smart thermostat, ENERGY STAR reports that certified models save on average about 8% of heating and cooling bills, or roughly $50 a year, based on field data from real homes — a modest, honest figure to plan around, rather than the larger numbers in some advertising. Many utilities also offer rebates on certified models, so check your own utility's program before buying; a rebate can shorten the payback considerably. Whether the device is basic or smart, look for the ENERGY STAR label and confirm it is compatible with your heating system before you spend anything.

A thermostat schedule only pays off if it runs every day — automation makes it effortless. (Symbolic generated image)

Step 4: Know the heat pump exception

If your home is heated by a heat pump, read this before using deep setbacks. The DOE notes that programmable setbacks are generally not recommended for heat pumps in heating mode, because when the system recovers from a deep setback it may switch on backup electric resistance heat — the most expensive way to heat a home — and wipe out the saving. Heat pump owners should use a thermostat specifically designed for heat pumps, which recovers the temperature gradually using the heat pump itself, or keep setbacks shallow. If you are not sure which system you have, check the outdoor unit: a heat pump looks like an air conditioner and runs in winter, while a furnace is an indoor unit that burns gas, oil or propane.

Step 5: Stop heating rooms nobody is using

Close the door to spare bedrooms, storage rooms and other spaces nobody uses during the day, so warmth stays where your family actually spends time. Two cautions keep this safe and effective. First, with a central forced-air system, do not close too many supply vents — closing a large share of them can raise pressure in the ducts and make the system less efficient; closing doors on genuinely unused rooms is the gentler version of the same idea. Second, never let any part of the house with water pipes get close to freezing in very cold weather; burst pipes cost far more than a winter of heating bills. In severe cold, keeping a modest background temperature everywhere is the cheaper choice.

Step 6: Use free heat and keep warm air moving the right way

On sunny winter days, open curtains on south-facing windows and let sunlight warm the room for free, then close curtains at night to add a layer of insulation against the cold glass. If you have ceiling fans, check for a reverse switch: running the fan on its lowest speed in the clockwise direction in winter gently pushes warm air that has collected at the ceiling back down into the room without creating a cooling breeze. Neither trick replaces the thermostat steps above, but both make a 68°F house feel warmer — and a house that feels warmer is one where nobody reaches for the dial.

A house that feels warm at 68°F is one where nobody reaches for the thermostat. (Symbolic generated image)

What if the bill is still too high? Look into LIHEAP

If your household income is limited, thermostat settings may not be enough — and that is exactly what the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) exists for. LIHEAP is a federally funded program, run by each state, that helps eligible households pay heating and cooling bills, deal with a shut-off crisis and, in some states, weatherize their home. Federal rules generally cap eligibility at the greater of 150% of the federal poverty guideline or 60% of state median income, and states set their own limits within that ceiling — for example, Pennsylvania's published limit for the 2026–27 season is $49,500 a year for a household of four. Application windows also vary by state and often open in the autumn for the winter season, so the practical step is simple: search for your state's LIHEAP office, check its income table and its application dates, and apply early, because funds can run out. Renters can qualify as well as homeowners in many states, so do not assume renting rules you out.

Frequently asked question: Does turning the heat down at night really save money, or does reheating cancel it out?

It really saves. The idea that reheating cancels the saving is the misconception the DOE addresses most often: a cooler house loses heat more slowly, so over an eight-hour setback you keep more energy than the system later uses to warm the house back up. The exception is the heat pump case in Step 4, where recovery can trigger expensive backup heat — which is a reason to use the right thermostat, not a reason to skip setbacks altogether.

Sources

U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Saver — Thermostats and thermostat guidance (68°F while awake; setback of 7–10°F for 8 hours can save as much as 10% a year; heat pump setback caution): https://www.energy.gov/energysaver/thermostats
ENERGY STAR (U.S. EPA) — Smart Thermostats FAQs (certified smart thermostats save on average approximately 8% of heating and cooling bills, or about $50 per year): https://www.energystar.gov/products/heating_cooling/smart_thermostats/smart_thermostat_faq
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, LIHEAP program information (federal eligibility framework; state-run programs): https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/programs/liheap
Pennsylvania Department of Human Services — LIHEAP 2026–27 income limits (household of four: $49,500), used as a state example: https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dhs/resources/liheap

Read Part 2: Seal the Drafts and Stop Heat Escaping

Checked on November 9, 2026. Savings figures are the agencies' published estimates ("up to" or average figures), not guarantees — your result will depend on your climate, home and heating system.

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