A lot of us are trying to save money—and cutting monthly expenses to reduce energy costs at home is a great way to do that. The average U.S person spends a couple thousands of dollars a year on gas, electric, and water bills, but there are ways to cut down home utility costs.

Small upgrades to your heating, cooling, and water usage can make your home more energy-efficient.

Upgrade Your Lighting

Using energy-efficient lightbulbs is an easy way to pinch pennies around the house. Incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs use more energy than LED lights. Making the switch from older bulbs to LED lighting will give you better lighting while expending less energy.

Adjust Your Thermostat

Adjusting your thermostat even by a few degrees can help cut costs. Try to limit the use of your air conditioner, and when you’re not home it’s a good idea to set the thermostat higher in the summer and lower in the winter. But don’t turn your HVAC off and on to save money. This will make it work harder and use more energy.

Make sure your thermostat is regulating your heating and cooling efficiency. If you hear it running constantly, it could have a problem.

Monitor Water Usage

Installing flow meters to monitor your home’s water usage might seem counterintuitive to saving money. However, over the years, you’ll earn your investment back along with the reduced costs in your monthly water bill. Flow meters can spot leaky pipes and help to uncover problematic leakage that would have gone undetected otherwise. Not only will you save money in utility costs, but you’ll also prevent costly water damage to your home by catching leaks early.

There are so many ways to cut down home utility costs, from washing larger loads of clothing, unplugging appliances when you’re not using them, and taking colder showers. Implementing simple hacks along with investing in items that monitor or cut down on energy use will help you reduce household bills.