My electric bill showed up last month and I genuinely thought it was a mistake. It wasn’t. Utility analysts are projecting the average U.S. household will spend close to $790 cooling their home this summer, roughly 10% more than last year, and some states are looking at bills well over $1,000. Add in the fact that I rent, so drilling holes for solar panels or swapping out my HVAC system was never an option, and I was stuck googling “how do homeowners even afford this.”
Here’s the thing nobody tells renters: almost every energy-saving blog out there assumes you own the place. Solar installs, smart thermostats wired into your HVAC, whole-home battery systems — none of that works when you’ve got a lease and a landlord who won’t even fix the leaky faucet. So I went looking specifically for renter-friendly smart home fixes. No drilling, no permanent changes, nothing that voids a security deposit.
After a few weeks of testing, here are the five gadgets under $50 that actually made a dent in my bill.
Why Renters Get Left Out of the Smart Home Conversation
Most smart home content is written for people who own their walls. Smart thermostats need wiring access. Solar panels need roof rights. Whole-house energy monitors often need an electrician. If you’re renting, you need solutions that plug in, stick on, or sit on a shelf — and come off just as easily when you move.
That’s exactly the gap these five gadgets fill.
1. Smart Plugs (The Cheapest Win You’re Not Using)
A basic smart plug costs somewhere between $10 and $15, and it’s the single easiest way to kill “vampire draw” — the power your TV, gaming console, or coffee maker pulls even when it’s switched off. Cutting that constant background drain with smart plugs can trim total household consumption by a noticeable chunk over a year, and unlike anything else on this list, it takes about thirty seconds to install and zero seconds to remove when you move out.
Best use for renters: plug your window AC unit or fans into one and schedule them to shut off automatically during hours you’re not home.
2. A Portable Smart AC Controller
If your apartment came with a window unit or portable AC that doesn’t have smart scheduling built in, a small smart AC controller (usually $30–$45) sits next to the unit and lets you control it from your phone, set a schedule, and get alerts if the temperature drifts. Utilities across heat-stressed regions are pushing the same advice this summer: nudging your thermostat up a few degrees when you’re not home, especially during peak afternoon hours, is one of the most effective ways to cut cooling costs without sacrificing comfort when you’re actually there.
Best use for renters: set it to ease off between 10 AM and 5 PM, then cool the apartment down right before you get home, so you’re never paying to cool an empty room during the most expensive hours.
3. Peel-and-Stick Thermal or Blackout Blinds
You don’t need to install permanent blinds to block heat. Renter-friendly thermal blinds or reflective window film, most of them under $40 for a couple of windows, install with tension rods or removable adhesive strips and can block a meaningful amount of solar heat gain during the hottest part of the day. Closing blinds during peak sun hours is one of the most consistently recommended low-cost fixes from energy assistance groups this summer, and it costs nothing to actually do once they’re up.
Best use for renters: focus on west- and south-facing windows, since those catch the most direct afternoon heat.
4. A Smart Power Strip
One step up from a single smart plug, a smart power strip (around $25–$35) lets you group and schedule multiple devices at once — think your entertainment center, home office setup, or kitchen appliances. It’s especially useful if you’ve got a cluster of electronics that quietly sip power all day even when you’re not using them.
Best use for renters: plug in anything with a standby light — game consoles, cable boxes, chargers — and schedule the whole strip to cut power overnight.
5. A Portable Battery or Power Station (For Peak-Hour Shifting)
This is the priciest item on the list, but small portable power stations have dropped into the $40–$50 range for entry-level models. The idea is simple: charge it during off-peak hours (usually overnight, when electricity is cheaper), then use it to power fans, lamps, or small devices during the expensive afternoon peak window instead of pulling straight from the grid.
Best use for renters: this won’t power your AC, but it’s genuinely useful for fans, phone charging, and lighting during the priciest hours of the day, which is often when rates spike hardest.
A Few Habits That Cost Nothing
Gadgets help, but a couple of free habits stack on top of everything above:
- Set your AC to 78°F when you’re home, and let it drift higher when you’re out — this is the number energy experts keep landing on as the sweet spot between comfort and cost.
- Replace a dirty AC filter. A clogged filter forces your unit to work harder for the same cooling result.
- Run heat-generating appliances (dishwasher, laundry) in the evening, after peak pricing hours have passed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do smart plugs really save money, or is it a marketing gimmick? They genuinely help, mostly by killing standby power draw on devices you forget are plugged in. The savings are modest per device, but they add up across a full apartment, and the cost to try one is low enough that it’s worth it either way.
Will my landlord care if I use these? No — every gadget on this list is fully removable and doesn’t touch your electrical wiring or walls, which is exactly why they’re the go-to options for renters.
What’s the single best gadget to start with if I can only buy one? A smart plug for your window AC unit or fans. It’s the cheapest item here and gives you the most direct control over your biggest summer energy cost.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to own your home to fight back against a brutal summer electric bill. Between rising electricity rates and hotter-than-average forecasts, this is shaping up to be an expensive season for almost everyone — but renters especially get left out of the conversation because so much energy-saving advice assumes you can drill, wire, or install. These five gadgets cost less than $50 each, require zero permanent changes, and pack up just as easily as they set up.
Start with one, see the difference on your next bill, and add from there.
Have a renter-friendly energy hack that’s worked for you? I’d love to hear what’s made the biggest difference in your apartment.