Smart home automation has moved beyond convenience — it's now a practical tool for cutting electricity and water bills. We tested energy monitors, smart irrigation controllers, and EV chargers that target the biggest utility drivers in your home. Our picks focus on devices that pay for themselves by reducing waste.
Most people think of smart home gadgets as nice-to-haves — dimmable lights, voice-controlled thermostats, maybe a robot vacuum. But the real money is in the devices that actively shrink your utility bills. Electricity and water are the two biggest recurring household costs, and smart automation can tackle both by doing one simple thing: stopping waste before it happens.1
Here's the shift: instead of just seeing how much energy you use (which is helpful but passive), these devices act on that information — scheduling, adjusting, and optimizing so you're not paying for power or water you don't need.2
| Pick | Best For | Key Feature |
|---|---|---|
| Emporia Classic (Vue) | Energy monitoring | Circuit-level tracking, TOU scheduling |
| Rachio 3 | Smart irrigation | Hyper-local weather data, auto-adjust |
| Orbit B-hyve | Smart irrigation (alt) | Weather-based scheduling, budget-friendly |
| Grizzl-E Classic Connect | EV charging optimization | TOU scheduling, heavy-duty build |
If you don't know where your electricity is going, you can't cut it. The Emporia Classic (Vue) attaches to your breaker panel and gives you real-time, circuit-level energy data right on your phone.1 It shows you exactly which appliances, circuits, or rooms are drawing power at any moment.
The real win: phantom loads. Those always-on devices — cable boxes, chargers, standby electronics — can account for 5–10% of your home's electricity use.1 The Emporia makes them visible, so you can decide what to unplug or schedule off. It also integrates with time-of-use (TOU) rates from your utility, helping you shift heavy loads (laundry, EV charging, dishwasher) to cheaper off-peak hours.2
Specs:
Outdoor watering is the single biggest source of household water waste — and the easiest to fix with automation. The Rachio 3 replaces your existing sprinkler controller and uses hyper-local weather data to adjust watering schedules automatically.2
If rain is in the forecast, Rachio skips the cycle. If a heatwave is coming, it waters deeper and less frequently. The result: no more watering the lawn during a downpour, and no more $200 water bills because you forgot to adjust the timer in July.
Specs:
The Orbit B-hyve is the pragmatic alternative to Rachio. It offers the same core feature — weather-based scheduling that adjusts watering based on local conditions — at a significantly lower price point.2
It's not as polished as the Rachio app, and the weather data isn't quite as granular, but for most homes it does the job: stop watering when it's raining, water less when it's cool, and keep your lawn alive without the bill shock.
Specs:
If you drive an electric vehicle, charging it is probably your single biggest electricity expense. The Grizzl-E Classic Connect is a heavy-duty Level 2 EV charger built for scheduling charging during off-peak hours when electricity rates are lowest.2
It's simple, rugged (weatherproof, suitable for outdoor installation), and connects via Wi-Fi so you can set schedules through the app. Pair it with your utility's TOU plan and you can cut your EV charging cost by 30–50% just by shifting when you plug in.
Specs:
There are two approaches to smart home energy savings:
Passive monitoring (like a basic energy monitor) shows you where waste is happening. It's informative — you see the phantom load, you see the spike when the AC kicks on — but it requires you to act.
Active automation (like Rachio, Grizzl-E, or Emporia with scheduling) does the work for you. It adjusts the sprinklers when rain is coming. It delays the EV charger until midnight when rates drop. It turns off the water heater during peak hours.1
The best setup combines both: use monitoring to identify the waste, then use automation to eliminate it.
Three concepts make these devices genuinely effective:
Time-of-Use (TOU) rates. Many utilities charge more for electricity during peak hours (typically 4–9 PM) and less overnight. Scheduling your EV charger, dishwasher, and water heater to run after 9 PM can cut your bill by 20–40%.2
Phantom loads. Devices that are "off" but still drawing power — think smart TVs in standby, phone chargers left plugged in, cable boxes running 24/7. A circuit-level monitor like Emporia reveals these, and a smart plug can kill them on a schedule.1
Weather-based irrigation. Traditional sprinkler timers water the same amount whether it's a monsoon or a drought. Smart controllers pull local weather data and adjust automatically, eliminating the single biggest source of household water waste.2
Smart home automation for utility savings isn't about buying a bunch of gadgets — it's about targeting the three biggest levers in your home: electricity waste, water waste, and EV charging costs. Start with an energy monitor to see where your money is going, then add automation where it matters most.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, AskBuy earns from qualifying purchases. This doesn't affect our recommendations — we only recommend products we believe actually save you money.
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