Appliance Electricity Cost Calculator

Add every appliance in your home to see what each one costs to run — daily, monthly and yearly — and which are quietly taking the biggest share of your bill.

ApplianceWattsHrs/dayDays/wkQtyStandby WRemove

Add a row for each appliance you want to account for; the rate applies to all of them. Presets fill in a typical wattage — adjust it to your own unit, since nameplate or “rated watts” is usually printed on a label on the back or bottom. Standby is the “phantom” draw while plugged in but idle, applied for the hours each week the appliance isn't running; it matters most for TVs, consoles, and anything with a remote or clock.

By · Energy analysts and engineers documenting every formula, source, and limitation behind our calculators.

Published Formula, sources & limitations

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HOW IT WORKS

How does the appliance electricity cost calculator work?

The calculator converts each appliance's wattage and how often you run it into weekly energy use, prices that energy at your electricity rate, and adds every row up into a day, month, and year total — then ranks the appliances so you can see which ones dominate the bill.

1

Add your appliances

One row each. Choose a preset for a typical wattage or enter your own from the nameplate, and add or remove rows as needed.

2

Enter usage & rate

Hours and days per week for each row, plus one electricity rate that applies to all of them.

3

See the breakdown

Combined cost per day, month and year, plus a per-appliance table ranked by annual cost and share of the total.

THE CALCULATIONWeekly kWh = (watts ÷ 1,000) × hours/day × days/week

Weekly cost = weekly kWh × electricity rate. Daily, monthly, and annual figures scale that weekly cost by ÷7, ×52/12, and ×52. Standby power is added for every hour in the week the appliance isn't actively running, then quantity multiplies the whole result.

Worked example: a 1,500 W space heater

EXAMPLE 1

1,500 W, 5 hours/day, every day, $0.16/kWh

  1. Weekly energy: 1.5 kW × 5 h × 7 days = 52.5 kWh.
  2. Weekly cost: 52.5 kWh × $0.16 = $8.40.
  3. Daily cost: $8.40 ÷ 7 = $1.20.
  4. Monthly cost: $8.40 × 52 ÷ 12 ≈ $36.40.
  5. Annual cost: $8.40 × 52 ≈ $436.80.

Result: about $1.20 a day, $36.40 a month, and $436.80 a year — a reminder that a single high-wattage appliance run for hours a day can rival a whole month's worth of smaller devices combined.

Worked example: a TV with standby power

EXAMPLE 2

100 W while on, 5 hours/day, 3 W standby the rest of the time, $0.16/kWh

The TV draws 100 W for 5 hours a day of active viewing, but never fully powers down — it draws about 3 W continuously the other 19 hours to stay ready for the remote and any smart-TV background tasks.

  1. Active energy: 0.1 kW × 5 h × 7 days = 3.5 kWh/week.
  2. Standby energy: 0.003 kW × 19 h × 7 days ≈ 0.4 kWh/week.
  3. Total: about 3.9 kWh/week × $0.16 ≈ $0.62/week.

Result: roughly $2.70 a month and $32 a year — a modest cost individually, but standby draw like this across a dozen household electronics adds up to real money over a year.

Typical appliance running costs

Wattage figures are typical nameplate values; usage patterns are realistic seasonal or weekly estimates, not the calculator's own defaults, so treat this as a ballpark comparison rather than an exact match to your own results:

ApplianceWattageTypical useEst. cost
Refrigerator150 W24 h/day, year-round$210/yr
Electric water heater4,000 W3 h/day, year-round$701/yr
Central air conditioner3,500 W8 h/day, 120-day season$538/season
Space heater1,500 W5 h/day, 150-day season$180/season
Dishwasher1,800 W1 h/day, 5 days/week$75/yr
Clothes dryer3,000 W1 h/day, 2 days/week$50/yr
TV + standby100 W5 h/day, year-round$29/yr
LED bulbs (×10)100 W combined5 h/day, year-round$29/yr

The pattern holds across almost every household: high-wattage appliances that run for hours — water heaters, central AC, space heaters — dominate the electric bill, while low-wattage electronics and lighting cost surprisingly little even when they're on for hours a day.

What changes an appliance's running cost

Wattage is the biggest single lever — a 3,500 W central AC costs 23x more per hour of use than a 150 W refrigerator. Duty cycle matters just as much: a refrigerator's compressor doesn't run continuously even though the appliance is always plugged in, which is why its nameplate wattage overstates its real average draw — this calculator's "hours used per day" should reflect actual run time, not just time plugged in, for the most accurate result. Your electricity rate scales every result linearly, so the same appliance can cost twice as much to run in a high-rate state as a low-rate one.

Common mistakes when estimating appliance cost

Using startup wattage

Motors briefly spike 2–3x their running wattage at startup — use steady-state running watts for cost, not the startup surge.

Ignoring standby draw

"Off" isn't always off. Electronics with a remote, clock, or Wi-Fi often draw a few watts continuously.

Confusing plugged-in time with run time

A fridge is plugged in 24/7, but its compressor cycles on and off — nameplate watts × 24 hours overstates real cost.

Skipping seasonal appliances

Sizing a full year of AC or space-heater cost off a single month misses the fact that they only run part of the year.

Privacy and appropriate use

Your inputs are processed directly in your browser and are not sent to a database. This is a budgeting estimate based on the wattage and usage you enter — actual cost can vary with your utility's tiered pricing or demand charges, appliance age and condition, and real-world usage patterns.

Calculate appliance cost ↑Browse all calculators →
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Questions about the appliance electricity cost calculator.

Clear answers about finding wattage, standby power, and what drives the biggest costs.

How do I find an appliance's wattage?

Check the nameplate label — usually on the back or bottom of the unit, or inside the door on appliances like dishwashers and ovens. It lists either watts directly, or volts and amps, which you can multiply together to get watts (e.g., 120V × 10A = 1,200W). If only amps and volts are listed for a 240V appliance like a dryer or central AC, use 240 instead of 120 in that multiplication. When no nameplate is available, this calculator's presets give a reasonable typical figure to start from.

What's the difference between running wattage and starting wattage?

Motor-driven appliances — refrigerators, air conditioners, well pumps, pool pumps — briefly draw much more power (often 2–3x) at startup than while running steadily. This calculator uses running (steady-state) wattage, which is what determines your actual electricity cost, since the startup surge lasts only a second or two and contributes negligibly to total energy use. Startup wattage matters for sizing a generator or breaker, not for estimating your bill.

Why does the calculator ask about standby power separately?

Many electronics never fully power down — TVs, game consoles, cable boxes, and anything with a remote, clock, or Wi-Fi connection typically draw a few watts continuously, even when "off." Individually this is small, but a household with a dozen such devices can rack up $100+ a year in standby draw alone. Entering a standby wattage applies it for every hour the appliance isn't actively running, giving a more complete picture than active-use wattage alone.

Is the electricity rate the same everywhere?

No — residential electricity rates vary widely by state and utility, roughly $0.10–$0.30/kWh across the continental U.S. as of 2026, with some states running higher. Use the rate on your own electric bill for an accurate result; if you're on a time-of-use plan, use whichever rate applies when you actually run the appliance.

Why is my central air conditioner so much more expensive than other appliances?

It combines a high wattage draw (often 3,000–4,000W for a central system) with long daily run times during hot weather, and it's one of the few common appliances that runs for hours at a stretch rather than minutes. Running an AC 8 hours a day through a warm season can add well over $500 in electricity — far more than nearly any other single household appliance, which is why upgrading AC efficiency or shifting its use to off-peak hours tends to matter more than optimizing smaller devices.

How can I lower an appliance's running cost without replacing it?

Reduce active hours where possible (charge to 80% less often, wash full loads instead of small ones, set a thermostat setback), shift use to off-peak hours if you're on a time-of-use electricity plan, and address standby draw on electronics with a switched power strip. For appliances near end of life, checking the ENERGY STAR rating on a replacement is worth it for high-wattage, frequently-used devices like refrigerators, water heaters, and air conditioners, where efficiency differences compound over thousands of hours a year.

Does this calculator account for demand charges or tiered rates?

No — it applies a single flat $/kWh rate you enter. Some utilities charge more per kWh once you cross a monthly usage threshold (tiered rates), or add a separate demand charge based on your peak kW draw. If your utility uses tiered pricing, use your highest applicable tier's rate for a conservative (upper-bound) estimate, since a large appliance is more likely to push you into that tier.

Is my data stored?

No. All inputs and calculations run directly in your browser and are not sent to a server or saved in an account. General site usage may be measured through Google Analytics as described in our Privacy Policy.