What does it cost to run an appliance?

Watts, hours per day and your price per kWh give the daily, monthly and yearly cost. Standby draw is counted for the hours the device is plugged in but idle.

Example values: replace with yoursWhere you liveSets the electricity price and the currencyPower drawOn the label or manual. A 1,500 W heater is typical of the plug-in kind.wattsHours it runs per dayhoursDays of use per year365 if it runs all yeardaysStandby drawWhat it pulls while switched off but plugged in. Counted for the hours it is not running.wattsElectricity priceUS residential average, August 2026 (EIA). Replace it with the price on your bill.¢/kWh

How the number is built

Energy in kWh is watts times hours, divided by 1,000. The yearly cost multiplies that by days of use and your price per kWh. A 1,500 W heater that runs 8 hours uses 12 kWh in a day; at 18.16 cents that is $2.18 a day.

Prices are dated and sourced on Where the rates come from. The price you pay also includes delivery charges, taxes and fixed fees that differ by utility, so use the price on your own bill when you have it.

If you are chasing a whole bill rather than one device, use the bill breakdown.