Appliance Electricity Cost Calculator
Most guesses about appliance costs are wrong in the same direction: people worry about the things with big numbers on the label and ignore the things that never turn off.
Last updated Free, no sign-upHow it works
Cost to run electric clothes dryer: $220, ranging from $170 to $280.
Cost to run electric clothes dryer
low confidence- United States average
- Assumptions 2026.07.1
Why low: no state was resolved, so national averages were used; the modeled range spans about 50% of the typical value.
Key figures
- Per month
- $18.41($14.50 – $23.43)
- Per day
- $0.61($0.48 – $0.77)
- Electricity used
- 1,205 kWh(949 kWh – 1,533 kWh)Annual consumption. Compare against your bill, which shows total household kWh.
- Per month
- 100 kWh(79 kWh – 128 kWh)
- Power draw while running
- 3,300 W
- Effective run time
- 1 hr/day1 hours of use, 7 days a week.
- Electricity rate used
- $0.18/kWhUnited States residential average of $0.1834/kWh (EIA, June 2026).
Cost breakdown
| Component | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electricity for Electric clothes dryerEnergy1,205 kWh per year at $0.1834/kWh. | $170 | $220 | $280 |
| Cost to run electric clothes dryer | $170 | $220 | $280 |
The low and high columns above will not add up to the headline range. Each line has its own uncertainty, and every line landing at its worst case at the same time is unlikely, so the total combines them as partially independent rather than summing the extremes.
What moved your estimate
High-draw appliance — increases the estimate
Anything above about 1,500 watts is a resistance heating element. These dominate a bill whenever they run, but many of them run for very few hours.
How this number was produced
- Daily energy
3300 W × 1.00 hr ÷ 1,0003.30 kWh - Annual energy
daily kWh × 365 × (7/7)1,205 kWh - Annual cost
annual kWh × $0.1834/kWh$220.91
Adjustments applied
- Electricity rate×1.00
United States residential average of $0.1834/kWh (EIA, June 2026).
- Duty cycle×1.00
Draws full power whenever it is on.
Notes and sources3 notes, 2 sources
Worth knowing
- Wattages are class averages. Your specific unit may differ by a wide margin — check the nameplate on the back or underside for its actual rating.
- The state electricity rate is an average across all utilities and rate classes. If you are on a time-of-use or tiered tariff, your marginal rate for extra usage may be considerably higher than this average.
- Standby draw is not included except where an appliance is modeled as always on.
Sources
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A — Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by StateprimaryJune 2026retrieved 2026-09-11
- Typical power draw compiled from U.S. Department of Energy appliance guidance, ENERGY STAR product criteria and certified product data, and manufacturer nameplate specificationssecondary2026retrieved 2026-07-31
A 1,500 watt hair dryer used for ten minutes a day costs a few dollars a year. A second refrigerator in the garage costs far more. Pick an appliance below and we will show the real figure at your state’s electricity rate.
Methodology
How this calculator works
The calculation
Energy in kilowatt-hours is power in watts multiplied by hours of use, divided by 1,000. Cost is that figure multiplied by your electricity price. There is nothing more to it — the difficulty is entirely in getting the two inputs right.
Electricity prices come from the Energy Information Administration’s monthly published residential average for your state. Wattages come from Department of Energy guidance, ENERGY STAR product data, and manufacturer nameplate ratings.
Why we use duty cycles
A refrigerator is plugged in for all 8,760 hours of the year, but its compressor is not running for all of them. Multiplying nameplate watts by 24 hours would overstate a fridge’s consumption by roughly three times, and this is the single most common error in appliance cost estimates online.
For thermostat-driven appliances — refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners, water heaters, well pumps — we apply a duty cycle representing the share of time the compressor or element actually draws power, and ignore the hours-per-day field.
Average rates versus your rate
The state figure is an average across every utility and rate class in that state. Your own rate can differ substantially, particularly in deregulated markets or on time-of-use tariffs where afternoon power costs several times what overnight power does.
For the most accurate answer, divide the total amount on your bill by the kilowatt-hours it lists and enter that as a manual rate. That captures delivery charges and fees, which a headline energy rate does not.
Location and data
Where the numbers come from
Location is optional, and we only ask for a ZIP code or a state — never a street address. A ZIP code is matched to its state using published postal prefix ranges, and that state is used to look up labor and price rows in the tables below. If you leave it blank, or your ZIP cannot be matched, the estimate falls back to a national average and says so on the result.
Nothing you enter is transmitted or stored. The calculation runs entirely in your browser, and the only place your inputs appear is in the page URL, so you can bookmark or share a result if you choose to.
- primaryJune 2026v2026.06
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A — Average Price of Electricity to Ultimate Customers by End-Use Sector, by State
Residential sector average retail price. State averages blend all utilities and rate classes in the state; an individual household bill can differ substantially, especially in deregulated markets and for customers on time-of-use tariffs.
- secondary2026v2026.07.1
Typical power draw compiled from U.S. Department of Energy appliance guidance, ENERGY STAR product criteria and certified product data, and manufacturer nameplate specifications
Running watts describe draw while actively operating, not standby. Appliances that cycle on a thermostat (refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners) are modeled with a duty cycle rather than continuous operation, because nameplate watts times hours would overstate their use several-fold. Individual units vary widely by age, size, efficiency tier, and setting; treat these as class averages.
Full detail on every dataset is on the data sources page. Spotted something wrong? Report incorrect data.
Cost factors
What changes the price most
- Hours of use
- Usually matters more than wattage. Low-draw devices left on continuously often beat high-draw devices used briefly.
- Duty cycle
- For anything with a compressor or thermostat, this is the difference between a plausible estimate and one that is three times too high.
- Your electricity rate
- Ranges from about 12 cents in North Dakota to over 50 cents in Hawaii. The same appliance costs four times as much to run at one end as the other.
- Appliance age and efficiency
- A pre-2001 refrigerator can use three times what a current ENERGY STAR model uses for the same job.
- Ambient conditions
- A freezer in a hot garage works considerably harder than the same freezer in a conditioned basement.
Questions
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to run a space heater?
A 1,500 watt space heater running eight hours a day costs roughly $2.20 a day at the national average rate of about 18 cents per kilowatt-hour, or about $65 a month. In a high-rate state it can exceed $130 a month. Electric resistance heat is the most expensive common way to add warmth to a room.
How much electricity does a refrigerator use?
A modern 18 to 22 cubic foot refrigerator uses roughly 350 to 500 kilowatt-hours a year, which is about $65 to $95 at the national average rate. A pre-2001 unit can use two to three times that. Our dedicated refrigerator calculator breaks this down by vintage and configuration.
Is it cheaper to run a fan or an air conditioner?
Enormously cheaper. A ceiling fan draws around 45 watts against roughly 1,450 watts for a large window air conditioner. A fan does not lower air temperature, though — it makes you feel cooler through evaporation, so it only helps when someone is in the room.
What uses the most electricity in a home?
In most United States homes, heating and cooling first, then water heating, then refrigeration and laundry. Electronics and lighting are usually a small share now that LEDs are standard. If your bill seems high, look at the heating and cooling system before hunting for phantom loads.
Does unplugging appliances save money?
A little, and less than it used to. Modern standby draw is typically under a watt for most devices, so unplugging a phone charger saves pennies a year. The exceptions worth targeting are set-top boxes, game consoles left in instant-on mode, and anything with a permanently warm transformer.