Free Electricity Cost Calculator: What an Appliance Costs
Enter an appliance's watts, how many hours a day it runs and your electric rate to see what it costs per day, month and year. Add up to five appliances to compare them.
It runs in your browser. Nothing you type is saved or sent anywhere. The numbers filled in below are a made-up example; change them to yours. Your rate is on your electric bill (look for cents per kWh, and include delivery charges if they're billed per kWh).
| Appliance (optional name) | Watts | Hours a day |
|---|---|---|
How the math works
- kWh a day = watts ÷ 1,000 × hours a day.
- Cost a day = kWh a day × your rate.
- Month = cost a day × days of use; year = cost a day × 365.
Example (made up): a 1,500-watt space heater running 5 hours a day uses 7.5 kWh a day. At 16¢ per kWh that's $1.20 a day, $36.00 over a 30-day month and $438.00 over a year.
The watts on a label are usually the most a device draws. Things like fridges, PCs and AC units cycle on and off or use less at idle, so the real cost is often lower; a plug-in power meter shows actual use. This is an estimate for planning, not a quote from your utility.
Keep the bill itself from sneaking up on you
The Monthly Bill Tracker ($5) is a spreadsheet with a due-date calendar, a 12-month paid checklist and overdue bills highlighted in red, so you can log each electric bill and see it next to the rest. Works in Excel and Google Sheets.
Get the spreadsheet on Gumroad – $5
This template is also in the Complete Household Money Bundle (what's inside): all 13 home money spreadsheets for $29 (about $69 if bought one by one).
We make this template, so take that into account. The calculator above is free to use either way.
Related free guides
- How to Lower Your Monthly Bills (Call Script + Checklist)
- How to Budget for Bills That Change Every Month
- How to Track Your Bills So Nothing Is Late
- How to Make a Bill Payment Calendar (Example Month)
More free tools: all calculators.
See all Cedar & Ledger templates