Appliance Electricity Cost Calculator
Calculate what it costs to run an electrical appliance, based on wattage, daily use, and your electricity price.
How to use the calculator
- Find the appliance's power rating (watts) — usually on a label on the back/bottom of the appliance, or in the manual.
- Enter roughly how many hours per day the appliance is in use (or on standby).
- Adjust the electricity price to what you actually pay, and the calculator works out the cost per day, month, and year.
How is it calculated?
Remember that delivery charges and any fixed fees come on top of the raw electricity price — use your actual total price per kWh for the most realistic figure.
Standby consumption adds up
An appliance sitting in standby uses little on its own, but there are many of them. TV, set-top box, games console, sound system, router, chargers left plugged in without charging, a coffee machine with a clock — each draws from under one to a few watts continuously. Because it runs around the clock all year, the total still shows up noticeably in annual consumption.
The arithmetic is easy to do yourself: one watt continuously for a whole year is roughly 8.8 kilowatt-hours. A home with twenty watts of combined standby draw therefore uses just under 180 kilowatt-hours a year without anything actually being in use. Appliances with a real off switch, or a switched power strip for the entertainment corner, remove most of it.
Frequently asked questions
Where do I find my appliance's wattage?
Check the rating label on the appliance (often on the back, bottom, or on the cord) — it's usually listed as "W" or "watts". If it's only listed in amps (A), you can calculate watts = amps × voltage (120V or 230V depending on your country).
Should I use the spot price or the total price?
For the most realistic figure, use the total price you actually pay per kWh, including delivery/grid charges — the raw energy price alone gives too low a number.
What about appliances on standby?
Many appliances draw a small amount of power even in standby mode (often 1-5 watts). You can run a separate calculation with that lower wattage and 24 hours of use to see the total annual standby cost.