The Average Cost of Electric Everything

If you have ever wondered what the average cost of electric devices are in your home, here's some insight. Electric rates vary around the world. So, for this article's purpose we will use the average U.S. rate of eleven cents per kilowatt-hour.

Cooling: Generally, air conditioners require more electricity than anything else - 16% of total electricity used. In warmer areas, AC can be 60-70% of your summer electric bill. A window AC unit consumes 500 to 1440 watts, while a 2.5-ton central AC system uses about 3500 watts. That is a lot of energy. Translated into dollars, a window unit running 24 hours per day costs an average of $78 per month. Compare that to the central AC system, which costs about $282 per month.

Heating: The most efficient and inexpensive way to heat your home with electricity is to use radiant heater. Radiant heat solutions include devices like ceiling panels, space heaters, wall panels and radiators and allow you heat only the space you occupy.

Central heat or forced-air is more costly because it heats more than just the room you are currently using. The system works by sucking air into a furnace, warming it up, and then propelling it back into the rooms through registers in the ceiling or floors. The average cost of electric heat from a central system is about $644 per month, if it is running it 24 hours per day.

Lighting: The easiest money saver with lighting is to change all your bulbs to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs). As soon as you screw them in, you save 70% on energy. CFLs last ten times longer than incandescent bulbs. Let's say you have 15 bulbs in your house. If you have the lights on for about 4 hours per day, your 75-watt incandescent bulbs cost about $16 per month. CFLs cost about $4 per month. Over 12 months, you would save about $150 on your average cost of electric lighting.

Refrigerators: The second biggest household energy user is the refrigerator. You can't save money by turning your fridge off when you are not using it. The best way to save money on the refrigerator is to make sure you have an efficient one. New refrigerators aren't just a little more efficient, they are exponentially more efficient.

For instance, an old 1976-1986 fridge uses 1400 kWh per year, for a total of $112 annually. The average cost of electric fridges manufactured post-2001 consumes 500 kWh per year, for a grand total of $40 per year.

Washing Machines: A washing machine uses about 0.256 kWh per load. At the US average of 11¢/kWh, that's $0.03 per load for electricity. Once you add the cost of water and the cost of heating the water for hot or warm loads (a hot load on an electric water heater can cost about $0.50 per load) it gets pricey.

Clothes Dryers: Pretty straightforward. The average cost of electric dryers is about $0.36 per load.

Water Heaters: When choosing a water heater, you have a choice between tank and tankless. An electric tank water heater will cost you about $48 per month. The average cost of electric tankless water heaters will cost about $37 per month. When powered by gas, the tankless water heater has a serious advantage over all the others.