How Much It Costs to Run Appliances in Your Home

Washing machines are expensive, including the cost to heat hot water, but dryers are even more costly.

Our Hawaii tenants who just moved out of our vacation house seemed very aware of how much it costs to run appliances because they rarely used the AC and often sat in the dark. In fact, they turned off the refrigerator when they moved to avoid additional charges. Now, granted, the electricity in Hawaii is wildly expensive as compared to California. While some of us may use electricity like there is no tomorrow, it’s approximately 4 times more expensive to be that reckless in the Hawaiian islands.

I know people who unplug every appliance when it’s not in use so they won’t waste energy on an appliance in stand-by mode. I’m not that careful, but I do want to conserve our resources.

Have you ever wondered how much it costs to run appliances? I was curious, so I looked it up. You know how to calculate your kilowatt, right? This is the basic formula:

• Watt X hours used = Watt hours
• Divide watt hours by 1,000 = Kilowatt hours
• Convert amps to watts by multiplying amps X 120 volts.

For example, if you run an Energy Star refrigerator on average of 240 hours a month and the wattage is 150, that equals 36,000 watt hours a month. Divided by 1,000 = 36. Take that times your average kilowatt rate which, according to SMUD, is about 11 cents in the winter and 13 cents in the summer. Your summer bill for an Energy Star refrigerator in Sacramento would be $4.68.

Compare that cost to Hawaii, and Hawaii Electric calculates on average 42 kilowatt hours for Energy Star, that refrigerator could cost $16.80 While I would not unplug a refrigerator to save $4 for the week, I can see why our tenants might.

Hawaii Electric also says a conventional water heater costs about $104 a month, versus solar at $10.40. OK, I can see why we have solar panels for the water heater on a house in Kona now.

A microwave oven is estimated at 15 kilowatt hours a month or $6.00. Compare those same kilowatt hours to Sacramento, our microwave at home costs $1.95 for the month. We use it every day, almost for every meal. A dishwasher is $8 to $12 a month in Hawaii, without the dry cycle. A clothes dryer, 8 loads a week in Hawaii? $42.67. Makes me want to drag my clothes to the river, beat them with a rock and hang them on tree branches to dry.

If you’d like to look at a chart of average electric prices in the United States and examine how much it costs to run appliances on average in Sacramento, check the link above. This is why I’m glad we have a small house in Hawaii.