How Much Does 500 Watts Cost Per Hour? ($0.05 – $0.22/h)

500 watts hourly cost is pretty simple to calculate. To help you out, we will explain exactly how to calculate how much does 500 watts cost per hour. On top of that, you will also find the 500 Watts Cost Per Hour Calculator (input electricity price, get US dollars per hour exact to 1 USD cent) and State-By-State 500 Watt Hourly Cost Chart.

In most cases, people have a 500 watt space heater and want to know how much does it cost per running hour. This will give you an answer to that; it also applies to all other electric devices that run on 500 watts, such as dehumidifiers, fans, laptops, and so on.

appliances that run on 500 watts
List of home appliances with average wattages. As we can see, a computer runs on about 500 watts of electricity.

In short, 500 watts cost per hour ranges anywhere from $0.05 to $0.22.

The key metric the 500 watt cost per hour depends on is your electricity rate (price of electricity per kWh or $/kWh).

Namely, every 500 watt device will consume 0.5 kWh of electricity per hour. Here is the formula for how to calculate the 500 watt cost per hour, based on the set electricity price:

500 Watt Cost Per Hour = 0.5 kWh × Electricity Price ($/kWh)

Quick Example: In New York, the average price of electricity is $0.24/kWh. How much does it cost to run a 500 watt space heater in New York? Here’s how we can use the above equation:

500 Watt Cost Per Hour = 0.5 kWh × $0.24/kWh = $0.12 Per Hour

As we can see, it costs $0.12 to run a 500 watt heater in New York. You will likely pay more for running the same heater in California (due to higher electricity prices). In lower electricity rates states like Idaho, Utah, and North Dakota, you will pay only $0.05 to run a 500 watt heater per hour.

Here is a helpful calculator that does this calculation automatically. You only need to insert your electricity price (check your bill for $/kWh or consult this EIA average residential electricity prices for your state). Further on, you will also find a chart that specifies how much you will pay for 500 watt device per hour for all US states from Alabama to Wyoming:

500 Watt Cost Per Hour Calculator

 

Alright, let’s say that you live in an area with an average electricity price of $0.24/kWh. How much will you pay for 500 watts per hour? Just slide the slider to ‘0.24’ and you get the answer: At a $0.24/kWh electricity rate, running a 500 watts device for 1 hour will cost exactly $0.12.

Electricity prices and thereby 500 watt hourly cost varies state by state. To help you out, we have used the EIA’s electricity data from November 2022 to calculate the 500W hourly costs for each state, and summarized all the results in this chart (accurate to 1 USD cent):

State-By-State 500 Watt Hourly Cost Chart

State: 500 Watt Cost Per Hour:
Alabama $0.7 Per Hour
Alaska $0.12 Per Hour
Arizona $0.07 Per Hour
Arkansas $0.12 Per Hour
California $0.13 Per Hour
Colorado $0.8 Per Hour
Connecticut $0.12 Per Hour
Delaware $0.08 Per Hour
Florida $0.07 Per Hour
Georgia $0.07 Per Hour
Hawaii $0.22 Per Hour
Idaho $0.05 Per Hour
Illinois $0.09 Per Hour
Indiana $0.08 Per Hour
Iowa $0.06 Per Hour
Kansas $0.08 Per Hour
Kentucky $0.07 Per Hour
Louisiana $0.07 Per Hour
Maine $0.11 Per Hour
Maryland $0.08 Per Hour
Massachusetts $0.14 Per Hour
Michigan $0.09 Per Hour
Minnesota $0.07 Per Hour
Mississippi $0.07 Per Hour
Missouri $0.06 Per Hour
Montana $0.06 Per Hour
Nebraska $0.06 Per Hour
Nevada $0.08 Per Hour
New Hampshire $0.16 Per Hour
New Jersey $0.08 Per Hour
New Mexico $0.07 Per Hour
New York $0.12 Per Hour
North Carolina $0.06 Per Hour
North Dakota $0.06 Per Hour
Ohio $0.08 Per Hour
Oklahoma $0.07 Per Hour
Oregan $0.06 Per Hour
Pennsylvania $0.09 Per Hour
Rhode Island $0.15 Per Hour
South Carolina $0.07 Per Hour
South Dakota $0.06 Per Hour
Tennessee $0.07 Per Hour
Texas $0.08 Per Hour
Utah $0.06 Per Hour
Vermont $0.11 Per Hour
Virginia $0.07 Per Hour
Washington $0.05 Per Hour
West Virginia $0.07 Per Hour
Wisconsin $0.08 Per Hour
Wyoming $0.06 Per Hour

As you can see, most American pay less than $0.15 for 500 watts per hour. The states with the lowest electricity rates will pay only 5 US cents to run a 500 watt device for 1 hour.

We hope that this illustrates well how to go about calculating 500 watts per hour costs. Using the calculator and the state-by-state chart, you now have a good insight into how much you should be paying for 500 watts per hour.

Leave a comment