How Much Electricity Does A Mini Split Use? (Watts, kWh, $)

Do mini-splits use a lot of electricity? Well, that’s relative. To answer this question adequately and fully, we have to calculate the mini-split power consumption. This will help up estimate how much will running a mini-split increase our electricity bills in the summer (cooling) and in the winter (heating).

We are going to take an all-inclusive 3 Chapter comprehensive look at mini-split electricity consumption per hour, per day, and per month to exactly answer these kinds of questions:

• “How many watts does a mini split use?” (Wattage; Chapter 1)
• “How much electricity does a mini split use?” (kWh use; Chapter 2)
• “How much power does a mini split use?” (kWh use; Chapter 2)
• “How much energy does a mini split use?” (kWh use; Chapter 2)
• “How much does it cost to run a mini split?” (Cost per hour, day, week, month in $; Chapter 3)

As we can see, these are rather similar questions that we are going to answer. Here is how we are going to tackle them (we will use neat mini-split energy calculators and charts every step of the way):

1. Chapter 1 (Wattage): First, we need to determine mini split wattage. Example: A 16 SEER 12,000 BTU mini split will, on average, run on 750 watts when cooling.
2. Chapter 2 (kWh): When we have the wattage, we can calculate mini-split electricity use in terms of kilowatt-hours (kWh). Example: A 16 SEER 12,000 BTU uses 0.75 kWh of electricity every hour. If you run it for 8 hours per day, that is 6 kWh per day.
3. Chapter 3 ($): Once we know the electricity usage (or power usage), we can calculate how much it cost to run a mini-split. Example: We know that a 16 SEER mini-split 12,000 BTU uses 0.75 kWh per hour. How much is that in US dollars? If we take an average $0.15/kWh electricity price, running this mini-split will cost 11.25 cents per hour. Running it for 8 hours per day will cost $0.90 per day and $27 per month.

Basically, when we calculate watts, we can then calculate kWh. When we have kWh, we can then translate that amount of electricity into US dollars ($). Hope this approach makes sense; you can freely use all 6 calculators with the accompanying 6 charts.

On top of that, we will also look at how much electricity a mini-split use when heating (for air-source mini-split heat pumps). For heating, the number of watts a mini-split uses is usually doubled (compared to cooling) since heating is a more energy-intensive process.

Note: You can always use the comment section below, give us some numbers, and we can calculate the mini split electricity usage on a case-by-case basis.

Let’s start with the mini split watt draw. Understanding how many watts mini splits use will help us calculate electricity use (kWh) and running costs ($):

How Many Watts Does A Mini Split Use? (Chapter 1)

Mini-split wattage depends on only 2 factors:

• Cooling / Heating Capacity (denoted BTU or tons). Obviously, bigger mini-splits will draw more watts.
• Cooling / Heating Efficiency (determined by SEER and HSPF rating, respectively). Mini-splits with higher SEER rating will draw fewer watts when cooling and mini-splits with higher HSPF rating will draw fewer watts when heating.

Namely, efficiency ratings (SEER and HSPF) can be used to calculate how many (on average) watts do mini splits run on. Here are the equations using both capacity (BTUs) and efficiency (SEER for cooling, HSPF for heating):

Average Cooling Watt Draw = Mini-Split Capacity (In BTU) / SEER Rating

Example: How many watts does a 9000 BTU 18 SEER mini split draw when cooling? We just insert both of these figures in the equation:

Average Cooling Watt Draw = 9000 BTU / 18 SEER = 500 Watts

Here you have it: A 18 SEER 9000 BTU mini split runs on 500 watts when cooling.

We can do the same for the average heating watt draw by dividing mini split heating capacity by the HSPF rating like this:

Average Heating Watt Draw = Mini-Split Capacity (In BTU) / HSPF Rating

Example: How many watts does a 9000 BTU 10 HSPF mini split draw when heating? Here’s what we get:

Average Heating Watt Draw = 9000 BTU / 10 HSPF = 900 Watts

As we can see, this mini split will run on 900 watts when heating. Notice that wattage for heating is usually considerably higher than for cooling (900 watts vs 500 watts).

This is just one example with the manual calculation approach. To help you out, we have designed 2 mini-split wattage calculators (1st for cooling and 2nd for heating). Below the calculators, you will also find a 2 mini-split wattage charts for mini-splits with different capacities (BTUs) and efficiencies (SEER, HSPF rating).

When we determine the wattage, we can move on to power consumption (how many kWh do these mini splits use):

Mini-Split Wattage Calculator For Cooling (1st Calculator)

Just insert the size of your mini split (in BTU) and SEER rating. The calculator will automatically calculate how many watts will your mini split use when in cooling mode (on average):

Here is how you can use this calculator:

Let’s say that you have a 12,000 BTU mini-split with a very high 20 SEER rating. How many watts will this 12,000 BTU mini split use when cooling? Just slide the 1st slider to ‘12000’ and the 2nd slider to ’20’ and you get the result:

This 20 SEER 12,000 BTU mini split runs on 600 watts when cooling.

You can calculate the wattage when cooling for any mini split with this calculator. To help you out, we have calculated average cooling running wattages for 6000 – 72000 BTU mini splits with SEER ratings ranging from 14 SEER to 22 SEER, and summarized them in this chart:

Cooling Wattage Chart

As you can see, mini splits use anywhere between 273 watts to 5143 watts when cooling. This range is calculated from 22 SEER 6000 BTU (top right corner) to 14 SEER 72000 BTU mini splits (bottom left corner), respectively.

Let’s look at a similar wattage calculator and wattage chart for heating (depends on HSPF rating):

Mini-Split Wattage Calculator For Heating (2nd Calculator):

Same deal here, just insert mini split capacity in BTU and heating energy efficiency HSPF rating, and you will get the average heating wattage:

Alright, let’s say you have a 10 HSPF 24,000 BTU mini-split and want to know how many watts will this mini-split use. Slider the 1st slider to ‘24000’ and the 2nd slider to ’10’. You get the result: This 24,000 BTU mini-split will use 2400 watts of power when heating.

You can calculate the wattage when heating for any mini split with this calculator. To help you out, we have calculated average heating running wattages for 6000 – 72,000 BTU mini splits with HSPF ratings ranging from 6 HSPF to 14 HSPF, and summarized them in this chart:

Heating Wattage Chart

Alright, this was another long chart to calculate. As is evident from the results, mini-splits will use anywhere from 429 watts to 12,000 watts when in heating mode. The mini split with the lowest heating wattage (429 watts) is the 14 HSPF 6000 BTU mini split (top right corner). The mini split with the highest heating wattage (12,000 watts) is the 6 HSPF 72,000 BTU mini split (bottom left corner).

Now that we have the wattage, we can proceed to calculate how much power mini splits use:

How Much Electricity Does A Mini Split Use? (Chapter 2)

We use terms like electricity expenditure, power expenditure, and energy quite interchangeably. What we are actually talking about is the amount of electricity, measured in kilowatt-hours or kWh. 1 kWh is equal to the amount of electricity that a 1000-watt mini-split running for 1 hour uses.

Here is how easy it is to calculate how many kWh a mini-split use:

Mini Split kWh Usage = Wattage × Hours Of Use / 1000

This is it.

Here is an example: Let’s say that we have a 21,000 BTU 14 SEER mini split. We use it to cool our hours for 8 hours. How much electricity does such a mini split use?

We know that we are running it for 8 hours. Now we only need the average cooling wattage. We can check Chapter 1 and (using the calculator or chart) see that a 21,000 BTU 14 SEER mini split uses (on average) 1500 watts when in cooling mode. Now, we just insert all these figures in the kWh formula above:

21k BTU 16 SEER Mini Split kWh Usage = 1500W × 8 Hours = 12 kWh

As we can see, running this mini split for 8 hours will use 12 kWh of electricity.

Here is another example: A 15 SEER 12,000 BTU mini split runs on 800 watts when cooling. That means that this 12,000 BTU mini split will use:

• 0.8 kWh per hour.
• 6.4 kWh per day. We usually run a mini-split for 8 hours per day; thus we can say that the electricity expenditure of this mini split is 6.4 kWh per day.
• 192 kWh per month (running it for 30 days 8 hours per day).

Again, you can now calculate how many kWh a mini split uses manually. To help you out, we have created 2 calculators (1st for cooling, 2nd for heating) where you can just insert mini split capacity (BTU) and SEER or HSPF rating, and you will see how many kWh your mini split use per hour.

Below each calculator, you will also find a calculated chart with the results of how many kWh different mini splits use:

• Per Hour.
• Per Day (8-hour/day running time).
• Per Week (8h/day).
• Per Month (8h/day).

Mini-Split kWh Calculator For Cooling (1st Calculator):

Again, insert the mini split capacity (BTU) and SEER rating, and the calculator will tell you how many kWh of electricity per hour will this mini split use:

Example: Let’s say we want to find how many kWh will an 18 SEER 15,000 BTU use. Slide the 1st slider to ’18’ and the 2nd slider to ‘15000’ and we get the result: This mini split will use 0.83 kWh per hour.

That means that running it for 8 hours per day will use 6.64 kWh. Running it 8 hours per day for a month will use 199.2 kWh of electricity.

To illustrate how much energy a mini split uses per hour, per day, and per month, let’s look at a calculated kWh cooling chart for 18 SEER mini splits:

Mini-Split kWh Chart For Cooling (18 SEER)

As you can see, 18 SEER mini splits don’t use all that much electricity when cooling. Even a big 4 ton 18 SEER mini split (4800 BTU) will run on 2.67 kWh of electricity per hour. If you run it for 8 hours per day, that will result in 21.33 kWh per day, 149.33 kWh per week, and 640 per month electricity consumption.

Before we check how much these quantities of electricity cost (kWh cost), let’s look at the same calculator and chart for the mini split heating mode:

Mini-Split kWh Calculator For Heating (2nd Calculator):

As we know, mini splits use more kWh for heating than for cooling. In this calculator, you insert the mini split capacity (BTUs) and HSPF rating; the calculate will evaluate mini split heating electricity consumption (in terms of kWh per hour):

Let’s look at an example of a 9 HSPF rated mini split with 24,000 BTU heating capacity. We slide the 1st slider to ‘9’ and the 2nd slider to ‘24000’.

We get the result: A 9 HSPF 24,000 BTU mini split will use 2.67 kWh per hour.

That means that this mini split will use:

• 21.33 kWh per day (running a mini split for 8 hours per day).
• 149.30 kWh per week (8h/day).
• 639.84 kWh per month (8h/day).

This is just one example. You can use the calculator to figure out heating electricity usage per day for any mini split.

To help you out, we have calculated kilowatt-hour usage for 10 HSPF mini splits ranging from 6000 BTU to 72,000 BTU per hour, per day, per week, and per month, and summarized them all in this chart:

Mini-Split kWh Chart For Heating (10 HSPF)

Example: If you want to check how much electricity an 18,000 BTU 10 HSPF mini split use when heating, you can just read it off this chart. 18,000 BTU 10 HSPF heat pumps will use 1.80 kWh per hour, which is 14.40 kWh per day, 100.80 kWh per week, and 378 kWh per month.

Now, let’s finally address how much the electricity powering mini splits costs (running cost of mini splits):

How Much Does It Cost To Run A Mini Split (3rd Chapter)

Once you figure out how many kWh mini split uses, you can estimate what is the running cost of such a mini split. That means we have to convert kWh to dollars ($). We are going to look at it here, you can also use this general kWh to dollars calculator.

To calculate the mini split running costs, we just multiply the kWh usage by the price of electricity like this:

Mini Split Running Cost = kWh Usage × Price Of Electricity ($/kWh)

The electricity prices can be as low as $0.05/kWh or as high as $0.40/kWh. $0.15/kWh is about the US national average electricity price.

Example: From the kWh calculations above (2nd Chapter), we can see that a 12,000 BTU 18 SEER and 10 HSPF mini split uses 0.67 kWh per hour of cooling and 1.20 kWh per hour of heating. Here is how we can calculate the running cost for this mini split, given the average $0.15/kWh electricity prices:

Cooling Running Cost (12000 BTU 18 SEER) = 0.67 kWh/h × $0.15/kWh = $0.10 Per Hour

Heating Running Cost (12000 BTU 10 HSPF) = 1.20 kWh/h × $0.15/kWh = $0.18 Per Hour

With the use of the two calculators (1st calculator for cooling running cost and 2nd calculator for heating running cost), you can estimate the mini split running cost in dollars per hour ($/h). Based on that, we have calculated the running costs of 18 SEER and 10 HSPF mini splits per day, per week, and per month, and summarized them in the neat charts:

Mini-Split Cooling Running Cost Calculator (1st Calculator):

Here you insert mini split capacity (BTU), the SEER rating, and electricity price ($/kWh); the calculator will tell you how much it cost to cool with the specified mini split per hour:

Example: Alright, we want to find out how much will it cost if we cool with a 24,000 BTU 17 SEER mini split if our electricity price is $0.13/kWh. We slide the 1st slider to ‘24000’, the 2nd one to ’17’, and the 3rd one to ‘0.13’.

Here is the result: It will cost $0.18/h to cool with a 24,000 BTU 17 SEER mini split at $0.13/kWh electricity prices. That is:

• $1.44 per day (running it for 8 hours per day).
• $10.08 per week (8h/day).
• $43.20 per week (8h/day).

Let’s look at cooling running costs for 18 SEER mini split with 6000 BTU to 72,000 BTU capacities per hour, per day, per week, and per month:

How Much Does It Cost To Run A Mini Split On Cooling Mode? (18 SEER)

Here we use $0.15/kWh average electricity prices:

As you can see, it doesn’t cost all that much to cool a mini split.

A big 36,000 BTU (3-ton) 18 SEER mini split has a cooling running cost (of $0.15/kWh electricity prices) of:

• $0.30 per hour.
• $2.40 per day.
•  $16.80 per week.
• $72.00 per month.

Let’s have a look at heating mini split running costs as well:

Mini-Split Heating Running Cost (2nd Calculator):

Here you insert mini split heating capacity (BTU), the HSPF rating, and electricity price ($/kWh); the calculator will estimate the mini split heating cost per hour automatically:

Here is how you can calculate the heating running cost per hour for an 18,000 BTU 11 HSPF mini split (at $0.15/kWh electricity prices): Slide the 1st slider to ‘18000’, the 2nd slider to ’11’, and the 3rd slider to ‘0.15’.

You get the result: Heating with an 18,000 BTU 11 HSPF mini split will cost $0.27 per hour. That means you will pay:

• $2.16 per day (8h/day).
• $15.12 per week (8h/day).
• $64.80 per week (8h/day).

Here are fully calculated heating running costs for 10 HSPF mini splits per hour, per day, per week, and per month:

How Much Does It Cost To Run A Mini Split On Heating Mode? (10 HSPF)

We are using $0.15/kWh electricity prices here:

You can now just read off the chart how much it costs to heat with a 10 HSPF mini split.

For example, if you have a 12,000 BTU 10 HSPF mini split, it will cost:

• $0.18 per hour to heat.
• $1.44 per day to heat (8h/day).
• $10.08 per week to heat (8h/day).
• $43.20 per month to heat (8h/day).

Hopefully, you now know exactly how much electricity mini splits use. With these 6 calculators and 6 accompanying charts, you are fully equipped to figure out the wattage, kWh use, and running costs (in USD) for any mini split.

If you need some help, you can always use the comment section below, give us some numbers, and we will help you out with the calculation.