Emporia
Emporia Classic Level 2 48 AMP EV Charger UL Listed
The Emporia Classic Level 2 48 AMP EV Charger UL Listed is a home charging solution designed for electric vehicle owners seeking efficiency, safety, and smar...
$429
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How Much Electricity Does it Use?
In a recent interview with Justin Allen about his off-grid home, he explains how important it is to understand the electricity usage of every appliance in the house. It is fundamental to living a more sustainable lifestyle. Learning to pay more attention to the amount of energy we use in our homes can help us reduce our energy bills and carbon footprint.
According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA), 33% of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the United States were associated with electricity generation in 2018. While homeowner behavior can significantly improve the operational efficiency of homes, behavioral changes rely on a basic understanding of how much energy devices in our homes use. To help homeowners reduce the amount of electricity their homes use, we offer a breakdown of the electricity consumption of some of the most common household appliances and devices.
Homeowners can also use energy monitoring devices to monitor energy consumption within their homes. Not all devices are created equal as some devices on the market offer tracking at the outlet level while others offer whole home monitoring. Nonetheless, energy monitoring devices help identify problematic devices or products within your home or areas of opportunity to reduce their overall electricity usage.
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By Tobias Roberts, Rise Writer
Apr 13, 2025 · 11 min read
What is a Kilowatt-Hour?
Kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of consumption by an electrical device will have a wattage rating—like a hairdryer that says, “1,800 watts.” But that is not usage—it just means that’s how much wattage it will take to use it. It would help if you had the run-time of the appliance to know precisely how much electricity it is using, and that can vary greatly. For example, one 100-watt light bulb that is turned on for 10 hours equals 100 x 10 = 1,000 watt-hours, which is equal to one kilowatt-hour. To translate that into costs, we pay about ten cents per kilowatt-hour—but that differs significantly by utility and region.
How Much Electricity Do We Use A Day?
In 2018, the average annual electricity consumption for a US household was 10,972 kWh kilowatt-hours (kWh), which averages 867 kWh per month or over 28 kWh per day. So if you are looking to reduce your electricity usage, it starts with awareness of what is using most of it in your own home.
How Much Electricity Do Light Bulbs Use?
The average home has around 45 light bulbs, representing about 6 percent of the total household electricity consumption. However, the lights in our homes still require about 91 billion kWh of electricity each year. Homeowners can drastically reduce their energy demand by replacing their old incandescent bulbs with CFLs or LEDs.
Incandescent light bulbs generally consume anywhere between 40 and 100 watts of energy. While each bulb only costs around $1, the lifespan is only 1,200 hours, meaning that you can expect to pay about $180 for the electricity used over 25,000 hours.
CFL light bulbs use an average of 14 watts of electricity, cost around $2 each, and only cost you $48 of energy over that same 25,000 hour period.
LED light bulbs, which are the most energy-efficient option on the market today, cost around $5, use approximately 6-8 watts of energy, and would only cost about $35 for 25,000 hours of use.
How Much Electricity Do Christmas Lights Use?
Christmas lights are an annual tradition. One recent analysis found that homes using twinkling incandescent bulbs use an average of 600 kWh of electricity each Christmas season. Most 100 light strings of Christmas lights use 40 watts, similar to small incandescent bulbs. For homes that use ten strings of these lights, the equivalent would be ten extra light bulbs left on at night or ten times the cost, depending on how you want to look at it.
LED Christmas lights can reduce the electricity requirements for decorating during the holidays and costs homeowners around 100 kWh of electricity. That is one-sixth of what incandescent lights use. Each string of 100 mini incandescent bulbs will cost about $3.50 over the Christmas season, while a string of 100 mini LEDs will cost just $0.45.
How Much Electricity Do Laptop and Desktop Computers Use?
The average desktop computer uses between 60 and 300 watts. Laptops, on the other hand, only use about 20 to 50 Watts of electricity. The electricity demand of laptops can be further reduced when using the device in power-saving modes. Whether you use a laptop or desktop, make sure that you choose an option with an LED screen, as this will dramatically reduce the computer's energy demand.
Assuming the average laptop draws 120 watts, it will cost roughly $126 per year to power. The average desktop computer costs $2.37 per month to operate but can vary depending on the computer's power supply and total draw. Computers built for photo and video editing or gaming will require more power to operate.
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Rise Writer
Expert. Practical. Sustainable.
Article by
Tobias Roberts
Tobias runs an agroecology farm and a natural building collective in the mountains of El Salvador. He specializes in earthen construction methods and uses permaculture design methods to integrate structures into the sustainability of the landscape.
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