How Much Does It Cost To Run A 1,500 Watt Space Heater?

Alternative-Heating-Info.com

All electric space heaters and electric
fireplaces are rated at 1,500 watts.
This would be the "high" setting on
the heater.

However, most space heaters also
have a "low" half power setting or a
thermostat, so for the sake of
simplicity we'll assume the space
heater in this example is operating
continuously at full power.

Also, energy costs vary from region
to region. If you want to know
exactly what your space heater
costs to run, you'll need a recent
electric bill to work along with me.

You'll need two pieces of information from your bill; the amount due for the current
month and the number of kWh (kilowatt hours) used. You can find the kWh usage in
the meter reading section of your bill.

Technically speaking, kilowatt hours is the product of power in kilowatts and time in
hours - not kilowatts per hour. But for the purposes of this explanation, kilowatts per
hour is sufficiently accurate.

Also, I want you to use the total current monthly bill even though it includes a
customer service charge that will inflate the amount you pay per kWh. As far as I'm
concerned, the total monthly bill, not the amount I'm charged per kWh, is what I pay
for electricity.

Now that you have your monthly bill and the kWh usage at your fingertips, the first
thing you need to do is figure out how much you pay per kWh. To arrive at this
number simply divide your current monthly bill by kWh usage.
Monthly bill/kilowatt usage = cost per kWh

For example: last month I paid $54 for 347 kWh of electricity. When I divide 54 by 347
I get 0.147. So I'm paying almost 15 cents per kWh. Since a kilowatt is 1000 watts, I
can estimate that I pay 15 cents per 1,000 watts per hour. Not coincidentally, this
amount is identical to what I would pay to run a 1,000 watt space heater for one hour.

Now, to figure out how much you pay per hour for a 1,500 watt space heater, or any
electrical appliance for that matter, use this formula:
Wattage x .001 x cents per kWh = cost per hour. For a 1,500 watt space heater it
would look like this: 1,500 x .001 x .15 = .225, or 23 cents per hour rounded off.

If I run my 1,500 watt space heater at full power every day for 6 hours, it will cost $41
a month: $0.23 x 6 x 30 = $41.

As I mentioned earlier, a space heater has multiple heat settings or a thermostat, so
it probably won't run continuously at full power. The result is a potential 10% - 30%
reduction in the cost to run per hour.