HOW MUCH ENERGY APPLIANCES USE

Appliances account for about 13% of your household’s energy costs, with refrigeration, cooking, and laundry at the top of the list.

When you use electricity to cook a pot of rice for 1 hour, you use 1,000 watt-hours (1,000 Wh) of electricity! One thousand watt-hours equals 1 kWh. Your utility bill usually shows what you are charged for the kilowatt-hours you use. The average residential rate is 11.04 cents/kWh. A typical U.S. household consumes about 11,800 kWh per year, costing an average of $1,297 annually.

This chart shows how much energy a typical appliance uses per year and its corresponding cost based on national averages. For example, a refrigerator uses almost five times the electricity the average television uses. Appliances account for about 13% of your household’s energy costs, with refrigeration, cooking, and laundry at the top of the list.