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How Much Does It Cost to Run an Electric Furnace? $119/Month

Running an electric furnace at 15,000 watts for 1.56 hours a day costs about $3.98 a day and $119.34 a month at 17¢/kWh, the EIA 2025 annual US average (July 2026 monthly: 18.31¢) — roughly $597 a year.

15,000 W (10,000–20,000 W)Typical power draw
1.56 h/day, 30 days/monthAssumed use
23.40 kWhEnergy per day

· Source: EIA Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.A (July 2026 data) · next EIA update ~Oct 23

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an electric furnace: energy cost only (15,000 W ÷ 1,000 × hours × rate); fixed fees and taxes extra.
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## How much does it cost to run an electric furnace?

The same an electric furnace at 1.56 hours a day costs $84.24 a month at 12¢ and $315.90 at 45¢ — usage held constant, only the rate moving:

Table 1: How Much Does It Cost to Run an Electric Furnace? $119/Month
Electricity rate Per hour Per day Per month in season Per year
12¢/kWh $1.800 $2.81 $84.24 $421
15¢/kWh $2.250 $3.51 $105.30 $527
17¢/kWh (US avg) $2.550 $3.98 $119.34 $597
20¢/kWh $3.000 $4.68 $140.40 $702
25¢/kWh $3.750 $5.85 $175.50 $878
30¢/kWh $4.500 $7.02 $210.60 $1,053
35¢/kWh $5.250 $8.19 $245.70 $1,229
45¢/kWh $6.750 $10.53 $315.90 $1,580
Typical power draw
15,000 W (10,000–20,000 W)
Assumed use
1.56 h/day, 30 days/month
Energy per day
23.40 kWh
Cost per day
$3.98
Cost per month
$119.34
Cost per year
$597

Why this number

Running an electric furnace at 15,000 watts for 1.56 hours a day costs about $3.98 a day and $119.34 a month at 17¢/kWh, the EIA 2025 annual US average (July 2026 monthly: 18.31¢) — roughly $597 a year. The formula for an electric furnace: 15,000 W ÷ 1,000 × hours × your rate per kWh. For an electric furnace your own rate changes the answer: at 12¢/kWh that month costs $84.24, at 45¢/kWh it costs $315.90.

An electric furnace rated at 15,000 watts, run 1.56 hours a day, costs about $3.98 a day — about $119.34 a month, or $597 a year — at the US average electricity rate of 17¢/kWh. That makes it one of the most expensive things in a typical home to run — 2nd out of the 40 appliances tracked here. If you are trying to cut a bill, this is where the money is.

What actually drives this number

An electric furnace is a bank of resistance elements, usually 10 to 20 kW, sitting in front of a blower. It is the most expensive common way to heat a house in America. Every watt becomes exactly one watt of heat, so there is no efficient model to shop for — a 15 kW furnace is a 15 kW furnace whatever it cost. The huge wattage is also why the run-time looks short: the elements stage on and off and add up to about an hour and a half a day across a heating season. Insulation and air sealing lower this number; a different furnace does not. Putting a heat pump on the same ductwork is the only change that moves it significantly, and it typically cuts a season’s heating electricity by around a third.

At 15,000 W every hour of this load costs about $2.55 and no more efficient unit exists to buy — resistance heat is resistance heat. The same physics is why, at whole-house scale, the real decisions are between technologies rather than models: the heat pump vs gas furnace running-cost comparison works out when moving heat beats making it, and the winter heating fuel comparison prices electric resistance against gas, propane and oil per unit of heat actually delivered.

Where this number comes from

Putting Electric furnace in proportion

At 17¢/kWh, an electric furnace next to the rest of the bill:

For an electric furnace: making heat is where household electricity goes, but how it is made decides the bill. A resistance element — an oven, a dryer, a resistance furnace, a kettle — converts every watt into exactly one watt of heat, so a cheap appliance and an expensive one with the same rating cost the same to run and efficiency is not something you can shop for. Equipment that moves heat instead of making it, like a heat pump, delivers several units of heat per unit of electricity and breaks that rule entirely. The only levers on a resistance load are running it less, running it lower, or heating a smaller space. On this site’s own numbers, an electric furnace lands at #2 of 40 on the monthly-cost ranking, at about $119.34 for a typical month.

The formula, in full

The 15,000 W arithmetic for an electric furnace, step by step:

  1. Watts to kilowatts. 15,000 W ÷ 1,000 = 15.00 kW.
  2. Energy per day. 15.00 kW × 1.56 hours = 23.40 kWh.
  3. Cost per day. 23.40 kWh × $0.17 = $3.98.
  4. Cost per month. $3.98 × 30 days = $119.34.

For an electric furnace the two levers are run-hours (1.56 h/day here) and your rate; used this briefly, even 15,000 W costs little — which is why anything that makes heat dominate the rankings.

Other heating loads: Hot tub ($512/yr), Electric water heater ($475/yr), Tankless water heater ($391/yr). Closest on annual cost: Heat pump ($524/yr), EV charger (Level 2) ($670/yr). Across all other heating loads here, the cheapest is Air fryer at $1.33/mo and the priciest is 240V garage heater at $51.00/mo.

The an electric furnace table above runs a fixed rate ladder (12–45¢); the state quick-fill uses July 2026 averages from EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A .

Put an electric furnace ($119.34 a month) against everything else in the electricity cost calculator , check your state’s rate , or browse all 40 appliances ; year-round high bills: solar savings calculator .

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run an electric furnace per hour?

About $2.550 an hour for an electric furnace at 17¢/kWh, the EIA 2025 annual US average (July 2026 monthly: 18.31¢), for a 15,000 W unit. The calculation is 15,000 ÷ 1,000 × 1 hour × $0.17 per kWh. At 30¢/kWh the same hour costs $4.500.

How much does an electric furnace add to my monthly bill?

Roughly $119.34 a month for an electric furnace at 1.56 hours a day, 30 days a month, 17¢/kWh. That is about $597 a year across a 5-month season. For an electric furnace, change the 1.56-hour default to your own use — run-time moves the total as much as the 15,000 W does.

How many watts does an electric furnace use?

Typically around 15,000 W, with real units ranging from about 10,000 to 20,000 W depending on size, model and setting. The nameplate on your own unit is the figure to trust — these are typical values for planning, not a measurement of your appliance.

Why is my actual bill higher than the an electric furnace figure?

$119.34 a month is the energy cost of an electric furnace alone; your bill adds fixed connection charges, delivery fees, taxes and every other load. Add the other appliances in the index to an electric furnace for the controllable part of the bill.

How we calculated this

Worked for an electric furnace: 15,000 W ÷ 1,000 × 1.56 h × $0.17 = $3.98 a day; × 30 days = $119.34 a month; × 5 months in use = $597 a year. 15,000 W and 1.56 h are the typical figures cited for an electric furnace; 17¢ is EIA’s 2025 annual US average.

Sources: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) electricity rates · DSIRE incentive records · public IRS/OBBBA guidance. Figures are modeled estimates, not quotes or tax advice. See our methodology.

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