Electric Heater Power Consumption Calculator

Share the article

If you are planning to buy a new electric heater or wondering how much electricity your existing electric heater is consuming then this article is for you. In the next 5 minutes you will know the power consumption of an electric heater and also learn how to calculate power consumption of your electric heater using a simple calculator.

Electric heater are normally rated between 500 watts to 3000 watts. A 1500 watts electric heater running for 3 hours everyday for an entire month will consume around 135 kWh of electricity. This is considerably high when comparted to other devices but as they are used mostly during winter, which in most places is only for few month, its not too bad.

Table of Contents

Electric Heater Power Consumption:

The power consumption of an electric heater (for that matter any electrical appliances) depends upon two main things

First is the wattage of your electric heater,

And second is the electricity tariff in your area

Before we jump in to calculating the power consumption of your electric heater, lets see what these terms are and how you can find out your electric heater wattage and the electricity tariff of your locality.

If you already know these terms and just want to use the calculator then just scroll down.

what is The Wattage of an electric heater:

First of all lets quickly see what is Watt (W) – Watt is a unit of power. It means the rate at which electricity is consumed or produced by a device. For example, a 50 watt TV consumes power at a rate of 50 watts per hour, it does not mean that the TV consumed 50 units of electricity, it means it will consume power at a rate of 50 watts every hour.

You can find the wattage of your electric heater by reading the label behind it or just look for your electric heater on amazon and you will find its wattage in the description section.

space-heater-wattage-on-label — Wattage of an electric heater printed on its label

Generally the wattage of an electric heater varies from 500 watt to over 3000 watt, the higher the wattage, bigger the room it can heat.

The wattage of heating devices is generally higher than other appliances as lot of electricity is used to heat a coil, which in turn heats the air and thus your room.

To give you some perspective an average 42 inch TV is rated at around 100 watts.

Also most electric heater nowadays have different power modes to choose from, so a 2500 watt electric heater can have three power modes like 1500 watts, 2000 watts and 2500 watts.

Hence if you are using your electric heater at lower watt settings then obviously consider that for your calculation and not the maximum value.

So in short, the wattage of an electric heater lies between 500 watts to 3000 watts and you can find it by looking at the label on it. With that out of the way lets look at what is electricity tariff.

What is your Electricity Tariff:

In simple words electricity tariff is the amount your electricity provider charges you for one unit (kWh) of electricity. I live in Mumbai, India here the electricity tariff is Rs 12/kWh.

(What is a Kilowatt hour (kWh) – Kilowatt hours or units of electricity is the energy consumption of a device. For example a 50 watt table fan running for 50 hours will consume 50 watt x 50 hours = 2500 watt hours = 2.5 kilowatt hours of electricity = 2.5 units of electricity. (1 kWh of electricity = 1 unit of electricity))

To find your electricity tariff, just look into your previous month electricity bill and find out your monthly electricity consumption, then just divide your monthly electricity consumption with your total monthly electricity bill, the figure you get is approximately your electricity tariff.

If you don’t want to do any of this then just google electricity tariff followed by your location.

Calculate Your Electric Heater power consumption:

With these two information in hand you are ready to find the power consumption of your electric heater.

Let me show you how to calculate power consumption of an electric heater with an example,

For this example I have selected two electric heaters one from Morphy Richards listed on amazon India, it is rated at 2500 watts and the other one is in amazon USA, it is rated at 1500 watts.

Let us calculate the power consumption of both the heaters.

With the knowledge of your electric heater wattage and your electricity tariff, just use this simple formula to calculate power consumption.

Power consumption of an electric heater = Wattage of an electric heater X operational hours

Cost to run an electric heater = Power consumption of an electric heater X electricity tariff.

(Operational hours is basically the number of hours you are using your electric heater)

Now let’s calculate

Electricity consumption of A 2500 watt electric heater:

Let us assume that our 2500 watt Morphy Richards is running for 3 hours in a day, then using the above formula its daily power consumption will be,

Power consumption of 2500 watt electric heater = 2500 watt X 3 hours = 7500 watt hours (Wh),

We will convert this 7500 watt hour (Wh) into Kilo watt hour (kWh) as electricity tariffs are given for per kWh. To do this simply divide 7500 by 1000, you will get 7.5 kWh (As 1kg = 1000g, 1km = 1000m, similarly 1kWh = 1000Wh)

Now that we know the power consumption just multiply it by your electricity tariff and you will get how much it will cost you to run your electric heater.

Now let’s calculate how much it will cost to run this 2500 watt electric heater in Los Angeles, London and in Mumbai.

The electricity tariff in Los Angeles is around 25.8 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh), hence it will cost around $ 1.93(7.5 kWh X 25.8 cents) to run this electric heater for 1 hour in Los Angeles.

In case of London, the electricity tariff in London is around 36p/kWh , hence it will cost around £ 2.7 (7.5 kWh X 36p/kWh) to run this electric heater for 1 hour in London.
In case of Mumbai, the electricity tariff in Mumbai is around Rs 10 per kilowatt hour (kWh), hence it will cost around Rs 75 (7.5 kWh X Rs 10) to run this electric heater for 1 hour in Mumbai.

For your reference I have calculated the cost to run this 2500 watt electric heater for 30 days in Los Angeles, London and Mumbai.

Countries (Tariff)	Daily Power Consumption of an Electric Heater 2500 Watt @ 3hrs/day	Monthly Power Consumption of an Electric Heater 2500 Watt @ 3hrs/day
Los Angeles (25.8 c/kWh)	7.5 kWh, $ 1.93	225 kWh, $ 57.9
London (36p/kWh)	7.5 kWh, £ 2.7	225 kWh, £ 81
Mumbai (Rs 10/kWh)	7.5 kWh, Rs 75	225 kWh, Rs 2,250

The above figures suggest the maximum power consumption of a 2500 watt electric heater, but most electric heater comes with thermostat to change and set the temperature and they also have different power modes, hence this electric heater will not consume power at 2500 watts every hour unless you are running it at max load.

Electricity Consumption Of A 1500 Watt Electric Heater:

The table below shows the power consumption of 1500 watt electric heater running for 3 hours everyday for an entire month.

Countries	Daily Power Consumption of an Electric Heater 1500 Watt @ 3hrs/day	Monthly Power Consumption of an Electric Heater 1500 Watt @ 3hrs/day
Los Angeles (25.8 c/kWh)	4.5 kWh, $ 1.16	135 kWh, $ 34.83
London (36p/kWh)	4.5kWh, £ 1.62	135 kWh, £ 48.6
Mumbai (Rs 10/kWh)	4.5 kWh, Rs 45	135 kWh, Rs 1,350

Now go ahead and use the below calculator to find out the power consumption of your electric heater.

The above calculated result is the maximum power consumption of your electric heater, depending on the thermostat temperature your actual power consumption may vary a bit.

Hence if you want to know the exact power consumption of your electric heater then you can buy a cheap Kill A Watt Meter from amazon.

Calculate Power Consumption Of An Electric Heater Using Kill A Watt Meter:

Kill A Watt Meter is a simple device which gives real time data of power consumption of any device.

You can check it on amazon using this link – Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

To use a kill a watt meter to calculate the power consumption of your electric heater, first you have to connect the electric heater plug into the kill a watt meter and then plug the kill a watt meter in your wall socket and you are good to go.

Then start using the electric heater and you can see in real time how many kWh (units) of electricity your electric heater is consuming.

Now that we know the power consumption of electric heaters and its safe to say its too high, follow these simple tips to reduce your electric heater power consumption.

Electric Heater Power Saving Tips:

Seal your windows and door. A lot of electricity is used to heat the air in your room and the last thing you want to do is allow that hot air to escape out of your room. Hence, properly seal your doors and windows so that no hot air can leave your room. Also use curtains on the windows.

Don’t overheat. Don’t always run your heater in max power, use the thermostat if available, and keep your power output setting to a minimum. Along with using your electric heater wear warm clothes and use blankets rather than making your room super hot.
Consider switching electricity provider. If your electricity tariff is high then check out other electricity provider and look at the rates they offer, if its less than what you pay then switch to them.

You can check out our other articles to know more about power consumption of other household devices and how you can reduce your electricity bill by going solar.