If you are planning to buy a new electric wall heater or wondering how much electricity your existing electric wall heater is consuming then this article is for you. In this article, we will calculate the power consumption of an electric wall heater and also look at how much it costs to use one.
Electric wall heaters are normally rated between 500 watts to 4000 watts. A 2000 watt electric wall heater running for 4 hours every day will consume around 8 kWh of electricity in a day, and 240 kWh of electricity in a month.
This would roughly translate to a monthly electricity cost of $ 38.88 in the US, £ 86.40 in the UK, and C$ 37.44 in Canada.
How To Calculate The Power Consumption of Electric Wall Heaters:
The power consumption of an electric wall heater (for that matter any electrical appliance) depends upon two main things,
- First is the wattage of your electric wall heater,
- And second is the electricity tariff in your area.
Before we jump into calculating the power consumption of your electric wall heater let’s see what these terms are and how you can find out your electric wall heater’s wattage and the electricity tariff of your locality.
If you already know these terms and just want to use the calculator then please scroll down to use the calculator.
What is the Wattage of an Electric Wall Heater:
Generally, electric wall heaters are rated between 500 watts to 4000 watts.
The 2-wattage reading you see in the image is of separate voltage settings, meaning, at 240 volts the wall heater will run at 4000 watts, and at 208 volts it will run at 120 volts.
You can find the wattage of your electric wall heater by reading the label on it or just look for your wall heater on amazon and you will find its wattage in the description section.
(If you don’t have time to do this, then don’t worry I have put together a table at the end that shows the power consumption of a range of electric wall heaters with different wattages.)
If you don’t know what a watt is then here is a quick explanation,
Watt is the 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.
So in short, the wattage of a wall heater lies between 500 watts to 4000 watts and you can find it by looking at the label on it. With that out of the way, let’s 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 watts 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’s electricity bill and find out your monthly electricity consumption, then just divide your monthly electricity consumption by your total monthly electricity bill, the figure you get is approximately your electricity tariff.
I have put together the following table that shows the electricity tariff of a few countries.
Electricity Tariff Around The World:
| Country | Electricity Tariff | Country | Electricity Tariff |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $ 0.154/kWh | India | Rs 6/kWh |
| United Kingdom | £ 0.27/kWh | Germany | € 0.44/kWh |
| Canada | C$ 0.30/kWh | Philippines | ₱ 9.70/kWh |
| Australia | A$ 0.32/kWh | South Africa | R 2.558/kWh |
You can also check out the following resources to know your electricity tariff:
- https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/electricity_prices/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/
Calculate Electric Wall Heater Power Consumption:
With these two pieces of information in hand, you are ready to find the power consumption of your electric wall heater.
Let me show you an example,
I have selected a 2000 Watts electric wall heater listed on home depot.
Let’s assume we will use this electric wall heater for 4 hours every day for the entire month.
Hence, we will calculate the daily, monthly, and annual power consumption of this 2000 watts wall heater.
With the knowledge of your electric wall heater wattage and your electricity tariff, just use this simple formula to calculate power consumption.
Power consumption of an appliance = Wattage of the appliance X operational hours
Cost to run an appliance = Power consumption of the appliance X electricity tariff
(Operational hours is basically the number of hours you are using your electric wall heater)
Now let’s calculate,
How Much Power Does A electric Wall Consume:
In our case, wattage is 2000 watts and operational hours are 4 hours in a day, 120 hours in a month, and 1,460 hours in a year.
Hence by using the above formula.
- Daily power consumption of a 2000 watts electric wall heater (4 hours) = 2000 watts X 4 hours = 8 kWh
- Similarly, the Monthly power consumption of a 2000 watts electric wall heater (4 hours/day @ 30 days) = 2000 watts X 120 = 240 kWh
- And the annual power consumption of 2000 watts electric wall heater (4 hours/day @ 365 days) = 2000 watts X 1460 = 2,920 kWh
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 wall heater.
let’s calculate how much it will cost to run this 2000 watts electric wall heater for 4 hours every day for an entire month in USA, UK, and Canada.
- In the US, the avg. electricity tariff is around 16.20 cents per kWh, hence it will cost around $ 38.88 (240 kWh X 16.20 cents) to run this 2000 watts electric wall heater for 4 hours every day for an entire month in the US.
- In the UK, the avg. electricity tariff is around 36 pence per kWh, hence it will cost around £ 86.40 (240 kWh X 36p/kWh) to run this 2000 watts electric wall heater for 4 hours every day for an entire month in the UK.
- In Canada, the avg. electricity tariff is around C$ 0.156 per kWh, hence it will cost around C$ 37.44 (240 kWh X C$ 0.156/kWh) to run this 2000 watts electric wall heater for 4 hours every day for an entire month in Canada.
How Much Does it Cost To Run An Electric Wall Heater:
For your reference, I have calculated the cost to run this 2000 watts electric wall heater for 4 hours daily throughout the entire month in the US, the UK, and Canada.
| Country (Tariff) | Daily Power Consumption of an Electric Wall Heater | Monthly Power Consumption of an Electric Wall heater | Annual Power Consumption of an Electric Wall heater |
|---|---|---|---|
| USA (16.20 c/kWh) | 8 kWh, $ 1.30 | 240 kWh, $ 38.88 | 2,920 kWh, $ 473 |
| UK (36p/kWh) | 8 kWh, £ 2.88 | 240 kWh, £ 86.40 | 2,920 kWh, £ 1051 |
| Canada (C$ 0.156/kWh) | 8 kWh, C$ 1.25 | 240 kWh, C$ 37.44 | 2,920 kWh, C$ 455 |
If your country is not on the table, then just note down the power consumption and multiply your electricity tariff to get the running cost.
One thing I would like to point out is,
The above figures show the maximum power consumption of a 2000 watts electric wall heater, however, the actual power consumption can be 10 % – 40 % on the lower side depending on the operating settings and environment.
Normally, how an electric wall heater works is, you first set a temperature you want your room to be in, and the wall heater keeps running to provide hot air till that set temperature is reached.
Once the set room temperature is reached the heating element shuts down (the heating element consumes 80% of the power), and it kicks back up once the room temperature falls below 2 degrees Celsius.
Hence, in an hour, it’s safe to say the heating element will run for only 30 min to 40 min, and for the rest of the time, it’s OFF.
Therefore, the actual power consumption of the wall heater will be almost half of what we have calculated.
I am trying to get my hands on one of these wall heaters to measure its real-time power consumption using a power consumption meter. Once that is done I will update the blog with the results.
Also, most of us use heaters only during winter which lasts for 2-3 months in most places. Hence, your annual power consumption will be much less.
Electricity consumption Of different Wattage Electric Wall Heaters:
For your reference, I have made the below table that shows the power consumption of a range of electric wall heaters of different wattages. I have assumed 4 hours of daily operation for an entire month.
| Electric Wall Heater Wattage | Daily Power Consumption (4 Hours) | Monthly Power Consumption (120 Hours) |
|---|---|---|
| 500 watts | 2 kWh | 60 kWh |
| 750 watts | 3 kWh | 90 kWh |
| 1000 watts | 4.5 kWh | 135 kWh |
| 1500 watts | 6 kWh | 180 kWh |
| 2000 watts | 8 kWh | 240 kWh |
| 3000 watts | 12 kWh | 360 kWh |
As I said before, you can use the power consumption values from the above table and multiply them by your local electricity tariff to get the running cost.
Now go ahead and use the below calculator to find out the power consumption of your electric wall heater.
Just type the wattage of your electric wall heater, hours of usage, and your electricity tariff, and let the calculator do the math for you.
Electric Wall Heater power consumption calculator:
Remember, the above-calculated value shows the maximum power consumption of an electric wall heater, however, the actual power consumption can be 10 % – 40 % on the lower side depending on the operating settings and the reasons I mentioned before.
Electric wall heaters are generally hardwired to the circuit breaker and most larger ones draw a lot of current, often too high for a Kill-A-Watt meter. Still, I will try to measure their real-time power consumption and post the results in this post once it’s done.
Meanwhile, you can check out these articles to know more about the power consumption of space heaters, and the power consumption of garage heaters.
Check out the following articles to know the power consumption of other appliances:
- Power consumption of infrared heaters.
- Power consumption of electric baseboard heaters.
- Power consumption of an electric blanket.
- Power consumption of an electric kettle.
- Power consumption of an electric fireplace.
- Power consumption of an electric water heater.
- Power consumption of an electric immersion heater.
- Power consumption of a refrigerator.
- Power consumption of a dehumidifier.
- Power consumption of a washing machine.
You can check out this article to know more about the power consumption of common household appliances.
Check out my articles on solar power for home and how it can help you save your electricity bill.
Thank you for reading.
Aavjo 👋
References:
- https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/electricity_prices/
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/
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