Fitness & hobby running costs
EIA data · June 20264 appliances, ranked by what they cost over a year at the U.S. average of 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour. Run together at the default usage shown on each page they come to about $147 a year.
2 of these draw power for only part of the time they are switched on — drawing in bursts rather than steadily — so the figures below apply a duty cycle to each. Ignoring that is the most common reason published estimates run high.
What drives cost in this category
Whether the machine moves a person or a screen. A treadmill lifts and drives body weight and draws close to a kilowatt doing it; an exercise bike's resistance is magnetic and needs almost nothing, so its console is the actual load.
The change with the most leverage
For anything with a heated bed or tank — a 3D printer, an aquarium — insulation and ambient temperature decide the cost. An enclosure or a lid lets the heater cycle less, which saves more than any setting.
What people get wrong
Exercise equipment does not generate electricity on almost any consumer machine. Rider effort is dissipated as heat in the resistance unit, so a hard session costs the same as an easy one.
Fitness & hobby ranked by yearly cost
| Appliance | Typical W | Duty | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aquarium | 120 | 40% | $77.12 |
| Treadmill | 900 | — | $45.19 |
| 3D printer | 120 | 60% | $19.28 |
| Exercise bike | 100 | — | $5.02 |