How much does it cost to boil a kettle?
EIA data · June 2026About $1.26 a month at the U.S. average price of 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour — but that figure moves a long way depending on where you live. Set your state below.
6.8 kWh a month at the U.S. average, 18.34¢/kWh for June 2026. Excludes fixed charges, taxes and time-of-use rates, which vary by utility and are on your bill.
Typical 1,000–1,800 W. Use the figure on your own label if you have it.
An electric kettle sits mid-table at #64 of 88, which means something else in the house costs more. See whether kitchen or something else drives your bill.
This is one of the appliances big enough to move a bill on its own. What usually drives a bill that jumped.
How many watts an electric kettle uses
US kettles run on 120 volts and are capped near 1,500 W, which is why they take noticeably longer to boil than the 3,000 W kettles sold in countries with 240-volt outlets.
- Low
- 1,000 W
- Typical
- 1,500 W
- High
- 1,800 W
What it costs across the country
Same appliance, same usage, different electricity price. Annual cost at 1,500 W and the default usage above.
| State | ¢/kWh | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 52.72 | $43.30 |
| California | 34.74 | $28.53 |
| Massachusetts | 29.61 | $24.32 |
| New York | 29.49 | $24.22 |
| Ohio | 19.19 | $15.76 |
| Texas | 15.94 | $13.09 |
| Florida | 15.10 | $12.40 |
| Utah | 13.37 | $10.98 |
| Nebraska | 13.25 | $10.88 |
| Nevada | 13.11 | $10.77 |
Worth knowing
- High wattage, tiny runtime. A kettle draws as much as a space heater but only for two or three minutes, which is why it is one of the cheapest appliances in the house.
- The only meaningful saving is filling it with the water you actually need. Boiling a full kettle for one cup wastes most of the energy.
- An electric kettle is more efficient than heating the same water on an electric stove, because almost none of the heat escapes past the vessel.
Other appliances
Prices are statewide residential averages for June 2026 from the U.S. Energy Information Administration. They exclude fixed monthly charges, taxes and time-of-use rates. See how these figures are calculated.