The bill
Read the bill as kWh, a rate and an end-use split, so you know what changed and where to start.
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- Your bill went up: divide dollars by kWh before you blame the heater
Divide each bill's dollars by its kWh, same month both years. EIA's US residential average rose from 17.45 to 18.31 cents per kWh, July 2025 to July 2026.
- Heating and cooling were 52% of home energy in 2020, so start there
Space heating and air conditioning were 52% of household energy in 2020, says EIA's RECS 2020. Start there; in a hot-humid climate, cooling leads heating.
- Price any appliance: turn its watts into kWh, then into dollars
Watts × hours ÷ 1,000 gives kWh a day; multiply by your rate. At EIA’s July 2026 US residential average of 18.31 cents per kWh, each kWh a day costs $66.83 a year.