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How much does it cost to run a portable air conditioner?
At the U.S. average residential price of 18.31¢ per kilowatt-hour (July 2026), running a portable air conditioner costs about $155 a year. Your own bill depends on your state's rate, which ranges from 12.72¢ to 48.00¢ across the country.
- Per hour
- 16.1¢
- Per day of use
- $1.29
- Per month
- $12.89
- Per year
- $155
Assumption: 1,100 W at a 80% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year — 845 kWh a year. Single-hose portables push conditioned air out of the room and pull unconditioned air in through every crack to replace it, so real-world runtime is longer than the spec sheet implies.
Cost by state
Same appliance, same usage, 51 different prices. Sorted cheapest first.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Louisiana | 12.72¢ | $8.95 | $107 |
| Nevada | 12.77¢ | $8.99 | $108 |
| Utah | 13.12¢ | $9.24 | $111 |
| North Dakota | 13.41¢ | $9.44 | $113 |
| Tennessee | 13.71¢ | $9.65 | $116 |
| Idaho | 13.73¢ | $9.67 | $116 |
| Nebraska | 13.78¢ | $9.70 | $116 |
| Kentucky | 13.81¢ | $9.72 | $117 |
| Arkansas | 14.33¢ | $10.09 | $121 |
| Oklahoma | 14.35¢ | $10.10 | $121 |
| Wyoming | 14.36¢ | $10.11 | $121 |
| Mississippi | 14.54¢ | $10.24 | $123 |
| Washington | 14.71¢ | $10.36 | $124 |
| Montana | 14.99¢ | $10.55 | $127 |
| Florida | 15.03¢ | $10.58 | $127 |
| North Carolina | 15.16¢ | $10.67 | $128 |
| Kansas | 15.27¢ | $10.75 | $129 |
| South Dakota | 15.37¢ | $10.82 | $130 |
| Arizona | 15.38¢ | $10.83 | $130 |
| South Carolina | 15.47¢ | $10.89 | $131 |
| West Virginia | 15.78¢ | $11.11 | $133 |
| Texas | 15.88¢ | $11.18 | $134 |
| Oregon | 15.97¢ | $11.24 | $135 |
| Iowa | 15.99¢ | $11.26 | $135 |
| Missouri | 16.09¢ | $11.33 | $136 |
| New Mexico | 16.09¢ | $11.33 | $136 |
| Georgia | 16.27¢ | $11.45 | $137 |
| Alabama | 16.40¢ | $11.55 | $139 |
| Indiana | 16.73¢ | $11.78 | $141 |
| Colorado | 17.00¢ | $11.97 | $144 |
| Minnesota | 17.45¢ | $12.28 | $147 |
| Virginia | 17.55¢ | $12.36 | $148 |
| Delaware | 18.48¢ | $13.01 | $156 |
| Wisconsin | 19.06¢ | $13.42 | $161 |
| Illinois | 19.22¢ | $13.53 | $162 |
| Ohio | 19.45¢ | $13.69 | $164 |
| Maryland | 21.41¢ | $15.07 | $181 |
| Pennsylvania | 21.72¢ | $15.29 | $183 |
| Michigan | 23.05¢ | $16.23 | $195 |
| Vermont | 23.75¢ | $16.72 | $201 |
| Connecticut | 24.16¢ | $17.01 | $204 |
| New Jersey | 25.19¢ | $17.73 | $213 |
| District of Columbia | 25.21¢ | $17.75 | $213 |
| New Hampshire | 26.60¢ | $18.73 | $225 |
| Rhode Island | 28.29¢ | $19.92 | $239 |
| Alaska | 28.83¢ | $20.30 | $244 |
| New York | 29.90¢ | $21.05 | $253 |
| Massachusetts | 30.49¢ | $21.46 | $258 |
| Maine | 32.41¢ | $22.82 | $274 |
| California | 33.61¢ | $23.66 | $284 |
| Hawaii | 48.00¢ | $33.79 | $406 |
Cutting the number down
- A dual-hose model draws outdoor air for condenser cooling instead of depressurizing your room. It is the biggest efficiency difference in this category.
- Insulating the exhaust hose keeps rejected heat from radiating straight back into the room you just cooled.
- For the same BTU rating, a window unit almost always costs less to run than a portable.
Questions
- How many watts does a portable air conditioner use?
- About 1,100 W while running, though it cycles on and off, so average draw is 880 W.
- How much does a portable air conditioner cost per month?
- About $12.89 a month at the U.S. average rate, or $155 a year.
- Where is it cheapest to run?
- Louisiana, at $107 a year, versus $406 in Hawaii — a spread of $298.