Cost to run an aquarium in Vermont (July 2026 rates)
At 23.75¢ per kilowatt-hour — Vermont's average residential price in July 2026 — running an aquarium costs $140 a year. That is 30% more than the national average of $108. Vermont's residential rate is up 7.3% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $131 to $140 a year.
- Per hour
- 1.6¢
- Per day of use
- 38.5¢
- Per month
- $11.70
- Per year
- $140
Assumption: 150 W at a 45% duty cycle, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — 591 kWh a year. A 55-gallon tank: heater, filter and light combined, averaged over a day. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
How Vermont compares
Vermont pays 23.75¢/kWh, the 12th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $32.17 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same aquarium costs $75.21 a year in Louisiana and $284 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $209 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 21.72¢ | $10.70 | $128 |
| Michigan | 23.05¢ | $11.36 | $136 |
| Vermont | 23.75¢ | $11.70 | $140 |
| Connecticut | 24.16¢ | $11.90 | $143 |
| New Jersey | 25.19¢ | $12.41 | $149 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an aquarium.
What else costs about the same in Vermont
Cutting the number down
- The heater is nearly all of it, and its runtime depends on the room. A tank in a cool room costs more to keep warm.
- Insulating the back and sides of the tank cuts heater runtime without changing the view.
- A lid limits evaporative heat loss, which is the main way an open tank sheds the warmth you paid for.
Questions
- How much does an aquarium cost per month in Vermont?
- About $11.70 a month, assuming 150 W at a 45% duty cycle, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 23.75¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does an aquarium use?
- Roughly 591 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.07 kWh for every hour it runs.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Vermont has the 12th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $108 a year.