How much does a box fan cost per month in California?

About $3.15 a month, assuming 75 W, 10 hours a day, 150 days a year at 33.61¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a box fan use?

Roughly 112 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.07 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

California has the 2nd most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $20.60 a year.

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Cost to run a box fan in California (July 2026 rates)

At 33.61¢ per kilowatt-hour — California's average residential price in July 2026 — running a box fan costs $37.81 a year. That is 84% more than the national average of $20.60. California's residential rate is up 2.9% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $36.74 to $37.81 a year.

Per hour: 2.5¢
Per day of use: 25.2¢
Per month: $3.15
Per year: $37.81

Assumption: 75 W, 10 hours a day, 150 days a year — 112 kWh a year. 20-inch box fan on high. Low speed roughly halves the draw. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How California compares

California pays 33.61¢/kWh, the 2nd most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $17.21 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same box fan costs $14.31 a year in Louisiana and $54.00 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $39.69 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
New York	29.90¢	$2.80	$33.64
Massachusetts	30.49¢	$2.86	$34.30
Maine	32.41¢	$3.04	$36.46
California	33.61¢	$3.15	$37.81
Hawaii	48.00¢	$4.50	$54.00

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a box fan.

What else costs about the same in California

Microwave$36.80 a year in CA Electric kettle$36.80 a year in CA Incandescent bulb$36.80 a year in CA

Cutting the number down

Pointing one out of an upstairs window at night pulls cool air through the whole house for a fraction of what cooling it costs.
Box fans are cheap to run but not free: continuous summer use adds up to real kilowatt-hours.

Questions

How much does a box fan cost per month in California?: About $3.15 a month, assuming 75 W, 10 hours a day, 150 days a year at 33.61¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a box fan use?: Roughly 112 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.07 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: California has the 2nd most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $20.60 a year.