How much does a space heater cost per month in North Carolina?

About $10.61 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 60% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 14.74¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a space heater use?

Roughly 864 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.90 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

North Carolina has the 11th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $158 a year.

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Cost to run a space heater in North Carolina (June 2026 rates)

At 14.74¢ per kilowatt-hour — North Carolina's average residential price in June 2026 — running a space heater costs $127 a year. That is 20% less than the national average of $158. North Carolina's residential rate is up 10.2% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $116 to $127 a year.

Per hour: 13.3¢
Per day of use: $1.06
Per month: $10.61
Per year: $127

Assumption: 1,500 W at a 60% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year — 864 kWh a year. 1,500 W is the ceiling for a 120 V plug-in heater, and nearly every model sold hits it on high. A thermostat changes how often it runs, not how hard. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How North Carolina compares

North Carolina pays 14.74¢/kWh, the 11th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $31.10 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same space heater costs $113 a year in Nevada and $456 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $342 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Oklahoma	14.33¢	$10.32	$124
Idaho	14.37¢	$10.35	$124
North Carolina	14.74¢	$10.61	$127
Mississippi	14.88¢	$10.71	$129
Washington	14.91¢	$10.74	$129

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

What else costs about the same in North Carolina

Portable air conditioner$125 a year in NC Garage refrigerator$133 a year in NC Electric clothes dryer$115 a year in NC

Cutting the number down

Heating one occupied room and letting the rest of the house sit cooler is the whole case for a space heater. Running one in every room costs more than central heat.
Ceramic, oil-filled and infrared heaters all convert essentially 100% of the electricity to heat. At the same wattage the running cost is identical, whatever the box claims.
The cheapest watt is the one you skip: closing the door to the room you are heating does more than any model upgrade.

Questions

How much does a space heater cost per month in North Carolina?: About $10.61 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 60% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 14.74¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a space heater use?: Roughly 864 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.90 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: North Carolina has the 11th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $158 a year.