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Cost to run a space heater in Texas (July 2026 rates)
At 15.88¢ per kilowatt-hour — Texas's average residential price in July 2026 — running a space heater costs $137 a year. That is 13% less than the national average of $158. Texas's residential rate is up 3.4% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $133 to $137 a year.
- Per hour
- 14.3¢
- Per day of use
- $1.14
- Per month
- $11.43
- Per year
- $137
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.
Related calculators: cost whole-house electric heating instead of one room.
How Texas compares
Texas pays 15.88¢/kWh, the 22nd cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $21.00 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same space heater costs $110 a year in Louisiana and $415 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $305 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | 15.47¢ | $11.14 | $134 |
| West Virginia | 15.78¢ | $11.36 | $136 |
| Texas | 15.88¢ | $11.43 | $137 |
| Oregon | 15.97¢ | $11.50 | $138 |
| Iowa | 15.99¢ | $11.51 | $138 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a space heater.
What else costs about the same in Texas
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 Texas?
- About $11.43 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 60% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 15.88¢/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?
- Texas has the 22nd cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $158 a year.