How much does a window air conditioner cost per month in California?

About $19.36 a month, assuming 900 W at a 80% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 33.61¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a window air conditioner use?

Roughly 691 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.72 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 $127 a year.

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Cost to run a window air conditioner in California (July 2026 rates)

At 33.61¢ per kilowatt-hour — California's average residential price in July 2026 — running a window air conditioner costs $232 a year. That is 84% more than the national average of $127. California's residential rate is up 2.9% from July 2025, which moves this appliance from $226 to $232 a year.

Per hour: 24.2¢
Per day of use: $1.94
Per month: $19.36
Per year: $232

Assumption: 900 W at a 80% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year — 691 kWh a year. Typical of a 10,000 BTU window unit. Small 5,000 BTU units draw closer to 500 W; 15,000 BTU units closer to 1,400 W. 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 $106 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same window air conditioner costs $87.92 a year in Louisiana and $332 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $244 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
New York	29.90¢	$17.22	$207
Massachusetts	30.49¢	$17.56	$211
Maine	32.41¢	$18.67	$224
California	33.61¢	$19.36	$232
Hawaii	48.00¢	$27.65	$332

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a window air conditioner.

What else costs about the same in California

Electric clothes dryer$262 a year in CA Aquarium$199 a year in CA Gaming pc$196 a year in CA

Cutting the number down

Sealing the gaps around the sleeve with foam matters more than the unit's efficiency rating. Warm air leaking back in is load you pay to remove twice.
An inverter model modulates instead of slamming on and off, which shows up as a lower effective duty cycle rather than a lower nameplate watt.
Shading the outdoor half of the unit lowers the temperature it rejects heat into, which lowers the work it has to do.

Questions

How much does a window air conditioner cost per month in California?: About $19.36 a month, assuming 900 W at a 80% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 33.61¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a window air conditioner use?: Roughly 691 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.72 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 $127 a year.