What does it cost to run your appliances?
Watts, hours and your own electricity rate, turned into a yearly figure. Every guide shows the arithmetic and states what it assumed.
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Read the guide →Topic links open the site search pre-filled with the phrase that produced the count.
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Water heater leaking from the top usually means a loose fitting or valve; from the bottom is more serious. How to tell the zones apart and fix each safely.
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HVAC system cost by equipment type and size, from a furnace-only swap to a full ducted heat pump install, and the factors that move the price up or down.
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HVAC system cost for a 1,000 square foot home, broken down by equipment type, climate zone, and ductwork condition, with a calculator and a worked example.
Home gearNew HVAC System Cost for a 1,500 Sq Ft House
HVAC system cost for a 1,500 square foot home, broken down by equipment type, layout, and ductwork condition, with an installed-cost calculator and example.
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A new HVAC system cost calculator walkthrough: build your own installed-cost estimate step by step from home size, climate zone, equipment type, and ducts.
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Heat pump not warming the house, worked cheapest cause first: thermostat mode, the breaker, a frosted outdoor unit, stuck backup heat, and the reversing valve
How the numbers are worked out
Every figure here is arithmetic you can repeat yourself: wattage, hours of use, and your own rate per kilowatt-hour.
- Where the numbers come fromWe start from an appliance's rated wattage or a typical figure for its class, apply the hours it actually runs, and price it at a stated rate per kilowatt-hour. These are calculations, not measurements of a specific unit.
- Why the figures are illustrativeRates, runtimes and models vary, so worked examples are labelled as illustrative and name the price, wattage and rate they used. Change any input and the answer changes with it.
- How we make moneyAt the time of writing this site carries no affiliate links and no advertising. No link earns a commission and no company pays for coverage. If that ever changes, the disclosure page will say so first and any paid link will be marked where it appears.
BenchNest covers the home appliances that quietly run up a power bill. The figures are calculated from wattage and hours, not measured, and each guide states the numbers it started from.
- Wattage in, kilowatt-hours outRated or typical draw, multiplied by the hours the appliance actually runs.
- Priced at your own rateExamples use a rate of $0.16 per kilowatt-hour unless a guide says otherwise. Yours is on your bill.
- Assumptions written downHours, rate and any consumable cost appear next to the answer, so you can redo it.
Running-cost breakdowns as we publish them. No spam.
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Tell us which appliances you care about and we will email you the running-cost breakdown for them: what they draw, what the filters and consumables cost, and what that adds up to a year. We do not test or buy appliances, and we name no brands.