How much does an aquarium cost per month in District of Columbia?

About $12.80 a month, assuming 150 W at a 45% duty cycle, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 25.98¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does an aquarium use?

Roughly 591 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.07 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

District of Columbia has the 9th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $107 a year.

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Cost to run an aquarium in District of Columbia (August 2026 rates)

At 25.98¢ per kilowatt-hour — District of Columbia's average residential price in August 2026 — running an aquarium costs $154 a year. That is 43% more than the national average of $107. District of Columbia's residential rate is up 12.1% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $137 to $154 a year.

Per hour: 1.8¢
Per day of use: 42.1¢
Per month: $12.80
Per year: $154

Assumption: 150 W at a 45% duty cycle, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year — 591 kWh a year. A 55-gallon tank: heater, filter and light combined, averaged over a day. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How District of Columbia compares

District of Columbia pays 25.98¢/kWh, the 9th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $46.24 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same aquarium costs $75.21 a year in Nevada and $279 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $204 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Connecticut	24.51¢	$12.08	$145
New Jersey	24.61¢	$12.13	$146
District of Columbia	25.98¢	$12.80	$154
New Hampshire	27.64¢	$13.62	$163
Rhode Island	28.18¢	$13.89	$167

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an aquarium.

What else costs about the same in District of Columbia

Gaming pc$152 a year in DC Well pump$142 a year in DC Dehumidifier$140 a year in DC

Cutting the number down

The heater is nearly all of it, and its runtime depends on the room. A tank in a cool room costs more to keep warm.
Insulating the back and sides of the tank cuts heater runtime without changing the view.
A lid limits evaporative heat loss, which is the main way an open tank sheds the warmth you paid for.

Questions

How much does an aquarium cost per month in District of Columbia?: About $12.80 a month, assuming 150 W at a 45% duty cycle, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 25.98¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does an aquarium use?: Roughly 591 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.07 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: District of Columbia has the 9th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $107 a year.