Cost to run an aquarium in Ohio (August 2026 rates)
At 19.38¢ per kilowatt-hour — Ohio's average residential price in August 2026 — running an aquarium costs $115 a year. That is 7% more than the national average of $107. Ohio's residential rate is up 10.4% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $104 to $115 a year.
- Per hour
- 1.3¢
- Per day of use
- 31.4¢
- Per month
- $9.55
- Per year
- $115
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 Ohio compares
Ohio pays 19.38¢/kWh, the 17th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $7.21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | 18.70¢ | $9.21 | $111 |
| Illinois | 19.32¢ | $9.52 | $114 |
| Ohio | 19.38¢ | $9.55 | $115 |
| Wisconsin | 19.41¢ | $9.56 | $115 |
| Maryland | 21.40¢ | $10.54 | $127 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an aquarium.
What else costs about the same in Ohio
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 Ohio?
- About $9.55 a month, assuming 150 W at a 45% duty cycle, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 19.38¢/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?
- Ohio has the 17th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $107 a year.