Cost to run an aquarium in Texas (June 2026 rates)
At 15.94¢ per kilowatt-hour — Texas's average residential price in June 2026 — running an aquarium costs $94.25 a year. That is 13% less than the national average of $108. Texas's residential rate is up 4.5% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $90.23 to $94.25 a year.
- Per hour
- 1.1¢
- Per day of use
- 25.8¢
- Per month
- $7.85
- Per year
- $94.25
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 Texas compares
Texas pays 15.94¢/kWh, the 24th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $14.19 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same aquarium costs $77.52 a year in Nevada and $312 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $234 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | 15.71¢ | $7.74 | $92.89 |
| Iowa | 15.93¢ | $7.85 | $94.19 |
| Texas | 15.94¢ | $7.85 | $94.25 |
| Missouri | 16.22¢ | $7.99 | $95.91 |
| Oregon | 16.32¢ | $8.04 | $96.50 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an aquarium.
What else costs about the same in Texas
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 Texas?
- About $7.85 a month, assuming 150 W at a 45% duty cycle, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 15.94¢/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?
- Texas has the 24th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $108 a year.