How much does a chest freezer cost per month in California?

About $7.44 a month, assuming 300 kWh a year at 29.75¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a chest freezer use?

Roughly 300 kWh a year under these assumptions.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

California has the 4th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $54.48 a year.

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Cost to run a chest freezer in California (August 2026 rates)

At 29.75¢ per kilowatt-hour — California's average residential price in August 2026 — running a chest freezer costs $89.25 a year. That is 64% more than the national average of $54.48. California's residential rate is down 3.8% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $92.76 to $89.25 a year.

Per day: 24.5¢
Per month: $7.44
Per year: $89.25

Assumption: 300 kWh a year. A 7 cubic-foot manual-defrost chest freezer. Upright frost-free models run considerably higher. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How California compares

California pays 29.75¢/kWh, the 4th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $34.77 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same chest freezer costs $38.16 a year in Nevada and $142 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $103 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
New York	28.65¢	$7.16	$85.95
Alaska	29.41¢	$7.35	$88.23
California	29.75¢	$7.44	$89.25
Massachusetts	30.48¢	$7.62	$91.44
Maine	32.11¢	$8.03	$96.33

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a chest freezer.

What else costs about the same in California

Dishwasher$92.82 a year in CA Electric oven$99.01 a year in CA Game console$65.15 a year in CA

Cutting the number down

A full freezer holds its temperature through each door opening better than an empty one. Jugs of water are free thermal mass.
Manual-defrost models use less energy than frost-free ones, at the cost of an annual chore.
Keeping it somewhere cool matters: an unconditioned garage in summer raises the running cost all season.

Questions

How much does a chest freezer cost per month in California?: About $7.44 a month, assuming 300 kWh a year at 29.75¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a chest freezer use?: Roughly 300 kWh a year under these assumptions.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: California has the 4th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $54.48 a year.