How much does an electric baseboard heater cost per month in North Carolina?

About $16.82 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 50% duty cycle, 12 hours a day, 150 days a year at 14.95¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does an electric baseboard heater use?

Roughly 1,350 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.75 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

North Carolina has the 14th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $245 a year.

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Cost to run an electric baseboard heater in North Carolina (August 2026 rates)

At 14.95¢ per kilowatt-hour — North Carolina's average residential price in August 2026 — running an electric baseboard heater costs $202 a year. That is 18% less than the national average of $245. North Carolina's residential rate is up 2.5% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $197 to $202 a year.

Per hour: 11.2¢
Per day of use: $1.35
Per month: $16.82
Per year: $202

Assumption: 1,500 W at a 50% duty cycle, 12 hours a day, 150 days a year — 1,350 kWh a year. Per 6-foot section. A whole house typically has several running at once, so multiply by the number of sections in use. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How North Carolina compares

North Carolina pays 14.95¢/kWh, the 14th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $43.34 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same electric baseboard heater costs $172 a year in Nevada and $637 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $465 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Washington	14.63¢	$16.46	$198
Oklahoma	14.82¢	$16.67	$200
North Carolina	14.95¢	$16.82	$202
Florida	14.99¢	$16.86	$202
Arizona	15.05¢	$16.93	$203

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

What else costs about the same in North Carolina

Pool pump$258 a year in NC Garage refrigerator$135 a year in NC Space heater$129 a year in NC

Cutting the number down

Resistance heat is 1 kWh in, 1 kWh of heat out. There is no efficiency upgrade available; the only lever is running fewer of them, less often.
Furniture pushed against a baseboard blocks convection and makes the thermostat run the element longer.
Zoning by room is the built-in advantage. Turning unused rooms down to 55 F is where the savings live.

Questions

How much does an electric baseboard heater cost per month in North Carolina?: About $16.82 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 50% duty cycle, 12 hours a day, 150 days a year at 14.95¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does an electric baseboard heater use?: Roughly 1,350 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.75 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: North Carolina has the 14th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $245 a year.