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Cost to run an electric water heater in Delaware (August 2026 rates)
At 18.70¢ per kilowatt-hour — Delaware's average residential price in August 2026 — running an electric water heater costs $654 a year. That is 3% more than the national average of $636. Delaware's residential rate is up 11.0% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $590 to $654 a year.
- Per day
- $1.79
- Per month
- $54.54
- Per year
- $654
Assumption: 3,500 kWh a year. A 50-gallon resistance tank for a household of three or four. This is typically the largest or second-largest electric load in a home without electric heat. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
Related calculators: work out whether a heat-pump water heater pays back.
How Delaware compares
Delaware pays 18.70¢/kWh, the 19th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $18.90 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same electric water heater costs $445 a year in Nevada and $1,651 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $1,206 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota | 17.20¢ | $50.17 | $602 |
| Virginia | 17.64¢ | $51.45 | $617 |
| Delaware | 18.70¢ | $54.54 | $654 |
| Illinois | 19.32¢ | $56.35 | $676 |
| Ohio | 19.38¢ | $56.52 | $678 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an electric water heater.
What else costs about the same in Delaware
Cutting the number down
- A heat-pump water heater does the same job for roughly a third of the electricity, which is why it usually pays back faster than any other upgrade in the house.
- Dropping the setpoint from 140 F to 120 F cuts standby losses and scalding risk at once.
- An insulating blanket on an older tank pays for itself in a season; check the manufacturer's guidance first.
Questions
- How much does an electric water heater cost per month in Delaware?
- About $54.54 a month, assuming 3,500 kWh a year at 18.70¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does an electric water heater use?
- Roughly 3,500 kWh a year under these assumptions.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Delaware has the 19th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $636 a year.