How much does an incandescent bulb cost per month in Rhode Island?

About $2.57 a month, assuming 60 W, 5 hours a day, 365 days a year at 28.18¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does an incandescent bulb use?

Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.06 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

Rhode Island has the 7th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.

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Cost to run an incandescent bulb in Rhode Island (August 2026 rates)

At 28.18¢ per kilowatt-hour — Rhode Island's average residential price in August 2026 — running an incandescent bulb costs $30.86 a year. That is 55% more than the national average of $19.89. Rhode Island's residential rate is up 6.2% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $29.05 to $30.86 a year.

Per hour: 1.7¢
Per day of use: 8.5¢
Per month: $2.57
Per year: $30.86

Assumption: 60 W, 5 hours a day, 365 days a year — 110 kWh a year. A 60 W bulb producing roughly the same 800 lumens as a 9 W LED. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How Rhode Island compares

Rhode Island pays 28.18¢/kWh, the 7th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $10.97 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same incandescent bulb costs $13.93 a year in Nevada and $51.66 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $37.73 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
District of Columbia	25.98¢	$2.37	$28.45
New Hampshire	27.64¢	$2.52	$30.27
Rhode Island	28.18¢	$2.57	$30.86
New York	28.65¢	$2.61	$31.37
Alaska	29.41¢	$2.68	$32.20

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an incandescent bulb.

What else costs about the same in Rhode Island

Microwave$30.86 a year in RI Electric kettle$30.86 a year in RI Box fan$31.70 a year in RI

Cutting the number down

The comparison is the point: identical light, nearly seven times the electricity, for the whole life of the bulb.
Replacing the handful of bulbs that burn the most hours captures most of the available saving immediately.

Questions

How much does an incandescent bulb cost per month in Rhode Island?: About $2.57 a month, assuming 60 W, 5 hours a day, 365 days a year at 28.18¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does an incandescent bulb use?: Roughly 110 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.06 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: Rhode Island has the 7th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $19.89 a year.