How much does a space heater cost per month in Pennsylvania?

About $15.65 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 60% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 21.73¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does a space heater use?

Roughly 864 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.90 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

Pennsylvania has the 15th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $158 a year.

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Cost to run a space heater in Pennsylvania (June 2026 rates)

At 21.73¢ per kilowatt-hour — Pennsylvania's average residential price in June 2026 — running a space heater costs $188 a year. That is 18% more than the national average of $158. Pennsylvania's residential rate is up 10.4% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $170 to $188 a year.

Per hour: 19.6¢
Per day of use: $1.56
Per month: $15.65
Per year: $188

Assumption: 1,500 W at a 60% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year — 864 kWh a year. 1,500 W is the ceiling for a 120 V plug-in heater, and nearly every model sold hits it on high. A thermostat changes how often it runs, not how hard. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How Pennsylvania compares

Pennsylvania pays 21.73¢/kWh, the 15th most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $29.29 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same space heater costs $113 a year in Nevada and $456 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $342 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Wisconsin	19.56¢	$14.08	$169
Illinois	19.89¢	$14.32	$172
Pennsylvania	21.73¢	$15.65	$188
Maryland	21.84¢	$15.72	$189
Michigan	22.99¢	$16.55	$199

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

What else costs about the same in Pennsylvania

Portable air conditioner$184 a year in PA Garage refrigerator$196 a year in PA Electric clothes dryer$169 a year in PA

Cutting the number down

Heating one occupied room and letting the rest of the house sit cooler is the whole case for a space heater. Running one in every room costs more than central heat.
Ceramic, oil-filled and infrared heaters all convert essentially 100% of the electricity to heat. At the same wattage the running cost is identical, whatever the box claims.
The cheapest watt is the one you skip: closing the door to the room you are heating does more than any model upgrade.

Questions

How much does a space heater cost per month in Pennsylvania?: About $15.65 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 60% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 21.73¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does a space heater use?: Roughly 864 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.90 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: Pennsylvania has the 15th most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $158 a year.