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Cost to run a window air conditioner in Hawaii (August 2026 rates)
At 47.18¢ per kilowatt-hour — Hawaii's average residential price in August 2026 — running a window air conditioner costs $326 a year. That is 160% more than the national average of $126. Hawaii's residential rate is up 22.5% from August 2025, which moves this appliance from $266 to $326 a year.
- Per hour
- 34.0¢
- Per day of use
- $2.72
- Per month
- $27.18
- Per year
- $326
Assumption: 900 W at a 80% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year — 691 kWh a year. Typical of a 10,000 BTU window unit. Small 5,000 BTU units draw closer to 500 W; 15,000 BTU units closer to 1,400 W. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.
How Hawaii compares
Hawaii pays 47.18¢/kWh, the most expensive residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $201 more a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same window air conditioner costs $87.92 a year in Nevada and $326 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $238 a year.
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | 29.41¢ | $16.94 | $203 |
| California | 29.75¢ | $17.14 | $206 |
| Massachusetts | 30.48¢ | $17.56 | $211 |
| Maine | 32.11¢ | $18.50 | $222 |
| Hawaii | 47.18¢ | $27.18 | $326 |
States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for a window air conditioner.
What else costs about the same in Hawaii
Cutting the number down
- Sealing the gaps around the sleeve with foam matters more than the unit's efficiency rating. Warm air leaking back in is load you pay to remove twice.
- An inverter model modulates instead of slamming on and off, which shows up as a lower effective duty cycle rather than a lower nameplate watt.
- Shading the outdoor half of the unit lowers the temperature it rejects heat into, which lowers the work it has to do.
Questions
- How much does a window air conditioner cost per month in Hawaii?
- About $27.18 a month, assuming 900 W at a 80% duty cycle, 8 hours a day, 120 days a year at 47.18¢/kWh.
- How many kilowatt-hours does a window air conditioner use?
- Roughly 691 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.72 kWh for every hour it runs.
- Is that expensive compared with other states?
- Hawaii has the most expensive average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs more here than the U.S. average of $126 a year.