Electric water heater vs Window AC unit: which costs more to run? (2026)
Estimates use U.S. average $0.180 $/kWh, typical wattage, and typical hours/day from our catalog. Adjust on each appliance page.
Electric water heater
- Typical watts
- 4500 W
- Hours/day
- 3
- Monthly est.
- $72.81
- kWh/mo
- 405.0
Window AC unit
- Typical watts
- 1000 W
- Hours/day
- 8
- Monthly est.
- $43.15
- kWh/mo
- 240.0
Electric water heater is estimated to cost more per month at typical use.