Heat pump water heater vs Portable AC: 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.
Heat pump water heater
- Typical watts
- 450 W
- Hours/day
- 3
- Monthly est.
- $7.28
- kWh/mo
- 40.5
Portable AC
- Typical watts
- 1200 W
- Hours/day
- 8
- Monthly est.
- $51.78
- kWh/mo
- 288.0
Portable AC is estimated to cost more per month at typical use.