# How much does my little cube heater cost to use per hour? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706 "2007-02-03T22:40:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/1 "2007-02-03T22:40:25Z")
Let’s say it’s rated to 1500 watts and my [current electric rate](http://www.delmarva.com/home/choice/md/compare/) is 10 cents per kilowatt hour. Is it approximately 15 cents per hour? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/2 "2007-02-03T22:46:18Z")
Correct, IF it is actually energized the whole hour. Most heaters have some sort of thermostat & the heating coils are not running full blast the whole time. So 15 cents/hour would be pretty much the upper limit on cost. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2007, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/3 "2007-02-03T22:47:46Z")
[QUOTE=astro] Is it approximately 15 cents per hour? [/QUOTE] Yep. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/4 "2007-02-04T02:59:31Z")
It doesn’t sound like much. Until you add it up. If you have it on for 8 hours per day, it’s over $400/year. If you have it on for 24 hours per day, it’s over $1300/year. ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetterAssortment](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RandomLetterAssortment](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetterAssortment)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/5 "2007-02-04T15:39:20Z")
Of course, who would run a space heater year round? Even 8 hours a day would seem a bit much, unless you do something silly like run it while you are sleeping. ---
**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/6 "2007-02-04T20:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=Crafter\_Man] It doesn’t sound like much. Until you add it up. If you have it on for 8 hours per day, it’s over $400/year. If you have it on for 24 hours per day, it’s over $1300/year. [/QUOTE] Operating Astro’s space heater all “year” on Pluto–where a year is 248.6 Earth years long–would result in an even higher bill. Note: Pluto is not a planet. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/7 "2007-02-04T20:45:37Z")
Using [UK production figures](http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmenvaud/584/584we34.htm), that heater would also cause the emission of just over 600g of CO[sub]2[/sub] per hour. The figure might be lower in the US due to greater use of nuclear power (?). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2007, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-much-does-my-little-cube-heater-cost-to-use-per-hour/390706/8 "2007-02-04T21:26:12Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Using [UK production figures](http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmenvaud/584/584we34.htm), that heater would also cause the emission of just over 600g of CO[sub]2[/sub] per hour. The figure might be lower in the US due to greater use of nuclear power (?). [/QUOTE] Try France for nukes. [Says MSN:](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16554514/) > [@](#): > > Today, France gets nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power while the United States is far down the list at 20 percent. [http://www.nei.org/doc.asp?catnum=2&catid=106](http://www.nei.org/doc.asp?catnum=2&catid=106) > [@](#): > > Countries generating the largest percentage of their electricity in 2005 from nuclear energy were: France, 78.5 percent; Lithuania, 69.6 percent; Slovakia, 56.1 percent; Belgium 55.6 percent; Ukraine, 48.5 percent; Sweden, 46.7 percent; Republic of Korea, 44.7 percent; Bulgaria, 44.1 percent; Slovenia, 42.4 percent; Hungary, 37.2 percent; and Finland, 32.9 percent.