At the U.S. average price of 18.31¢ per kWh. Your state's price changes these numbers; use the calculator.
Work out your cost
Change any number. The price per kWh is on your electric bill.
Starts at the U.S. average residential price, 18.31¢/kWh (July 2026, EIA, checked Oct 22, 2026). Month is 30 days; year is 12 such months.
The formula
cost = watts × hours ÷ 1,000 × price per kWh
Worked example: 1,200 W × 24 h ÷ 1,000 = 28.8 kWh a day. 28.8 kWh × $0.1831 = $5.27 a day, or about $158 over 30 days.
How many watts does a crypto mining rig use?
Most are rated 140 to 3,500 W. The exact figure is on the label on the back or bottom.
- GPU figures are NVIDIA's rated graphics card power: 200 W for an RTX 3060 Ti, 320 W for an RTX 3080, 350 W for an RTX 3080 Ti and 450 W total graphics power for an RTX 4090. A six-card rig of 200 W cards is 1,200 W of graphics power before the motherboard, CPU, fans and power supply losses, so the wall reading is higher.
- NVIDIA lists the RTX 4090 at 315 W average gaming power against its 450 W rating, so a card's real draw depends on load and power limit. Many miners lower the power limit. A plug-in energy meter or the PDU reading shows your actual kWh.
- ASIC Bitcoin miners publish wall power: the Canaan Avalon Nano 3S is rated 140 W maximum, and Bitmain lists the Antminer S21 (200 TH/s) at 3,500 W at 25°C on a 220 to 277 V supply.
- A rig that runs 3 hours or more is a continuous load under the National Electrical Code, so the circuit breaker should be rated at least 125% of the load. A 1,200 W rig on 120 V draws 10 A.
Cost at different electricity prices
| Use | Louisiana (lowest state)12.72¢/kWh | U.S. average18.31¢/kWh | New York29.90¢/kWh | California33.61¢/kWh | Hawaii (highest state)48.00¢/kWh |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avalon Nano 3S desktop miner (140 W), 24 h/day101 kWh a month | $12.82$154/yr | $18.46$221/yr | $30.14$362/yr | $33.88$407/yr | $48.38$581/yr |
| One RTX 3080 (320 W), 24 h/day230 kWh a month | $29.31$352/yr | $42.19$506/yr | $68.89$827/yr | $77.44$929/yr | $111$1,327/yr |
| One RTX 4090 at full rating (450 W), 24 h/day324 kWh a month | $41.21$495/yr | $59.32$712/yr | $96.88$1,163/yr | $109$1,307/yr | $156$1,866/yr |
| Six 200 W GPUs (1,200 W), 24 h/day864 kWh a month | $110$1,319/yr | $158$1,898/yr | $258$3,100/yr | $290$3,485/yr | $415$4,977/yr |
| Antminer S21 (3,500 W), 24 h/day2,520 kWh a month | $321$3,847/yr | $461$5,537/yr | $753$9,042/yr | $847$10,164/yr | $1,210$14,515/yr |
Per month (30 days) and per year (12 such months). Real use is usually seasonal. Average residential prices for July 2026 from the same EIA table. Your utility's rate, including delivery charges, may differ. Check the price per kWh on your bill.
Ways to pay less
- Find your own price per kWh first Rates run from 12.72¢/kWh in Louisiana to 48.00¢/kWh in Hawaii (EIA, July 2026), so the same 1,200 W rig costs about $110 a month in Louisiana and $415 in Hawaii. Use the all-in price from your bill, including delivery charges.
- Check for a time-of-use rate Some utilities charge less overnight. The DOE and NREL Utility Rate Database lists tariffs by utility, including time-of-use plans, so you can see whether pausing during peak hours would pay.
- Count the heat in winter Electric resistance devices turn all the electricity they use into heat (DOE), and a mining rig is no different. In a room you would heat with a space heater anyway, the rig's heat offsets some of that cost. In summer it adds to your cooling load instead.
- Measure, don't guess Rated wattage is a maximum for some parts and a typical figure for others. An inexpensive plug-in meter on a 120 V rig gives real kWh over a full day, which is the number to multiply by your rate.
Safety. Run each rig on a circuit sized for a continuous load (breaker at least 125% of the draw), plug power supplies into a wall outlet or a rated PDU rather than a chain of power strips, and keep intake and exhaust clear. 240 V miners such as the Antminer S21 need a dedicated 240 V circuit installed by an electrician.
Questions
How much does it cost to run a mining rig for 24 hours?
A 1,200 W rig uses 28.8 kWh in 24 hours, which is about $5.27 at the U.S. average residential rate of 18.31¢/kWh (EIA, July 2026). A single 320 W RTX 3080 is about $1.41 a day and a 3,500 W Antminer S21 about $15.38 a day.
How much does it cost to run a GPU mining rig per month?
Running all day for 30 days, one RTX 3080 (320 W) is about $42.19, one RTX 4090 at its 450 W rating about $59.32, and six 200 W cards about $158 at 18.31¢/kWh. Add the rest of the system for the wall total.
Does a mining rig use a lot of electricity?
Yes, compared with anything else that stays on all day. A 1,200 W rig uses about 864 kWh in 30 days, close to the roughly 899 kWh a month EIA says the average U.S. home used in 2022. An Antminer S21 uses about 2,520 kWh in 30 days.
Is mining Bitcoin at home profitable?
Only at low electricity prices with an efficient miner. On Oct 23, 2026 the network paid about $0.0366 per TH/s per day before pool fees (mempool.space and CoinGecko data). An Antminer S21 at 200 TH/s earned about $7.31 a day gross while using $15.38 of power at the U.S. average rate; its breakeven was about 8.70¢/kWh. These numbers move with the Bitcoin price and network difficulty.
Can you still mine Ethereum with a GPU?
No. Ethereum moved from proof of work to proof of stake in The Merge on September 15, 2022, which cut its energy use by about 99.95% (ethereum.org). GPU rigs now mine other proof-of-work coins, so check current payouts against the power cost above before running one.
Mining rig vs space heater: which costs more to run?
Per watt they cost the same. A 1,500 W rig and a 1,500 W space heater both use 36 kWh a day and turn nearly all of it into heat. The difference is that the rig also earns something, which can offset part of the bill in a room you would heat anyway.
Sources
- U.S. EIA: Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A: Average price of electricity by state, July 2026 (released Sept 24, 2026). Used for: U.S. average residential rate (18.31¢/kWh) and state rates
- NVIDIA: GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and 3060 specifications. Used for: RTX 3060 Ti graphics card power 200 W
- NVIDIA: GeForce RTX 3080 and 3080 Ti specifications. Used for: Graphics card power 320 W (RTX 3080) and 350 W (RTX 3080 Ti)
- NVIDIA: GeForce RTX 4090 specifications. Used for: 450 W total graphics power, 315 W average gaming power
- Canaan: Avalon Nano 3S product page. Used for: 140 W maximum power (page blocks automated checks; specs confirmed via search index)
- Bitmain: Antminer S21 specification. Used for: 200 TH/s, 3,500 W at the wall at 25°C, 220 to 277 V (page blocks automated checks; specs confirmed via search index)
- mempool.space REST API (difficulty, block height, fees). Used for: Network hashrate and fees behind the Oct 23, 2026 hashprice
- CoinGecko: Bitcoin price in USD. Used for: Bitcoin price behind the Oct 23, 2026 hashprice
- ethereum.org: The Merge. Used for: Ethereum's move to proof of stake on Sept 15, 2022 and the ~99.95% energy reduction
- Electrical Contractor magazine: continuous loads under the NEC (125% rule). Used for: Loads running 3 hours or more are continuous; breaker at least 125% of the load
- U.S. DOE Energy Saver: electric resistance heating (archived copy). Used for: Resistance heat converts all the electricity it uses into heat
- OpenEI Utility Rate Database (U.S. DOE / NREL). Used for: Looking up your utility's tariff, including time-of-use rates
- U.S. EIA: FAQ: How much electricity does an American home use?. Used for: Average U.S. residential customer about 899 kWh a month in 2022