Cost to run

How much does an electric kettle cost to boil?

A kettle applies its full element directly to the water and switches off at the boil, making it the most efficient common way to heat water in small amounts.

Reviewed 2026-07-15 · methodology appliance-energy-1.0.0 · data vintage 2026-04-ytd

Example costs using the Texas state-average rate

These are generated examples for a consistent location. Enter your own ZIP and usage below for a more relevant state-average estimate.

Scenario	Assumption	kWh/month	Monthly range	Most likely/year
A few cups a day	Two quick boils daily, about 8 minutes total	5.85	$0.62–$1.39	$11.44
Tea-drinking household	Five boils daily, about 20 minutes total	14.85	$1.58–$3.53	$29.05
Cooking workhorse	40 minutes daily for drinks and cooking water	30.15	$3.21–$7.17	$58.99

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly Table 5.6.B. Data vintage 2026-04-ytd. State-average pricing is not your exact utility tariff.

Calculate your own usage

Your inputs

ZIP code

Used to pick your state’s average electricity rate. We don’t need your street address.

ApplianceHow manyHours used per day (optional)

Leave blank to use a typical default for this appliance.

Rated watts (from the appliance label)Duty cycle (0–1; share of time drawing full power)Days per month

Your estimate — a range, confidence level, and the sources behind it — will appear here.

Why kettles win at heating water

The immersed element transfers nearly all its output straight into the water, and the automatic cutoff stops spending the moment the boil is reached. Stovetop pots on resistance burners lose heat around the sides doing the same job.

Boil only the water you need

Energy scales directly with volume: a full two-liter boil for one mug wastes most of the heat down the drain or to the countertop. Filling to the one-cup line is the single cheapest habit change this page can recommend.

Variable-temperature and keep-warm features

Gooseneck and tea kettles with temperature holds trade a small ongoing draw for convenience, which these boil-and-stop scenarios exclude. North American 120-volt kettles top out near 1,500 watts, so they simply take longer than higher-voltage kettles abroad, at similar energy per liter.

Frequently asked questions

Is a kettle cheaper than the microwave for hot water?

Per liter they are close, with the kettle usually slightly ahead and much faster. Both beat heating water in an open pot on a resistance burner.

How much does one boil actually cost?

A minutes-long boil is a small fraction of a kilowatt-hour. Use the few-cups scenario above to see the monthly engine-calculated total at the reference rate.

Does keep-warm mode change the picture?

Holding temperature for long stretches adds steady low-level draw that can rival the boils themselves. Reboiling a needed cup is often cheaper than an hour of holding.

Related appliance cost guides

Compare all published appliances · Electricity rates in your state · Read the methodology · Review the data sources