Cost to run · Hawaii · 46.6¢/kWh residential average

How much does it cost to run a room air conditioner in Hawaii?

$248/yr · median certified model

Hawaii is the extreme case for U.S. electricity costs: 46.6¢/kWh, roughly 2.5× the national average. The median certified room air conditioner costs about $248 a year here — the same appliance would cost $100 at national-average rates. In this rate environment, the gap between an efficient and an inefficient room air conditioner is often larger than the appliance's purchase-price difference over its lifetime.

Hawaii sits at rank 51 of 51 — near the very top of the cost table for a room air conditioner. Model choice matters as much as geography: at Hawaii rates the most efficient certified model (TCL T05WV9M) costs $128 a year while the most power-hungry (Friedrich KCVL36B30A) costs $977 — a spread of $850 every year. For reference, the national extremes are North Dakota (12.3¢/kWh) and Hawaii (46.6¢/kWh); the same median room air conditioner would cost $66 and $248 a year there.