How many watts does an evaporative cooler use?
An evaporative cooler uses 100–600 W (about 300 W on average). Running 8 hours/day, that is about 2.40 kWh a day and 72.0 kWh a month — roughly $13.18 a month at the U.S. average rate of 18.31 ¢/kWh.
This is the evaporative cooler electricity usage reference: watts, amps on a 120 V circuit, the kWh math, and links to what that usage costs in each state.
Watts, amps, and kWh for an evaporative cooler
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Rated wattage range | 100–600 W |
| Average draw used in our math | 300 W |
| Amps at 120 V | 0.8–5 A (2.5 A at the average draw) |
| kWh per hour | 0.30 kWh |
| kWh per day at 8 hours/day | 2.40 kWh |
| kWh per month | 72.0 kWh |
| Cost per month at the U.S. average (18.31 ¢/kWh) | $13.18 |
The math is kWh = watts × hours ÷ 1000 and amps = watts ÷ volts. A standard 120 V household circuit on a 15 A breaker carries about 1,800 W. For the dollars in your state, open cost to run an evaporative cooler in Texas and switch states from there.
Evaporative Cooler electricity usage profile
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| kWh per hour | 0.30 kWh |
| kWh per day (typical) | 2.40 kWh |
| kWh per month (typical) | 72.0 kWh |
| kWh per year (typical) | 876.0 kWh |
| Low runtime scenario | 4 hours/day |
| High runtime scenario | 12 hours/day |
Connect usage to cost tools
Related appliance usage pages
Source & Method
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) Retail Sales of Electricity. Last dataset period: July 2026. Usage calculations use fixed appliance wattage and runtime assumptions so results stay comparable across pages.
Frequently asked questions
How many watts does an evaporative cooler use?
An evaporative cooler uses 100–600 W (about 300 W on average). Our usage and cost math uses 300 watts running 8 hours/day.
How many amps does an evaporative cooler draw?
On a 120 V circuit, 100–600 W works out to about 0.8–5 A; at the 300 W we use in the math that is 2.5 A.
How much electricity does an evaporative cooler use per month?
About 72.0 kWh a month at 8 hours/day. Lighter use (4 hours/day) comes to roughly 36.0 kWh and heavier use (12 hours/day) roughly 108.0 kWh.
How much does it cost to run an evaporative cooler?
About $13.18 a month at the U.S. average rate of 18.31 ¢/kWh — from roughly $9.16 in Louisiana to $34.56 in Hawaii at the same usage. The state cost-to-run pages price it at every state's rate.