How Much Does It Cost to Run a Garage Door Opener in Connecticut? (2026)

A garage door opener runs for about 15 seconds per cycle, so the motor uses almost nothing. Its standby draw of 3 to 8 watts, waiting for the remote, is the real cost.

A typical garage door opener (500 W) costs $0.12 per hour, or about $0.073 per month at 0.02 hours a day in Connecticut. Cheap to run

Hours used per day
WattagePer hourPer dayPer monthPer year
Low 300 W$0.073$0.001$0.044$0.53
Typical 500 W$0.12$0.002$0.073$0.89
High 800 W$0.19$0.004$0.12$1.42

Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 0.02 h/day ≈ 4 kWh per year.

One hour of a garage door opener (0.50 kWh) is the same electricity as

Electricity per year at typical use, on a log scale: #1 of 95 appliances, from least to most.

In Connecticut, with electricity at 24.3¢ per kWh (source: EIA Table 5.6.A, 2026-06), a typical garage door opener costs $0.12 per hour and about $0.89 per year at 0.02 hours a day. That is about 33% more than the national average for the US ($0.055 per month), because electricity in Connecticut costs 24.3¢ per kWh against 18.3¢ nationally. Each $1.00 of electricity buys roughly 8.2 hours of use.

How to lower the cost of running a garage door opener

In standby it draws about 5 W, which adds roughly 44 kWh ($10.65) per year if it is never unplugged.

Frequently asked questions

How much electricity does a garage door opener use?

Around 30 to 70 kWh a year, nearly all of it standby.

Does a garage door opener use power when idle?

Yes, 3 to 8 watts continuously.

How much does one open and close cost?

A fraction of a cent. Fifteen seconds at 500 watts is 0.002 kWh.

Cost by region

US states
Canadian provinces

Related appliances

Use the generic electricity cost calculator · Which uses more? Take the quiz