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How Much Does It Cost to Run a Garage Door Opener in the US? (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 $0.090 per hour, or about $0.054 per month at 0.02 hours a day in United States (average). Cheap to run
| Wattage | Per hour | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low (300 W) | $0.054 | $0.001 | $0.032 | $0.39 |
| Typical (500 W) | $0.090 | $0.002 | $0.054 | $0.66 |
| High (800 W) | $0.14 | $0.003 | $0.086 | $1.05 |
Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 0.02 h/day ≈ 4 kWh per year.
In the US, with electricity at $0.18 per kWh (source: EIA Electric Power Monthly, 2026-06), a typical garage door opener costs $0.090 per hour and about $0.66 per year at 0.02 hours a day. Each $1.00 of electricity buys roughly 11.1 hours of use.
How to lower the cost of running a garage door opener
- Choose an opener with a low standby rating when replacing.
- Replace the incandescent bulbs in the opener with LED.
- Nothing else. The motor cost is negligible.
In standby it draws about 5 W, which adds roughly 44 kWh ($7.88) 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
- United States (average)
- California
- Texas
- New York
- Florida
- Canada (average)
- United Kingdom
- Germany
- France
- Australia
- India