How Much Does It Cost to Run a Rice Cooker in Colorado? (2026)
A rice cooker draws full power only while bringing water to the boil, then drops to a low keep-warm setting of 30 to 60 watts. A typical cook uses well under 0.3 kWh.
A typical rice cooker (500 W) costs $0.086 per hour, or about $1.28 per month at 0.5 hours a day in Colorado. Cheap to run
| Wattage | Per hour | Per day | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low 300 W | $0.051 | $0.026 | $0.77 | $9.38 |
| Typical 500 W | $0.086 | $0.043 | $1.28 | $15.63 |
| High 1,000 W | $0.17 | $0.086 | $2.57 | $31.26 |
Formula: watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh. Typical use is 0.5 h/day ≈ 91 kWh per year.
One hour of a rice cooker (0.50 kWh) is the same electricity as
- 2.8km in an electric car
- 5.0hours of TV
- 11hours of a laptop
- 56hours of an LED bulb
In Colorado, with electricity at 17.1¢ per kWh (source: EIA Table 5.6.A, 2026-06), a typical rice cooker costs $0.086 per hour and about $15.63 per year at 0.5 hours a day. That is about 7% less than the national average for the US ($1.38 per month), because electricity in Colorado costs 17.1¢ per kWh against 18.3¢ nationally. Each $1.00 of electricity buys roughly 11.7 hours of use.
How to lower the cost of running a rice cooker
- Turn off keep-warm once the rice is done. Over several hours it can use more than the cook itself.
- Cook larger batches and refrigerate leftovers.
- Use the quick cook mode if your cooker has one.
In standby it draws about 1 W, which adds roughly 9 kWh ($1.50) per year if it is never unplugged.
Frequently asked questions
How much electricity does a rice cooker use per batch?
About 0.2 to 0.3 kWh, less than a cent in most regions.
Is a rice cooker cheaper than the stove?
Yes. It is insulated and switches itself down, so it uses less energy than a pot on a burner.
Does keep-warm use a lot of power?
About 40 watts, so leaving it on for 8 hours uses more than cooking the rice.
Cost by region
US states
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Canadian provinces
Related appliances
Use the generic electricity cost calculator · Which uses more? Take the quiz