How much does it cost to run a crypto mining rig?
We've pre-filled a typical crypto mining rig below. Set your electricity rate and adjust the hours to match how you use yours — the cost updates instantly.
A crypto mining rig doesn't cycle on and off like an appliance — it's a flat-out, 24/7 industrial load the moment you start it. A typical GPU or ASIC rig pulls around 3,000 watts continuously, the same draw as running two space heaters nonstop, forever. There's no thermostat backing it off at night and no idle mode: the chips are either hashing at full power or they're off, so the wattage on the box is basically the wattage you're paying for, all day, every day.
That constant draw is what separates mining from almost everything else in your house on a cost basis — an oven or a dryer runs hot for an hour and stops; a rig runs hot for the entire month. At 3,000W around the clock, a rig can add more to your electric bill than every other appliance in the home combined, and the math scales directly with two things you control: how many watts the rig actually pulls under load, and what your utility charges per kWh at the time you're running it.
What drives the cost of running a crypto mining rig
- Continuous 24/7 runtime — unlike almost any other appliance on the site, a rig has no off-cycle, so hours/day is fixed near the max instead of being the main lever.
- Rig wattage varies 3x across common setups (1,200-4,000W) depending on whether it's a single ASIC, a GPU rig, or a multi-card farm — this is the biggest cost swing, bigger than most people's electric rate.
- Your local electricity rate matters more here than for any typical appliance, since the load is constant — a few cents per kWh difference compounds over 720+ hours a month.
How to cut it
- Undervolt or power-limit the GPUs/ASIC in software — most rigs lose only a few percent hashrate for a 15-20% drop in watts, which is pure margin back on your bill.
- Shift heavy mining hours to off-peak or time-of-use windows if your utility has them, since a 24/7 load is the single biggest thing a variable rate structure can swing.
- Recover the waste heat instead of fighting it — vent the rig to displace space heating in winter, since you're paying for that heat output either way.
- Retire or resell inefficient hardware; older GPUs and ASICs often cost more in electricity than the crypto they produce at typical residential rates.
Common questions
How much does it cost to run a crypto mining rig per month?
At a typical 3,000W and about 24 hours a day, a crypto mining rig costs roughly $367 a month at $0.17/kWh. Set your own rate and hours above for an exact figure.
How can I cut the cost of running a crypto mining rig?
Undervolt or power-limit the GPUs/ASIC in software — most rigs lose only a few percent hashrate for a 15-20% drop in watts, which is pure margin back on your bill.
Is mining crypto at home electricity rates actually profitable?
It depends entirely on your rate and the hardware. At a typical US residential rate, a 3,000W rig running 24/7 costs roughly $200-450/month in electricity alone (more in high-cost states, less on cheap or off-peak rates) — before you count what the mined coin is actually worth. Many home miners on standard residential rates are running at a loss once electricity is priced in; it usually only pencils out with industrial/wholesale power rates or free/subsidized electricity.
Does a mining rig cost more to run than it shows on the box?
Usually a little more. The number on a GPU or ASIC spec sheet is the chip draw, but the wall-plug total also includes PSU inefficiency (typically 5-10% lost as heat) and any case fans or cooling running alongside it. If you're estimating cost, measuring actual draw at the wall with a plug meter is more accurate than trusting the rated wattage.
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