How much does it cost to run a TV?
About $2.49 a month on the typical usage below, at the U.S. average $0.1816/kWh. Set your own rate and usage and the figure updates instantly.
This is about the electricity cost of running a TV, not the price of buying one — a 55-inch LED typically retails for $300–$800.
A modern 55-inch LED TV draws ~50–200W — far less than people expect.
Running a television at 90W for 5 h a day costs about
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A modern flat-screen TV is cheap to run. A 55-inch LED draws somewhere around 60–120W — less than an old incandescent bulb or two — so even hours of watching every evening costs only a few dollars a month.
The two things that move the number are size and brightness: a big, bright OLED or a wall-sized set in 'vivid' mode pulls several times what a modest screen in a normal picture mode does.
What drives the cost of running a TV
- Screen size and type — bigger and brighter (and OLED/8K) means more watts.
- Picture mode: 'vivid'/'dynamic' and high brightness pull noticeably more than 'standard'/'eco'.
- Hours watched, plus a sliver of standby when it's 'off'.
How to cut it
- Switch to the 'eco' or 'standard' picture mode and turn brightness down a notch.
- Turn on the ambient-light sensor so it dims in a dark room.
- Don't leave it playing to an empty room; use the sleep timer.
Data basis
- Electricity price
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B, June 2026 year to date, released 2026-08-26. Retrieved 2026-09-11. Average residential revenue per kWh. A benchmark average, not a utility tariff — it excludes the fixed charges, tiers, time-of-use windows, taxes and fuel adjustments on a real bill.
- Appliance energy
- A representative running power for a TV, compiled from published manufacturer specifications and public appliance-energy guidance, and presented as a typical figure with the usual range shown above. It is not a measurement of your unit, and we do not claim a single primary source for it — the nameplate on your appliance, or an hour with a plug-in energy meter, beats any typical figure we can publish.
- Usage model
- Steady load — 90W for 5 h a day
- International prices
- rounded typical household tariffs for each market, in that market's own currency unless the row says US$ equivalent. These are planning benchmarks with no single primary source; enter the per-kWh price from your own bill for an accurate figure.
- Last reviewed
- 20 August 2026. Next scheduled review 20 February 2027.
- Corrections
- Think a figure is wrong? Tell us at corrections@watt-dollar.com and see our corrections policy.
Common questions
How much does it cost to run a TV per month?
On the assumption shown above — 90W for 5 h a day — a TV costs about $2.49 a month, or $29.83 a year, at $0.1816/kWh. That price is the U.S. average; set your own rate and usage above and the figure updates.
How is that worked out?
Power drawn while running x hours run per day. At 90W for 5 h a day that is 0.45 kWh a day, which at $0.1816/kWh costs $0.08 a day.
How can I cut the cost of running a TV?
Switch to the 'eco' or 'standard' picture mode and turn brightness down a notch. As a worked example: running it 4 h a day instead of 5 h takes it from $29.83 to $23.86 a year, about $5.97 less.