What a humidifier costs to run in Virginia
Virginia homes use 164 kWh a year on a humidifier. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $12.38 to $40.53 a year across 12 published Virginia plans — a $28.15 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.
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Every priced plan, average
| Plan | Per year | vs cheapest | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P✓ cheapesttime-of-use · demand charge | $12.38 | — | 9.0¢ |
| Dual Fuel Service Residential Schedule 1DFtime-of-use | $12.59 | +$0.21 | 8.1¢ |
| Basic Residential Rate Schedule 1time-of-use | $17.20 | +$4.82 | 12.0¢ |
| Energy TOU Residential Service Schedule 1Ttime-of-use | $18.41 | +$6.03 | 12.7¢ |
| 1W Residential Service (Time Controlled Storage Water Heating)flat rate · needs electric heating | $19.32 | +$6.94 | 12.2¢ |
| 1S Residential Service (Demand Time-of-Use)time-of-use · demand charge | $21.25 | +$8.87 | 14.1¢ |
| Residential Energy TOU Schedule 1Ttime-of-use | $24.64 | +$12.26 | 16.2¢ |
| 1EV Residential Service with Electric Vehicle Charging (Experimental)time-of-use · experimental | $25.26 | +$12.88 | 16.1¢ |
| Residential Schedule 1time-of-use · tiered | $25.32 | +$12.94 | 16.7¢ |
| Residential Schedule 1G (Experimental Service)time-of-use · experimental | $25.74 | +$13.36 | 16.4¢ |
| EV Residential Electric Vehicle Charging (Experimental)time-of-use · experimental | $30.48 | +$18.10 | 18.9¢ |
| Residential Off-Peak Plantime-of-use | $40.53 | +$28.15 | 25.3¢ |
Cost across usage levels
The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.
- Lighter use — cheapest $4.81 (TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P), dearest $15.70, a $10.89 spread
- Average — cheapest $12.38 (TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P), dearest $40.53, a $28.15 spread
- Heavier use — cheapest $13.08 (TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P), dearest $42.82, a $29.74 spread
What a humidifier costs here
Across 12 plans priced in Virginia, a humidifier adds $12.38 to $40.53 a year — $1.03 to $3.38 a month. The median plan puts a humidifier at $19.83 a year.
Cheapest for a humidifier: TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P, Virginia Electric & Power Co (North Carolina). Dearest: Residential Off-Peak Plan, Virginia Electric & Power Co.
Those 164 kWh are billed at 7.5¢–24.7¢, against a 13.4¢ whole-bill average on the median plan: they land in the last tier the household reaches, so the average rate understates them by up to 11.2¢ per kWh.
What Virginia homes use
EIA's 2020 residential survey found 164 kWh a year across 137 sampled homes that run one, 1.19× the national 139 kWh. The middle half spans 64 kWh to 174 kWh, so a humidifier varies by 110 kWh between one household and another.
Portable and whole-home humidifiers. That average covers homes with a humidifier — 29% of homes here.
That makes a humidifier about 1% of the electricity a Virginia home uses. The remaining 12,773 kWh is what a humidifier is billed on top of, and on a tiered or time-of-use plan that is what sets the rate it meets.
By provider
On each Virginia provider's cheapest plan: Virginia Electric & Power Co (North Carolina), $12.38; Virginia Electric & Power Co, $21.25.
Virginia Electric & Power Co charges $8.87 a year more than Virginia Electric & Power Co (North Carolina) on TOU Residential Service Schedule 1P for the same 164 kWh.
Light and heavy use of a humidifier
A household in the lighter quarter runs a humidifier for 64 kWh a year and pays $4.81 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 174 kWh and pays $13.08 — $8.27 more for a humidifier on the same tariff.
Limits
A 2020 survey average for Virginia, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 12 Virginia tariffs WattClear has ingested — not every plan sold there.
New to these terms? The methodology page explains tiered bands, time-of-use periods and fixed charges, and sets out exactly what the rate engine assumes.
Estimate — your actual bill may differ.
Tariff structures from NREL/OpenEI Utility Rate Database (CC0 1.0), retrieved September 2, 2026.
Location resolved through the US Census Bureau Geocoder (Public domain) at 37.5407, -77.4360.