What a microwave costs to run in Ohio
Ohio homes use 108 kWh a year on a microwave. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $7.63 to $10.68 a year across 3 published Ohio plans — a $3.05 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.
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Every priced plan, average
| Plan | Per year | vs cheapest | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential✓ cheapesttime-of-use · tiered | $7.63 | — | 7.0¢ |
| Residential (KW11)flat rate | $9.12 | +$1.49 | 9.6¢ |
| Residential (KW10)flat rate | $10.68 | +$3.05 | 11.1¢ |
Cost across usage levels
The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.
- Lighter use — cheapest $4.38 (Residential), dearest $6.24, a $1.86 spread
- Average — cheapest $7.63 (Residential), dearest $10.68, a $3.05 spread
- Heavier use — cheapest $10.78 (Residential), dearest $15.00, a $4.22 spread
What a microwave costs here
Across 3 plans priced in Ohio, a microwave adds $7.63 to $10.68 a year — $0.64 to $0.89 a month. The median plan puts a microwave at $9.12 a year.
Cheapest for a microwave: Residential, City of Cleveland, Ohio (Utility Company). Dearest: Residential (KW10), City of Columbus, Ohio (Utility Company).
Those 108 kWh are billed at 7.0¢–9.9¢, against a 9.6¢ 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 0.2¢ per kWh.
What Ohio homes use
EIA's 2020 residential survey found 108 kWh a year across 328 sampled homes that run one, near the national 107 kWh. The middle half spans 63 kWh to 153 kWh, so a microwave varies by 90 kWh between one household and another.
Cooking and reheating, plus the standby draw of the clock and panel. That average covers homes with a microwave — 96% of homes here.
That makes a microwave about 1% of the electricity an Ohio home uses. The remaining 10,170 kWh is what a microwave 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 Ohio provider's cheapest plan: City of Cleveland, Ohio (Utility Company), $7.63; City of Columbus, Ohio (Utility Company), $9.12.
City of Columbus, Ohio (Utility Company) charges $1.49 a year more than City of Cleveland, Ohio (Utility Company) on Residential for the same 108 kWh.
Light and heavy use of a microwave
A household in the lighter quarter runs a microwave for 63 kWh a year and pays $4.38 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 153 kWh and pays $10.78 — $6.40 more for a microwave on the same tariff.
Limits
A 2020 survey average for Ohio, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 3 Ohio 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 41.4993, -81.6944.