Slow Cooker Running Cost Calculator

by

Enter your slow cooker's energy use and electricity price to estimate the electricity cost of one cook and optional regular-use costs.

Electricity price and routine

Did we solve your problem today?

How to use our Slow Cooker Running Cost Calculator

  1. Choose "Rated watts and cooking time" if you have the wattage from the appliance label or manual, or choose "Measured kWh for one cook" if a plug-in energy monitor recorded a full cook.
  2. For the rated method, enter "Slow cooker power (W)" and the recipe time in "Cooking time (hours)" and "Extra cooking time (minutes)". Leave extra minutes blank when there are none.
  3. For the measured method, enter the monitor's full-session reading in "Measured energy for one cook (kWh)".
  4. Choose the unit printed on your bill in "Electricity price unit" before entering "Electricity price (cents per kWh)". Use the usage-based per-kWh charges, including supply and delivery charges only when each is charged per kWh.
  5. Optionally enter "Slow-cooker meals per week" to see projected weekly, average monthly, and yearly costs.
  6. Select "Calculate". Confirm that "How this estimate was calculated" names the method you intended. A complete meter reading reflects that specific cook, while rated watts assume full power for the entire cooking time.
Example inputs for Slow Cooker Running Cost Calculator
Example inputs for Slow Cooker Running Cost Calculator

Definitions

Watt (W): A measure of power, or how quickly an appliance uses electricity.

Kilowatt-hour (kWh): A measure of electricity used over time. Electric bills commonly charge for electricity by kWh. [1]

Variable electricity price: The part of an electric bill charged per kWh. It may include separate supply and delivery charges when both are per-kWh charges.

Rated watts: The power listed on an appliance label or in its manual. This calculator treats it as full-time power for the rated-watt estimate.

Energy used at common cooking times200 W slow cooker at full rated power. Actual use may be lower if the heating element cycles; a plug-in meter provides a direct reading.Energy used at common cooking times200 W slow cooker at full rated power4 hours0.8 kWh6 hours1.2 kWh8 hours1.6 kWh10 hours2 kWhCooking time
Energy used at common cooking times
Actual use may be lower if the heating element cycles; a plug-in meter provides a direct reading.

Common mistakes and quick fixes

Mistake: Entering 7.30 for seven hours and 30 minutes.
Fix: Enter 7 in "Cooking time (hours)" and 30 in "Extra cooking time (minutes)". Decimal time does not use minutes after the decimal point.

Mistake: Reading 16 cents per kWh as $16 per kWh.
Fix: Choose the matching "Electricity price unit" before entering the number. For example, 16 cents per kWh equals $0.16 per kWh.

Mistake: Including a fixed monthly customer charge in the per-kWh price.
Fix: Add only charges stated per kWh. A fixed monthly charge does not increase because of one slow-cooker cook.

Mistake: Treating label wattage as the electricity used during every cook.
Fix: Use "Measured kWh for one cook" when you have a complete plug-in monitor reading. The heating element may cycle on and off during cooking.

Limitations & Key Assumptions / Boundary Conditions

  • The rated-watt method assumes the entered wattage is used for the full cooking time. Actual electricity use may be lower when the heating element cycles.
  • A measured-kWh result applies to the cook that was measured. Recipe size, starting food temperature, room temperature, and keep-warm time can change energy use on another cook.
  • Costs include usage-dependent per-kWh charges only. Fixed monthly customer charges and bill items not tied to kWh are excluded.
  • Monthly cost is an average calculated from 52 weeks divided by 12 months. It is not a prediction for a specific billing month.

Methodology

Energy used for one cook

For the rated method, extra minutes are converted to part of an hour. One kilowatt is 1,000 watts.

cooking duration (hours) = cooking hours + extra cooking minutes / 60

one-cook energy (kWh) = rated watts x cooking duration (hours) / 1000

For the measured method, the plug-in monitor reading is used directly as the energy used for one cook.

Electricity cost

The calculator converts a cents-per-kWh price to dollars per kWh before multiplying it by energy used.

price ($ per kWh) = cents per kWh / 100

one-cook cost ($) = one-cook energy (kWh) x price ($ per kWh)

Example:

a 200 W slow cooker used for 8 hours has an estimated energy use of 1.6 kWh. At 16 cents per kWh, the cost is 1.6 x $0.16 = $0.256, which displays as $0.26.

Regular-use projections

Weekly, average monthly, and yearly estimates appear only when a weekly meal count is entered.

weekly cost = one-cook cost x meals per week

average monthly cost = weekly cost x 52 / 12

yearly cost = weekly cost x 52

Sources

  1. Measuring electricity - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)