How much does an electric baseboard heater cost per month in North Carolina?

About $16.58 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 50% duty cycle, 12 hours a day, 150 days a year at 14.74¢/kWh.

How many kilowatt-hours does an electric baseboard heater use?

Roughly 1,350 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.75 kWh for every hour it runs.

Is that expensive compared with other states?

North Carolina has the 11th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $248 a year.

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Cost to run an electric baseboard heater in North Carolina (June 2026 rates)

At 14.74¢ per kilowatt-hour — North Carolina's average residential price in June 2026 — running an electric baseboard heater costs $199 a year. That is 20% less than the national average of $248. North Carolina's residential rate is up 10.2% from June 2025, which moves this appliance from $181 to $199 a year.

Per hour: 11.1¢
Per day of use: $1.33
Per month: $16.58
Per year: $199

Assumption: 1,500 W at a 50% duty cycle, 12 hours a day, 150 days a year — 1,350 kWh a year. Per 6-foot section. A whole house typically has several running at once, so multiply by the number of sections in use. Use the calculator to swap in the numbers from your own model.

How North Carolina compares

North Carolina pays 14.74¢/kWh, the 11th cheapest residential electricity of the 51 U.S. jurisdictions EIA reports. For this appliance that works out to $48.60 less a year than the typical U.S. household pays for the same use. Running the same electric baseboard heater costs $177 a year in Nevada and $712 in Hawaii, so where you live changes this bill by $535 a year.

State	Rate	Per month	Per year
Oklahoma	14.33¢	$16.12	$193
Idaho	14.37¢	$16.17	$194
North Carolina	14.74¢	$16.58	$199
Mississippi	14.88¢	$16.74	$201
Washington	14.91¢	$16.77	$201

States ranked by average residential price, cheapest first. See all 51 states for an electric baseboard heater.

What else costs about the same in North Carolina

Pool pump$255 a year in NC Garage refrigerator$133 a year in NC Space heater$127 a year in NC

Cutting the number down

Resistance heat is 1 kWh in, 1 kWh of heat out. There is no efficiency upgrade available; the only lever is running fewer of them, less often.
Furniture pushed against a baseboard blocks convection and makes the thermostat run the element longer.
Zoning by room is the built-in advantage. Turning unused rooms down to 55 F is where the savings live.

Questions

How much does an electric baseboard heater cost per month in North Carolina?: About $16.58 a month, assuming 1,500 W at a 50% duty cycle, 12 hours a day, 150 days a year at 14.74¢/kWh.
How many kilowatt-hours does an electric baseboard heater use?: Roughly 1,350 kWh a year under these assumptions, or 0.75 kWh for every hour it runs.
Is that expensive compared with other states?: North Carolina has the 11th cheapest average residential rate in the country, so this appliance costs less here than the U.S. average of $248 a year.