U.S. residential electricity EIA data: July 2026 US average 18.3¢/kWh Updated
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Home Office · Iowa

How Much Does It Cost to Run a Desktop Computer in Iowa?

The short answer

Running a 150W desktop computer in Iowa costs about $0.02 an hour. At 8 hours a day, that’s roughly $5.84 a month and $70.04 a year.

Iowa’s average residential rate was 16.0¢ per kWh in July 2026 (EIA), 13% below the US average.

Source: U.S. EIA, July 2026 data · Updated

Desktop Computer cost by daily use in Iowa

Cost at 16.0¢/kWh, the Iowa average (EIA, Jul 2026)
Daily usekWh/monthPer dayPer monthPer year
1 hour/day 4.6 $0.02 $0.73 $8.75
2 hours/day 9.1 $0.05 $1.46 $17.51
4 hours/day 18.3 $0.10 $2.92 $35.02
8 hours/day 36.5 $0.19 $5.84 $70.04
12 hours/day 54.8 $0.29 $8.76 $105
24 hours/day 109.5 $0.58 $17.51 $210

Iowa vs other states

At typical use, a desktop computer costs $70.04 a year in Iowa — $140 less than in Hawaii and $14.32 more than in Louisiana.

Iowa has the 24th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC. Iowa price per kWh · all states ranked

Electricity price trend in Iowa

16.0¢/kWh in July 2026 — ▲ +4.4% from a year earlier.

How to lower the cost of running a desktop computer

Everyday desktop use — browsing, documents, video calls — is light work for a modern PC, so most office desktops plus a monitor draw around 100–200W. Workstations rendering video or running heavy software use more. Sleep mode drops consumption to just a few watts, so letting the computer sleep when you step away makes a real difference over a year.

  • Set the computer to sleep after 15–30 minutes and the display after 5–10 minutes.
  • Turn off the whole setup with a power strip at the end of the day.
  • Lower monitor brightness — it often accounts for a big share of the total.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a desktop computer for 24 hours in Iowa?

Running a 150W desktop computer for 24 hours uses about 3.60 kWh, which costs about $0.58 at Iowa’s average rate of 16.0¢/kWh.

How many kWh does a desktop computer use per month?

At 8 hours a day, a typical desktop computer uses about 36.5 kWh a month. In Iowa that costs $5.84.

Is it expensive to run a desktop computer in Iowa?

Iowa has the 24th-cheapest residential electricity of the 50 states and DC at 16.0¢/kWh — close to the middle of the pack. Running a desktop computer here costs about $70.04 a year at typical use, compared with $80.20 at the national average rate.

What is the electricity rate in Iowa right now?

The average residential electricity rate in Iowa was 16.0¢ per kWh in July 2026, according to the latest EIA data — up 4.4% from a year earlier.

Desktop Computer costs in nearby states

Cheapest and priciest states

Comparisons

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