Running cost for the TCL H18W4KW
At 937.5 kWh/yr, the TCL H18W4KW's ENERGY STAR certification puts it one of the more expensive models in its category to run against every other certified room air conditioner.
The $176 figure above uses the simple average of all 51 published state rates. Pick your state for the real number.
TCL H18W4KW against the category
That's 55.5% above the room air conditioner category average of 603 kWh/yr, and ranks 406 of 447 certified room air conditioners for annual running cost, 1 being cheapest. The category average comes from every room air conditioner ENERGY STAR currently certifies (447 models), not an outside benchmark, about $63/year above that average at the national rate. See the methodology page.
What sits beside it in the ranking
TCL H18W4KW-CA ($176/yr, 937.5 kWh/yr) costs a little more to run than the TCL H18W4KW. HEMA DS-2W1822CI ($176/yr, 937.5 kWh/yr) costs a little less.
Within the TCL lineup
TCL makes 59 ENERGY STAR certified room air conditioners; this one ranks 54 of 59 for running cost, between the brand's cheapest, the T05WV9M at $51/yr, and its priciest, the T24WQ2S at $266/yr.
TCL H18W4KW over 10 years
Over the 10-year service life NAHB reports for this category, running the TCL H18W4KW costs roughly $1,763 in electricity, separate from the purchase price.
Shopping for a new one
The TCL H18W4KW runs above its category average. If the room air conditioner you actually own is older still, likely well past ENERGY STAR's efficiency baseline when it was made, a current certified model could cost meaningfully less than this model's $176/year every year.
Compare current ENERGY STAR certified room air conditioners before buying.
Protecting what you have
Whether or not the TCL H18W4KW ever needs replacing, a repair is the more common failure for a room air conditioner, one a protection plan budgets for ahead of time.
Sourcing
Two sourced numbers, nothing modeled: ENERGY STAR's certified kWh/yr for this exact model, and EIA's published state electricity rate. At rank 406 of 447 for running cost, see the room air conditioner category page for the rest of the field, or the guide to how much your state matters.