Running cost for the TCL W10WC72
At 468.8 kWh/yr, the TCL W10WC72's ENERGY STAR certification puts it cheaper than most models in its category to run against every other certified room air conditioner.
That $88 is priced at 18.8¢/kWh, the average of all 51 state rates this site tracks. Your own state's rate is one click away.
Efficient, or not, for a room air conditioner
Against the category average of 603 kWh/yr, this model uses 22.3% less, ranking 158 of 447 room air conditioners tracked here for running cost. That average is drawn from all 447 room air conditioners ENERGY STAR currently certifies, not an outside number, a $25/year gap from this model at the national rate. Full sourcing is in the sourcing notes.
Right next to it on the list
A rank or two either side of the TCL W10WC72: TCL T10WV9SB ($88/yr, 468.8 kWh/yr), then TCL W10WC72-B ($88/yr, 468.8 kWh/yr).
Within the TCL lineup
Ranked 29 of TCL's 59 certified room air conditioners, this sits between the T05WV9M ($51/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the T24WQ2S ($266/yr, its priciest).
Cost over its typical lifespan
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical room air conditioner's service life at 10 years; run the TCL W10WC72 that long and it costs about $881 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
Efficient as certified room air conditioners go, $88/year is a reasonable baseline if you're comparing what else is on the market.
Worth comparing a few current certified models before deciding.
If you're keeping it
$88/year to run is the predictable cost of the TCL W10WC72; a protection plan covers the unpredictable one, a repair bill.
Where this number comes from
The full Room Air Conditioner category page shows all 447 room air conditioners ranked by cost; the state-rate guide covers the half of this number that isn't the appliance. The 468.8 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.