What the TCL W5WC72 costs to run
ENERGY STAR certifies the TCL W5WC72 at 273.7 kWh/yr, one of the cheaper models in its category to run for its category.
That $51 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.
How the TCL W5WC72 compares to other room air conditioners
Against the category average of 603 kWh/yr, this model uses 54.6% less, ranking 8 of 447 room air conditioners tracked here for running cost. 447 certified room air conditioners, one average, about $62/year of daylight between it and this model; the full methodology has the rest.
Neighbouring models
Right next to the TCL W5WC72 on that list: TCL T05WV9RB ($51/yr, 273.7 kWh/yr) runs slightly less, while TCL W5WC72-B ($51/yr, 273.7 kWh/yr) runs slightly more.
Within the TCL lineup
Ranked 5 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).
TCL W5WC72 over 10 years
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical room air conditioner's service life at 10 years; run the TCL W5WC72 that long and it costs about $515 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
Efficient as certified room air conditioners go, $51/year is a reasonable baseline if you're comparing what else is on the market.
Compare current ENERGY STAR certified room air conditioners before buying.
If you're keeping it
Whether or not the TCL W5WC72 ever needs replacing, a repair is the more common failure for a room air conditioner, one a protection plan budgets for ahead of time.
How this was checked
Two sourced numbers, nothing modeled: ENERGY STAR's certified kWh/yr for this exact model, and EIA's published state electricity rate. At rank 8 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.