Whirlpool WHAW-181IN: running cost
ENERGY STAR certifies the Whirlpool WHAW-181IN at 937.5 kWh/yr, one of the more expensive models in its category to run for its category.
The $176 figure above uses the simple average of all 51 published state rates. Pick your state for the real number.
Whirlpool WHAW-181IN against the category
That's 55.5% above the room air conditioner category average of 603 kWh/yr, and ranks 409 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
Friedrich WHVT14B33A ($179/yr, 950 kWh/yr) costs a little more to run than the Whirlpool WHAW-181IN. TCL T18WQ2S ($176/yr, 937.5 kWh/yr) costs a little less.
Same brand, different models
Whirlpool makes 6 ENERGY STAR certified room air conditioners; this one ranks 5 of 6 for running cost, between the brand's cheapest, the WHAW-081IN at $75/yr, and its priciest, the WHAW-241IN at $266/yr.
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 Whirlpool WHAW-181IN that long and it costs about $1,763 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Shopping for a new one
The Whirlpool WHAW-181IN 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
$176/year to run is the predictable cost of the Whirlpool WHAW-181IN; a protection plan covers the unpredictable one, a repair bill.
Sourcing
Ranked 409 of 447, the Whirlpool WHAW-181IN sits in the middle of the room air conditioner category, see the guide to why your state changes this number for the other half of the math. The 937.5 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.