VAUGHN THERMAL ME50HPT Running Cost (Electric Water Heater)
VAUGHN THERMAL ME50HPT: running cost
ENERGY STAR certifies the VAUGHN THERMAL ME50HPT at 938 kWh/yr, cheaper than most models in its category to run for its category.
That $176 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 electric water heater
Against the category average of 1,105 kWh/yr, this model uses 15.1% less, ranking 251 of 596 electric water heaters tracked here for running cost. That average is drawn from all 596 electric water heaters ENERGY STAR currently certifies, not an outside number, a $31/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 VAUGHN THERMAL ME50HPT: Noritz NHP50 ($176/yr, 938 kWh/yr), then VAUGHN THERMAL ME50HPT-CN ($176/yr, 938 kWh/yr).
Same brand, different models
Of the 13 ENERGY STAR certified electric water heaters VAUGHN THERMAL makes, the ME50HPT is the cheapest to run, $99/year less than VAUGHN THERMAL's priciest, the ME120HPT-CN.
What this adds up to over time
11 years is NAHB's typical service life for this category; at $176/year, the VAUGHN THERMAL ME50HPT adds up to about $1,940 in electricity over that span.
Weighing a replacement
Efficient as certified electric water heaters go, $176/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
At $176/year just to run, a electric water heater is worth protecting against an unplanned repair bill on top of that.
Where this number comes from
The full Electric Water Heater category page shows all 596 electric water heaters ranked by cost; the state-rate guide covers the half of this number that isn't the appliance. The 938 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.