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Money Updated September 2026

Electricity Cost Calculator for Nigerian Homes

Work out what each appliance actually costs you per month at your own tariff.

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Check a recent prepaid recharge or your bill. Tariffs differ by band and by distribution company, so use your own figure rather than a national average.
Your appliances
ApplianceWattsHours per dayHow many

What this calculator does

Most people know roughly what they spend on electricity and have no idea where it goes. That matters because the distribution is rarely what anyone expects. Lighting, which feels like the obvious culprit because it is always on, is usually a small fraction of the bill. Anything that heats, cools or runs a compressor is where the money actually goes.

This calculator settles the question for your specific home. Enter your tariff per kilowatt hour, list your appliances with their wattage, how many hours a day each one runs and how many you have, and it returns the daily, monthly and yearly cost of each one, ranked from heaviest to lightest.

It uses your own tariff rather than a national average, which matters a great deal in Nigeria where rates differ significantly between service bands and between distribution companies. Two households with identical appliances can face very different bills.

How the calculation works

Electricity is billed in kilowatt hours, which is simply one kilowatt of power drawn for one hour. An appliance rated at 1,000 watts running for one hour uses one unit.

To find what any appliance costs, multiply its wattage by the hours it runs each day, multiply by how many you have, then divide by 1,000 to convert watts to kilowatts. That gives units per day. Multiply by your tariff for the daily cost, and by roughly 30.4 days for a monthly figure.

The wattage is printed on a label on the appliance itself, usually on the back or underside, or in the manual. For appliances that cycle on and off, such as refrigerators and air conditioners, the rated wattage is the draw while running, not a continuous figure. A fridge rated at 150 watts might only run its compressor a third of the time, so enter eight effective hours rather than twenty four.

The formula

Units per day (kWh) = (Watts × Hours per day × Quantity) ÷ 1000

Daily cost = Units per day × Tariff per kWh

Monthly cost = Daily cost × 30.4

Yearly cost = Monthly cost × 12

A worked example

A household on a tariff of ₦225 per unit runs one 1,200 watt air conditioner for six hours a day, a 150 watt refrigerator with the compressor effectively running eight hours, six 12 watt LED bulbs for six hours, a 900 watt electric iron for twenty minutes and a 120 watt television for five hours.

The air conditioner uses 7.2 units a day, costing about ₦1,620 daily and ₦49,250 a month. The refrigerator uses 1.2 units, costing ₦270 a day and ₦8,210 a month. All six bulbs together use 0.43 units, about ₦97 a day and ₦2,950 a month. The iron uses 0.3 units, and the television 0.6 units.

The air conditioner alone accounts for roughly three quarters of the total. Every bulb in the house switched off permanently would save less than one hour a day of air conditioning. That is the kind of insight that changes behaviour, and it only shows up when you put the numbers side by side.

Things worth knowing

Cooling and heating dominate

Air conditioners, water heaters, electric irons, kettles and cookers are where the units go. A single air conditioner can easily cost more per month than every light, phone charger and television in the house combined.

Know your tariff band

Nigerian tariffs are set by service band, with higher bands paying more per unit in exchange for more guaranteed supply hours. Check which band you are on and what rate it carries, because using the wrong figure can throw the whole calculation out by a third.

Standby draw is real but small

Devices left plugged in do draw power, but the amounts are modest compared to anything with a heating element or a compressor. Unplugging chargers is good practice and it will not transform your bill. Reducing air conditioning hours will.

Compare against generator cost

Grid power at a typical tariff is usually far cheaper per unit than running a small petrol generator. Work out both with this tool and the Generator Fuel Cost Calculator, and you will often find that the hours you run the generator are the most expensive electricity you buy all month.

Common mistakes to avoid

  • Entering the full twenty four hours for a refrigerator instead of the effective compressor running time.
  • Using a national average tariff rather than the rate for your own band and distribution company.
  • Confusing the wattage of an appliance with its size or price. A small water heater can draw more than a large television.
  • Forgetting to multiply by quantity when a house has several of the same appliance.
  • Assuming the calculated figure will match the bill exactly when supply is intermittent.
  • Ignoring the fixed charges and any arrears that appear on a postpaid bill alongside the consumption charge.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find my tariff per kWh?
On a prepaid meter, divide the amount you paid by the number of units credited on the receipt. On a postpaid bill, the rate per kWh is usually stated directly. Both give you your real effective rate, which is better than any published average.
Where do I find an appliance wattage?
On the rating label, usually on the back or underside of the appliance, or in the manual. It is shown in watts or sometimes in amps and volts, in which case multiply the two to get watts.
Why is my actual bill different?
Three common reasons. Supply may be intermittent, so your appliances are not running for all the hours you entered. Postpaid bills include fixed charges and sometimes estimated readings. And real usage varies day to day in ways an average cannot capture.
Which appliance uses the most electricity?
In a typical Nigerian home, air conditioning, then water heating, then refrigeration. Anything that produces heat or runs a compressor sits at the top. Entertainment and lighting are usually a small share of the total.
Is an inverter cheaper than a generator?
An inverter stores grid electricity, so the energy still costs the grid tariff plus some losses in charging and conversion. That is normally much cheaper per unit than petrol generation, though the upfront cost of the inverter and batteries is significant and batteries need replacing over time.

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Further reading on this site

If this calculator was useful, these sections of the site go deeper into the same subject.

A note on accuracy. This calculator is provided for general information and planning. It performs arithmetic on the figures you supply and does not constitute financial, legal, tax, medical or academic advice. Rates, rules, fees and institutional policies change, and your own circumstances may differ from the assumptions used here. Verify anything important with the relevant institution or a qualified professional before acting on it. See our full disclaimer for more.