Glossary: Electricity Cost per kWh

Glossary: Electricity Cost per kWh

Glossary
2 min readUpdated: 26. February 2026 · By Hugo

One-Sentence Definition

Electricity cost per kWh (kilowatt-hour) is the price you pay for consuming 1,000 watts of electrical power continuously for one hour, and it’s the single biggest factor determining whether your solo mining operation loses money every day or stays affordable.

Why It Matters for Solo Mining

Unlike pool miners who earn regular small payouts, solo miners might run their hardware for months before finding a block. During all that time, your electricity meter keeps spinning and your power bill keeps growing. If your electricity cost mining is too high—say $0.20 per kWh or more—even a small device like a Bitaxe Gamma 602 can cost you $30-50 per month while you’re waiting for that lucky block. That’s why understanding your exact cost per kWh determines whether solo mining is a fun hobby or an expensive mistake.

How It Works

Your electricity company charges you based on how much energy you consume, measured in kilowatt-hours. If you run a mining device that consumes 15 watts (like the Gamma 602), that’s 0.015 kW. Run it for a full month (720 hours), and you use 10.8 kWh. At $0.10 per kWh, that costs $1.08 per month. At $0.30 per kWh, it’s $3.24—three times as much.

Bigger miners consume way more power. A Lucky Miner LV08 pulls around 400W, which means nearly 300 kWh per month. At $0.10/kWh that’s $30 monthly, but at $0.30/kWh it jumps to $90. Industrial miners like the Antminer S21 consuming 3,500W would cost you over $750 per month at high electricity rates.

Most mining calculators ask for your electricity cost because it directly affects your ROI and break-even point. Some solo miners with solar panels or cheap hydroelectric power have near-zero electricity costs, giving them a massive advantage. Others pay $0.40+ per kWh in places like Hawaii or Germany, making any mining unprofitable unless they win blocks regularly.

Example

Let’s say you’re running a Canaan Avalon Nano 3S that uses 50 watts. That’s 0.05 kW × 720 hours = 36 kWh per month. If your power company charges $0.12 per kWh (typical U.S. average), your monthly electricity cost mining is 36 × $0.12 = $4.32. Over a year, that’s about $52 in electricity. Now imagine you pay European rates at $0.35 per kWh—suddenly it’s $12.60 per month or $151 per year for the exact same device doing the exact same work.