Projector power & running-cost calculator
Calculate your projector’s electricity use and yearly cost from watts, hours and your kWh price — plus a lamp-vs-laser 10-year cost-of-ownership comparison. Free.
A typical 200-watt projector used 4 hours a day uses about 292 kWh of electricity a year, costing roughly $44 at average rates. Power scales directly with wattage and hours; enter your own numbers below, then compare lamp vs laser total cost.
Your running cost
$43.80
Per year
$3.65
Per month
292
kWh / year
Lamp vs laser: 10-year cost of ownership
Lamp projectors are cheaper upfront but need bulb replacements; laser models cost more but run for the life of the projector. Compare the total over time.
$1,798
Lamp
$1,938
Laser
3 bulb replacements over this period
The lamp projector is cheaper overall here, by about $141.
Yearly running cost by power & usage (at $0.15/kWh)
| Power | Hours/day | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| 150 W | 4 | $33 |
| 200 W | 4 | $44 |
| 250 W | 6 | $82 |
| 350 W | 8 | $153 |
How projector running cost works
Electricity cost is simply power × time × price: kWh per year = watts × hours per day × 365 ÷ 1000, then multiply by your price per kWh. Most home projectors draw 150–350 watts, so they cost far less to run than people fear — usually tens of dollars a year, not hundreds. The bigger long-run number is the light source: a lamp projector needs a new bulb every few thousand hours, while a laser projector has none, which is what the cost-of-ownership comparison above captures.
Frequently asked questions
Updated