How Much Does It Cost to Run a Sump Pump per Day and Month?

Source: Planning watts of 800 and 0.5 hours a day, hours of running time a day, which varies a lot with rain and groundwater. Price: 17.23 cents per kWh, the 2025 US residential average from EIA Form EIA-861.

The monthly cost is 1% of the $150.68 average US electric bill. It runs all year, so the yearly cost is twelve times the monthly figure.

One figure cannot fit every home. These three cases show how much the answer moves with the equipment and the hours.

The lowest case costs $0 a month and the highest $16. Use the calculator above to match your own.

The same sump pump costs different amounts depending on the state, because the price per kWh differs. Here are the three cheapest states, the US average and the three costliest, for the same 12 kWh a month.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861 (final 2025 data). Price is residential revenue divided by sales and includes fixed charges.

See electricity rates in every state to find your own.

A sump pump sits in a pit and runs when the water level rises, then shuts off. It draws power only while it runs, and a starting surge is higher than its running draw. Most of the year it uses little, and in a wet season it can run for hours.

Rainfall, the water table and the pump size decide the hours. A one-third horsepower pump typically draws several hundred watts while running, and a larger one draws more. A pump that runs constantly in dry weather may have a stuck float or a leak, and is worth checking.

The range for this kind of appliance runs from about 400 to 1,100 watts. At 0.5 hours a day that is $1 to $3 a month, which is why checking the label on yours is worth the minute.

• Test the pump each season by pouring water into the pit.
• Fix a pump that runs often in dry weather, since a stuck float or a check valve problem wastes power and wears the motor.
• Consider a battery backup so the pump works in an outage, because that is when basements flood.

Next step: Well pump costs. For general ideas, read how to lower your electric bill.

Other appliances in the water group: Electric Water Heater, Tankless Water Heater, Well Pump.

The cost is watts divided by 1,000, times hours, times your price per kWh. The 800 watts is a planning figure for this kind of appliance, set from typical product ratings, and the 0.5 hours is an assumed day of use. Neither is copied from a federal table. Federal guidance describes the method and warns that real wattage varies, so we publish our own typical ranges and label them as such. Prices come from EIA Form EIA-861 for 2025.

The calculation is the standard one used in the U.S. Department of Energy's consumer guidance on estimating appliance energy use. Wattage varies by product age and features, so the label on your own appliance beats any average. Read more in our methodology.