How Much Does It Cost to Run a Furnace Blower?
Short answer: about $0.42 a day and $12.46 a month, or $0.10 for each hour it runs at full power, at the 2025 US average electricity rate. That is for a 600 W furnace blower running 8 hours a day with a 50% duty cycle. Change the state and hours below for your own number.
Updated Nov 8, 2026
Quick answer
Quick answer, US average (17.3 c/kWh)
About $12.46 a month
The same use costs $8.50 a month in North Dakota and $29.22 in Hawaii.
- Per hour
- $0.052
- with 50% cycling; $0.10 at full 600 W
- Per day
- $0.42
- 8 h, 2.40 kWh
- Per month
- $12.46
- 30 days
- Per year
- $151.55
- 365 days at the same use
Your state, your hours
Per hour
$0.052
Per day
$0.42
Per month
$12.46
Per year
$151.55
Furnace Blower at 600 W, 8 h a day, 30 days a month, 50% duty cycle: 72.0 kWh a month. Using the 2025 US average of 17.3 cents/kWh.
Want to change the watts or duty cycle too? Open the full calculator.
What decides the cost of running a furnace blower
A gas furnace burns gas for heat, but it still needs electricity to move that heat through the house. The blower motor is the big draw. A traditional PSC motor of 1/3 to 3/4 horsepower draws about 400 to 800 W, and many furnaces built before about 2010 use one. A variable-speed ECM blower, standard on most high-efficiency furnaces sold since, draws 75 to 500 W depending on speed and spends most of its time at the low end. The inducer fan that vents combustion gases adds 50 to 150 W, and a hot surface igniter draws 300 to 450 W for under a minute each cycle.
The default here is 600 W for 8 hours at a 50 percent duty cycle, 2.4 kWh a day, about 42 cents at the national average rate. That fits a PSC blower on a cold day. An ECM furnace with the same heating load often uses half or less. This page covers the electricity only. The gas is a separate and much larger line on the bill, which the heating cost by state pages cover.
The setting that matters most is the fan switch on the thermostat. On 'auto' the blower only runs when the burners do. On 'on' it runs around the clock. A 600 W PSC blower running continuously uses 14.4 kWh a day, about $2.49, or roughly $75 a month, more than many people's whole furnace electric bill. An ECM blower on continuous low at about 100 W uses 2.4 kWh a day, so on those furnaces continuous circulation is affordable if you want the filtration.
A clogged filter makes everything worse. PSC motors move less air and run longer cycles, and ECM motors speed up and draw more watts to push air through it.
The blower is also why a gas furnace stops working in a power outage. At 600 W running and about 1,800 W for a moment at start, a small inverter generator or a large power station can keep it going, but because the furnace is hardwired it needs an inlet and a transfer switch or interlock, or an electrician-installed plug, to connect safely. A plug-in meter cannot reach a hardwired furnace, so use a panel monitor to measure it.
How to cut it
- Leave the thermostat fan on 'auto' unless you have an ECM blower and want continuous filtration.
- Change the filter on schedule. A clogged filter lengthens every cycle.
- Use a schedule or setback so the furnace cycles less while you sleep or are away.
- If you replace the furnace, a variable-speed ECM blower cuts blower electricity by half or more.
Furnace Blower cost by state
Monthly cost for 600 W, 8 h a day, 50% duty cycle, 30 days, sorted cheapest to most expensive. Pick your state above to highlight it.
| Rank | State | Cents/kWh | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 11.81 | $8.50 |
| 2 | Idaho | 11.82 | $8.51 |
| 3 | Nebraska | 12.34 | $8.88 |
| 4 | Louisiana | 12.57 | $9.05 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 12.84 | $9.24 |
| 6 | Montana | 12.98 | $9.35 |
| 7 | Utah | 13.07 | $9.41 |
| 8 | Washington | 13.11 | $9.44 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 13.12 | $9.45 |
| 10 | Nevada | 13.15 | $9.47 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 13.18 | $9.49 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 13.24 | $9.53 |
| 13 | South Dakota | 13.38 | $9.63 |
| 14 | Wyoming | 13.38 | $9.63 |
| 15 | Missouri | 13.49 | $9.71 |
| 16 | Iowa | 13.72 | $9.88 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 14.02 | $10.09 |
| 18 | Mississippi | 14.03 | $10.10 |
| 19 | Kansas | 14.56 | $10.48 |
| 20 | Georgia | 14.73 | $10.61 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 14.96 | $10.77 |
| 22 | New Mexico | 15.08 | $10.86 |
| 23 | Florida | 15.24 | $10.97 |
| 24 | Virginia | 15.28 | $11.00 |
| 25 | Arizona | 15.32 | $11.03 |
| 26 | Oregon | 15.37 | $11.07 |
| 27 | West Virginia | 15.41 | $11.10 |
| 28 | Texas | 15.47 | $11.14 |
| 29 | Minnesota | 15.82 | $11.39 |
| 30 | Colorado | 15.85 | $11.41 |
| 31 | Alabama | 16.10 | $11.59 |
| 32 | Indiana | 16.23 | $11.69 |
| 33 | Ohio | 16.96 | $12.21 |
| 34 | Delaware | 17.13 | $12.33 |
| 35 | Illinois | 17.69 | $12.74 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 18.16 | $13.08 |
| 37 | Pennsylvania | 19.30 | $13.90 |
| 38 | Maryland | 19.48 | $14.03 |
| 39 | Michigan | 20.01 | $14.41 |
| 40 | District of Columbia | 21.94 | $15.80 |
| 41 | New Jersey | 22.63 | $16.29 |
| 42 | Vermont | 22.92 | $16.50 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 24.56 | $17.68 |
| 44 | Alaska | 26.09 | $18.78 |
| 45 | New York | 26.39 | $19.00 |
| 46 | Maine | 27.78 | $20.00 |
| 47 | Connecticut | 29.38 | $21.15 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 29.46 | $21.21 |
| 49 | Massachusetts | 30.48 | $21.95 |
| 50 | California | 32.54 | $23.43 |
| 51 | Hawaii | 40.59 | $29.22 |
Rates: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, annual average residential price, 2025 (eia.gov). Full list on the electricity rates by state page.
Cheaper to run
The swap that cuts this bill the most, from the products we track. Specs come from the listing or the maker.
ecobee Smart Thermostat Enhanced
- ENERGY STAR
An ENERGY STAR smart thermostat; a schedule with a nighttime and away setback cuts furnace and blower run time. Includes a Power Extender Kit for homes without a C-wire.
- Power Extender Kit included for homes without a C-wire
- Works with HomeKit, Alexa and Google
- ENERGY STAR certified
- Room sensors sold separately
$100 to $250, live price on Amazon
Check price on AmazonPaid link. We earn a commission at no cost to you.
Some links pay us a commission; that does not decide what we show. Not lab tested. See our disclosure.
Frequently asked questions
How much electricity does a gas furnace use?+
About 2.4 kWh a day on the default, mostly for the blower: 600 W x 8 hours x 0.5 = 2.4 kWh, about 42 cents at the national average rate. Over a 150 day heating season that is about 360 kWh, roughly $62.
How much does it cost to run a furnace blower per hour?+
About 10 cents for each hour a 600 W blower runs, since 0.6 kWh x $0.173 = $0.104. Averaged over an hour with the furnace cycling half the time, it is about 5 cents. An ECM blower at 200 W is about 3.5 cents per running hour.
How much does it cost to run a furnace blower per month?+
About $12.50 a month on the default: 2.4 kWh x 30 = 72 kWh, and 72 x $0.173 is $12.46. That is electricity only; the gas is billed separately.
How much does it cost to run the furnace fan 24 hours a day?+
About $2.49 a day for a 600 W PSC blower: 0.6 kW x 24 = 14.4 kWh, and 14.4 x $0.173 is $2.49, about $75 a month. An ECM blower on continuous low at about 100 W costs about 42 cents a day.
How many watts does a furnace blower use?+
About 400 to 800 W for a standard PSC motor and 75 to 500 W for a variable-speed ECM motor. The whole furnace adds 50 to 150 W for the inducer and briefly 300 to 450 W for the igniter, with a start-up surge of up to about 1,800 W.
Does a gas furnace use a lot of electricity?+
Not much compared with electric heat. A gas furnace uses about 360 kWh of electricity over a 150 day heating season on the default, about $62, while a heat pump on this site's defaults uses about 2,250 kWh over the same season.
Should I set my furnace fan to 'on' or 'auto'?+
Auto, unless you have an ECM blower. On a PSC blower, 'on' adds about 12 kWh a day over the default, roughly $2.08 a day. It does even out room temperatures and filter more air, which on an ECM furnace is affordable.
Can a generator run a gas furnace?+
Yes. A furnace needs about 600 W running and about 1,800 W for the second the blower starts, so a 2,500 W inverter generator runs it. Because it is hardwired, connect it through an inlet with a transfer switch or interlock, never a backfeed cord.
How long will a power station run a gas furnace?+
About 3 hours on a 1 kWh power station at the default. The furnace averages 300 W while it cycles half the time, so 1,000 Wh lasts about 3.3 hours before inverter losses and about 3 hours after. An ECM furnace lasts two or more times as long.
How can I lower the cost of running a furnace blower?+
Keep the fan on auto, change the filter on schedule, and use a thermostat schedule. Moving a PSC blower from 'on' to 'auto' saves about 12 kWh a day, roughly $2 a day at the national average rate.
Marcus Reed
Founder and Editor, CrunchYourDollars
Marcus Reed builds the sizing tools on CrunchYourDollars. He is a software engineer with a long-running PC hardware and power supply habit, which is where the watts, watt-hours and surge math on this site comes from. Product specs are pulled from manufacturer data sheets, electricity rates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and water chemistry rules from the Water Quality Association. He is not a licensed electrician or plumber: the tools show the math and the matching models so you can make the call, and anything involving your electrical panel should be checked by a licensed pro.
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