What does an hour of shoptime cost in Electricity?

[LCHIEN]

I had a little too much time on my hands and was wondering the other day what electrical costs shop time incurs.

So I listed everything that consumes power and guessed at a duty cycle and figured it cost me about $1.26 per hour in electricity. Here's my Analysis:

Cost of Woodworking in the Garage Shop – Operational costs per hour
Loring Chien March 29, 2026

My current electrical rate is 15 cents per kWh.(electricity plus delivery charge)
Electricity for lights

1. I have 7 4-foot LED shop lights, And two of those three-winged LED lights. Estimating 35 watts per fixture gives me about 9x35 Watts 315 Watts total
2. Small gooseneck task lights – I have 8 of them probably 15-20 watts each but they are not always on. Figure 80W typical.
3. Thus for lights 400 watts average, 6 cents per hour

Electricity for power tools

1. I have several large power tools that can draw as much as 12-15 Amps at 120 V.. Bandsaw, Table Saw, Jointer, Planer, Miter Saw, disk sander. As a one-man shop, only one will be on at a time, and, not a production facility, so usage will be much less than 100%.
2. Also it will be a lot less than maximum because not all cutting is deep and hard.
3. Assuming a leisurely 20% duty cycle for power tools and 8 Amps 200 wH usage in an hour so 3 cents for power tools.

Electricity for support equipment – Air cleaner, air compressor, dust collector, Vacuum

1. Air filter/cleaner The 50-860 draws 10A on start up and 5-6A steady state (running). I often start this on starting cutting stuff, set it for 2-4 hours so it runs on for several hours after I leave the shop. For one hour shop work it runs 4 hours. Needs to run for a few hours to clear the air of suspended dust. – 72 cents
2. Dust collector – HF 2 HP probably draws 14-15 Amps But I only run it when running the Table saw Assuming the 20% usage at the same time as the table saw 27 cents
3. Vacuums for dust collection – I have three shop vacs, one for general cleanup one for the Miter saw/Jointer and the router. ( will use these if not using the table saw, but we’ve already factored in the dust collector in lieu of these if using other tools so dust collector use is sufficient.
4. Vacuums for clean up. A shop session may or may not result in me vacuuming up the stray dust. Lets say 5 minutes 12A = 12- WH or 1.8 cents.
5. Air Compressor It can draw up to 10 A but mostly its off, It needs to charge up an empty tank once when I start up the shop, Assuming I turn it on, then it has to replace air used mostly for blowing dust or shooting brad nails. When I turn it on, cold and empty it runs for 2 minutes 40 seconds to fill the 8-gallon tank That equates to about 0.8 cents just to fill the tank to pressure. Honestly its unlikely to run for more than 10 minutes in an hour – about 3 cents

Electricity for comfort – Music, Airconditioning, heating, Fridge

1. I have a radio I leave playing probably 15 watts 24 hours a day. Costs me 5.4 cents PER DAY
2. No TV
3. No Fridge
4. No AC
5. No heat, except for a 1500 W heater I can use on really cold days which is really never.
6. ceiling fan.. maybe 50W, so an hour use is 50 wH or around 8 cents.

Other stuff – chargers, emergency lighting, cordless screwdriver, dust particle counter, AC line monitor all take very negligible amounts of power.

So shop usage costs for an hour
Lights – 6 cents
Power tools – 3 cents
Support equipment – 72 cents + 27 cents + 0.8 + 3 + 1.8 + 8 cents = $1.12
Electricity for comfort – 5.4 for a whole day even if I work 1 hour.
Total $1.26 per hour of shop use.

Conclusion- Cheap. I should probably turn off the radio when I am not working... costs me $1.50 a month.
The other startling thing is running the air filter is 2/3 of the cost. In retrospect that makes sense because its on for 4 hours continuously for one hour of actual shop time. If you work longer sessions then that comes down.
if i had a fridge, or Air Conditioning, it might cost a lot more since they might run 24/7 just to be used for an hour.

[leehljp]

On the pen forum of IAP, numerous people try to figure out their cost to make and sell pens. A few, believe it or not don't count their time constructing, making and finishing, and these are the pens that you see at a local crafts fairs for $20 to try and undercut the price of the quality pen makers. Others try to figure out the cost to include their time, the cost of the pen kits and enough to recoup the cost of the consumables and a small portion of tool investment. These pens will sell for $40 - $200.

Then there are a few (including myself) in which we urge the $40-$200 group to recognize that when their practice and skill level progresses, they will hit on a pen every once in a while that is a work of art. And as skill, practice, and artistic skill increases, so should the price. Artistic skills that produce works of art - push the price up into a much much higher category. (Artistic value is one that sticks out obviously from the crowd of pens. )

That is a lot different than home workshop work for the home.

[LCHIEN]

well, I just figured electrical costs. There's amortized cost of tools and equipment, and there's the cost of labor, and there's the tax costs for the home and space used. Not to mention the wear and tear on not parking the cars in the garage. I'm sure those add up to much more.
And by labor, the time you spend woodworking for a hobby is time you could be employed or making money. Or perhaps not spending money on professionals to repair or maintain your house.
I never liked yardwork, so I pay a yardman.

[leehljp]

I apologize Loring. I looked at your electrical costs, but then my mind ran amuck with the number of times through the years, and almost every year that a few people want figure out the actual cost of making a single pen, and then replies of the REAL costs that they don't count.

$1.26 an hour to work in the shop - not counting the equipment and material. Just the shop use. Not bad at all. I remember several years ago seeing some shops listed in large cities that rented out time in a shop to do what ever they wanted to do - basically for those who lived in apartments or had homes without shops. I will bet it cost more than $1.26 an hour to rent.

[Jim Frye]

The best shop cost I ever had was the base woodworking hobby shop when I was in the Air Force. The shop equipment made The New Yankee Workshop look under sized. Cost was $0.25/hour. All you had to supply was your supplies and materials.