How to Compute Any Appliance's Electricity Cost (Watts → Pesos)

Published 2026-07-05 · By TipidKuryente Editorial · Numbers verified against the sourced dataset

Every “magkano ba ang kuryente ng…” question in existence has the same answer underneath. One formula. Learn it once and you can fact-check any claim, any energy label, any tita, and any website — including this one.

₱ per month = watts × hours per day × 30 ÷ 1,000 × rate

Watts to kilowatts, times hours for kWh, times the rate for pesos. The current Meralco rate is ₱14.7424/kWh — September 2026, tracked monthly on our rate page.

Try it on a stand fan: 60 W, ten hours a day. 60 × 10 × 30 ÷ 1,000 = 18 kWh, times ₱14.74 ≈ ₱265 a month. That’s the whole skill.

The hard part isn’t the math, it’s the watts

Where do you get the real wattage? In descending order of trustworthiness:

  1. A plug-in power meter (₱500–₱900 at the hardware store). Reads actual draw, including compressor cycling. The only instrument that settles inverter-vs-non-inverter arguments with data.
  2. The yellow energy label on newer units — kWh per year under standard tests. Divide by 12 for a monthly figure.
  3. The nameplate — but understand what it is: a maximum. Kettles and flat irons genuinely run at nameplate. Refs and aircons average far below it, because compressors rest.
  4. Typical-value tables like our PH appliance wattage reference, built from realistic averages for locally-sold models.

The two mistakes everyone makes

Computing a ref at nameplate watts. A “200 W” ref averages 60–120 W depending on age and type — bills computed from stickers come out double reality, panic ensues, nothing was ever wrong.

And forgetting standby. The router (₱106/month, always on), the TV sleeping with one eye open, the chargers left warm in their sockets. Individually barya. Collectively, a permanent little tenant.

Or skip the arithmetic entirely

The appliance electricity calculator runs this exact formula with current rates and realistic PH wattage presets. Stack the household, read the total, find the two appliances writing most of your bill — and if the total suggests bigger moves, the solar math starts from that same number.

Sources