What Does Sous Vide Actually Cost to Run?

Sous vide is the one countertop technique where the running cost question is genuinely reasonable to ask. A 48-hour short rib sounds like it should cost a fortune in electricity, and almost nobody publishes the math. So here it is, with the working shown and the limits of what we can honestly claim stated up front.

How the math works

The formula is watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × your electricity rate. We use the US average residential rate of about $0.17 per kWh from the EIA — substitute your own rate if you know it, since regional rates vary by a factor of three.

The published wattages of the machines we track:

• Anova Precision Cooker 3.0 — 1,100 W
• Inkbird ISV-100W — 1,000 W(the "100" is a model number, not a wattage)
• Anova Precision Cooker Mini — 850 W
• Anova Nano 2.0 and Breville Joule Turbo — no wattage published in their listings, so we will not state one

The upper bound, which we can prove

If a 1,100-watt circulator drew its full rated power continuously for the entire cook, the cost would be:

• 2 hours (a steak) — 2.2 kWh ≈ 37 cents
• 4 hours (chicken, vegetables) — 4.4 kWh ≈ 75 cents
• 8 hours (pork shoulder) — 8.8 kWh ≈ $1.50
• 24 hours (brisket) — 26.4 kWh ≈ $4.49
• 48 hours (short rib) — 52.8 kWh ≈ $8.98

On the 850-watt Anova Mini every figure above drops by roughly 23%: about 29 cents for 2 hours and $6.94 for 48.

Why the real number is much lower

A circulator does not draw full power for the length of a cook, and the reason is straightforward physics. There are two distinct phases:

Heat-up. Raising a pot of water from tap temperature to the target takes sustained full power. This is genuinely the expensive part, and it is a fixed cost regardless of how long the cook runs.

Holding. Once at temperature, the machine is only replacing heat lost through the pot walls and the water surface. That is a small fraction of its rated output, so the heating element cycles on and off at a low duty rather than running continuously. This is why a 48-hour cook is nothing like 24 times the cost of a 2-hour one in practice.

Here is what we will not do: put a number on that duty cycle. It depends on your pot, your kitchen temperature, whether the pot is covered, and the target temperature, and none of the manufacturers publish a measured figure. We have not metered these machines ourselves. So the honest position is that the table above is a ceiling you can rely on, and the real figure is meaningfully below it — not a fabricated percentage. Our approach to this kind of claim is set out on how we review.

Two habits that actually cut the cost

Start with hot tap water. This is the single biggest lever, because it removes most of the heat-up phase — the expensive part. Your water heater has already done the work, usually more efficiently than a 1,100-watt immersion element will. It also gets you cooking sooner, which is the real reason to do it.

Cover the pot.Evaporation is the dominant heat loss from an open water bath, and it costs you twice: it takes energy with it, and on a long cook it drops the water level below the circulator's minimum line, which stops the cook. A lid with a notch for the circulator, foil, or a layer of ping-pong balls all work. On a 24 or 48-hour cook this is not optional — it is the difference between finishing and finding a machine that shut off in the night.

Two smaller ones: use the smallest pot that fits the food, since less water means less to heat and less surface to lose from; and put the pot somewhere out of a draft.

How it compares with the alternatives

The 48-hour figure looks alarming in isolation and much less so in context. Running a conventional oven for the same 48 hours would cost dramatically more — an oven element is typically 2,000–5,000 watts and it is heating a large air-filled cavity that leaks heat every time you open the door. Sous vide is heating water, which holds heat far better than air, in a closed insulated pot.

Against the appliances we cover elsewhere: an air fryer at 1,550 watts costs about 9 cents for a 20-minute batch, and a 1,000-watt blender costs about 0.4 cents for a 90-second blend. Sous vide is the most expensive countertop technique per session simply because it runs the longest — but per meal, a 37-cent steak cook is not a meaningful line on a household bill. The cross-category numbers are in what countertop appliances cost to run.

The costs that are not electricity

Electricity is the small one. The recurring cost people underestimate is bags. If you use a vacuum sealer you are buying rolls or pre-cut bags continuously, and over a year that will comfortably exceed what you spend on power. Zip-top bags with the water-displacement method cost less and work fine for most cooks — do you need a vacuum sealer? works through when the sealer is genuinely worth it.

The other one is the sear. Almost every sous vide protein needs finishing in a hot pan or with a torch, because no browning happens at sous vide temperatures. That is a few minutes of a gas or induction hob on top of every cook, plus a pan to wash.

The verdict

Running cost is not a reason to avoid sous vide. The provable ceiling for a normal weeknight cook is 37 cents, the realistic figure is lower, and the marathon 48-hour cooks that sound extravagant are a handful of dollars for a cut of meat that would otherwise be inedible. Buy the machine on capability, warranty and pot fit instead — that is what is sous vide worth it? and best budget sous vide are for.