Utility Cost Calculator
What running a home costs each month across power, water, heating, internet and services.
Utility costs are the background of a household budget: individually small, collectively one of the largest fixed costs after housing, and almost invisible because they arrive as separate bills at different times of the month.
Enter each service and this calculator totals the monthly and annual cost, shows the share of your income and the cost per person in the household.
At a glance
- What you enter
- Electricity per month, Water and sewerage per month, Heating or gas per month, Internet and landline per month, Waste, council and other services, Other utilities, Net monthly income (optional), People in the household
- What you get
- Utilities per month, Utilities per year, Share of net monthly income, Cost per person
- Formula shown
- Yes - every step, right below your results.
- Cost and privacy
- Free, no account needed, and nothing you type is stored.
See worked examples ↓ Read the FAQ ↓ Share this calculator ↓
Results are estimates for general information only - always verify with a professional or official source before acting on them.
How to use the Utility Cost Calculator
- 1 Enter Electricity per month
- 2 Enter Water and sewerage per month
- 3 Enter Heating or gas per month
- 4 Enter Internet and landline per month
- 5 Enter Waste, council and other services
- 6 Enter Other utilities - Security, chimney sweeping, service contracts, standby charges.
- 7 Enter Net monthly income (optional) - Enter 0 to skip the income comparison.
- 8 Enter People in the household (people)
- 9 Press Calculate. You get Utilities per month, Utilities per year, Share of net monthly income, Cost per person, and every intermediate step stays visible under “How is this calculated?”
- 10 Change one number at a time to see what moves the result - that is usually the most useful thing a calculator can tell you.
Worked examples
Real numbers run through this calculator. Open any example to load it into the form above and change it.
A couple in a two-room flat paying $300 a month
Modest electricity and heating bills with internet at $55 and $4,200 of net monthly income.
You enter
- Electricity per month
- $95.00
- Water and sewerage per month
- $40.00
- Heating or gas per month
- $70.00
- Internet and landline per month
- $55.00
- Waste, council and other services
- $25.00
- Other utilities
- $15.00
- Net monthly income (optional)
- $4,200.00
- People in the household
- 2 people
You get
- Utilities per month
- $300.00
- Utilities per year
- $3,600.00
- Share of net monthly income
- 7.1%
- Cost per person
- $150.00
The total is $300 a month, or $3,600 a year. That is 7.1% of net income and $150 for each of the two people. Electricity is $95 of the total (31.7%) and heating $70 (23.3%), so the two energy bills are 55.0% of what the home costs to run, which is $165 a month before the other services are counted.
A family of five in an older house paying $610 a month
Higher electricity and heating in a larger household with $5,200 of net monthly income.
You enter
- Electricity per month
- $180.00
- Water and sewerage per month
- $85.00
- Heating or gas per month
- $210.00
- Internet and landline per month
- $60.00
- Waste, council and other services
- $45.00
- Other utilities
- $30.00
- Net monthly income (optional)
- $5,200.00
- People in the household
- 5 people
You get
- Utilities per month
- $610.00
- Utilities per year
- $7,320.00
- Share of net monthly income
- 11.7%
- Cost per person
- $122.00
The total is $610 a month, or $7,320 a year. That is 11.7% of net income and $122 for each of the five people, lower per person than the couple despite the larger bill, because internet, waste and the other services are shared. Heating is now the largest single line at $210 (34.4%) and electricity is $180 (29.5%), so energy is 63.9% of the total, or $390 a month.
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Frequently asked questions
Should I use a winter month or a summer month?
Either, but say which one you used. The calculator multiplies the monthly total by twelve, so a winter month makes the annual figure too high and a summer month makes it too low. In a cold climate, heating and electricity can be two or three times higher in winter than in summer.
The most accurate approach is to add up a full year of bills and divide by twelve, then enter that average in each line. If you only have one month, enter it and read the annual figure as a rough multiple rather than a forecast.
Does the total include rent or mortgage payments?
No. It covers the running services only: electricity, water, heating or gas, internet, waste and whatever you add under other utilities. Housing costs, insurance, property tax and any building charge are separate lines in a budget.
If you are comparing two homes, run each one through this page and add the housing cost separately. The Budget Calculator is where the utility total sits against everything else you pay in a month.
Why does the cost per person fall as the household grows?
Because part of the bill is fixed. An internet connection, a waste charge and a standing charge cost the same whether one person or five live in the house, so dividing them between more people lowers the figure per person. Electricity, hot water and water do rise with the number of people, but not in proportion to the fixed services.
That makes the cost per person useful when you are deciding whether to share a home, and misleading if you use a family figure to predict what one person would pay alone.
What is missing from the utility total?
Mobile phone contracts, television and streaming subscriptions, any local tax that is separate from the waste line, one-off repairs, and any arrears you are repaying on an old account. A boiler service contract belongs in other utilities or in maintenance, but not in both.
Watch for double counting too. If your rent or building charge already includes heating or water, entering those lines again overstates what the home costs to run.