Estimate a Bitcoin miner’s electricity bill from its wall power, operating hours and the electricity rate you actually pay. Then compare expected mining proceeds with electricity, pool fees and other running costs; include the hardware and setup costs separately when estimating payback. The result is a scenario, not guaranteed income: network competition, Bitcoin price, fees and uptime can all change.
Calculate the electricity cost
The basic calculation is:
Electricity cost = power draw in kW × operating hours × all-in electricity price per kWh.
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For a miner running continuously, daily energy use is its kilowatt draw multiplied by 24. Multiply that result by your tariff to estimate the daily electricity cost.
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Use the marginal, all-in rate for the hours the miner will run—not a headline rate that omits charges you pay. Depending on your utility and location, account for delivery charges, applicable taxes, time-of-use pricing and demand charges. Demand charges may depend on peak load rather than simply the number of kilowatt-hours, so they may need to be calculated separately. Your tariff is specific to your service and plan; there is no universal electricity price for this estimate. Electricity is the primary operating expense identified by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its February 1, 2024 analysis of cryptocurrency mining: Tracking electricity consumption from U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations.
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2. Find the miner’s power draw at the wall
Use measured wall power if available; otherwise start with the manufacturer’s power rating and treat it as an estimate. Convert watts to kilowatts by dividing by 1,000. For example, 3,000 watts is 3 kW. If cooling or ventilation runs specifically to support mining, include that electricity too. EIA notes that mining facilities use electricity both to run machines and cool equipment.
3. Account for operating time
For continuous operation, multiply kW by 24 to get kWh per day. If the miner is offline, curtailed or scheduled to run only at certain times, use the hours it actually operates. Measured uptime is more useful than assuming a full day of operation.
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4. Calculate daily and monthly energy expense
Multiply daily kWh by your applicable price per kWh for an estimated daily bill. For a monthly estimate, use the expected operating schedule and the relevant billing period; do not assume every day has the same rate if your plan varies by time or season. If your site has a separate cooling load, add its energy use rather than treating the miner’s rating as the whole site’s consumption.
Estimate mining proceeds
A miner’s hashrate alone does not determine what it earns. Its expected contribution depends on its share of network work, the block subsidy and transaction fees, as well as pool payout rules if it mines through a pool. Bitcoin developer documentation explains that pool participants submit shares and pools distribute proceeds according to their reward methods: Bitcoin Developer Guide: Mining.
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For a useful estimate, set a time horizon and use dated assumptions for miner hashrate, network hashrate or difficulty, Bitcoin price, transaction fees, uptime and the pool’s payout method. These inputs are volatile, so a single projected daily payout should not be read as a promise of what the miner will receive.
Model uncertainty rather than hiding it
Calculate more than one case by varying the tariff, operating hours, miner efficiency, pool fee, Bitcoin price, network conditions and transaction fees. Cambridge’s Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index uses a seven-day moving average to reduce short-term hashrate volatility; its monthly consumption estimates assume constant power use for 24 hours at the daily best-guess estimate. That is a modeling convention, not a prediction that your miner will run continuously or earn a particular amount. See the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index for its estimates and methodology.
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Subtract costs and distinguish profit from payback
Estimate operating profit over the same period as your proceeds and electricity figures:
Estimated operating profit = expected fiat proceeds − electricity − pool fees − other recurring operating costs.
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Other recurring costs may include site expenses attributable to mining. Account for them only if they apply to your setup. For an investment or payback estimate, also include the delivered hardware cost, shipping, installation and other upfront costs. A miner can have positive operating profit before hardware expense and still take a long time to recover its purchase and setup cost. Operating profit and investment payback answer different questions.
Compare miners on economics, not hashrate alone
If you are assessing multiple machines, compare the specifications and assumptions that drive the same output estimate. Use measured values where possible, and do not treat an advertised rating as proof of real-world performance.
| Comparison | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Hashrate | Indicates the miner’s work rate, but does not establish earnings without network conditions and reward assumptions. |
| Rated and measured wall power | Power draw drives energy use; measured draw can also capture differences from a rating. |
| Efficiency (joules per terahash) | Helps compare energy used for a given hashrate. Lower energy use can reduce electricity expense, all else equal. |
| Delivered purchase cost | Hardware, shipping, installation and other upfront costs affect payback, not just daily operating profit. |
| Electrical requirements, cooling and noise | Determine whether the site can support the machine and whether additional loads or practical constraints apply. |
| Uptime and pool terms | Influence expected output and payouts; include downtime and applicable pool fees in the estimate. |
| Warranty and support | Can affect ownership risk and the practical cost of operating the machine. |
Use industry figures only as context
The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance’s 2025 Digital Mining Industry Report estimates industry-wide SHA-256 ASIC efficiency at 28.2 J/TH, as of June 2024, and reports it was 24% better year over year. The report also gives median electricity cost of $45/MWh and median all-in cost of $55.5/MWh. These are reported industry medians, not household electricity prices, a forecast for your facility or universal break-even rates. Consult the Cambridge Digital Mining Industry Report for scope and context.
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Separately, EIA’s February 1, 2024 analysis estimated that U.S. cryptocurrency mining consumed 0.6%–2.3% of U.S. electricity consumption. That was a dated preliminary estimate for cryptocurrency mining overall, not a current Bitcoin-only figure. EIA also states that it discontinued its emergency collection of survey data for Form EIA-862, so the estimate should not be treated as a current measure of Bitcoin mining electricity use.
Quick Recap
What the estimate can—and cannot—tell you
- Electricity expense follows wall power, operating time and your actual tariff; cooling and other site loads can add to direct miner consumption.
- Expected proceeds depend on network competition, rewards, transaction fees, pool rules and operating assumptions—not just hashrate.
- Operating profit excludes upfront hardware and setup expense unless you explicitly include them; payback must account for those costs.
- Difficulty and network participation can change, while electricity prices and Bitcoin’s value affect the result. Revisit assumptions when they change and date the inputs used in each estimate.
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