Burners

• Smaller burners have lower wattage than larger burners. Small burners use about 1,200 W, medium-size burners use between 1,500 and 1,800 W, and larger burners use about 2,500 W. An electric stove with two small burners and two large ones uses 7,400 W when all burners are in use.
  
  

Range

• Electric stoves are typically part of a kitchen range. Oven ranges use about 3,500 W, so if you turn on all the burners on your stove and turn on the oven, the entire range uses almost 11,000 W.
  
  

Other Kitchen Appliances

• Electric stoves use more electricity than other major kitchen appliances. Refrigerators, for example, use 780 W on average. Toaster ovens, microwave ovens, dishwashers and coffeemakers each use the same amount of electricity as a single small or medium-size stove burner.
  
  

Cost of Electricity

• For March 2011, a kilowatt-hour of electricity costs almost 12 cents, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Estimate how much your stove costs on your monthly electricity bill by first converting its wattage into kilowatts, or units of 1,000 watts. Small burners use 1,200 W, which is 1.2 kW. Multiply kilowatts by the number of hours you use the burner to calculate kilowatt-hours, then multiply the result by 12 cents. Using a small burner for 30 hours a month --- which is normal, according to Otter Tail --- uses 36 kWh and costs about $4.