Energy & Sustainability worked example

Chiller Energy Cost with average chiller electrical demand of 210 kW: a worked example

Suppose average chiller electrical demand falls to 210 kW. This page works the full calculation at that level so you can see exactly which result moves and by how much. Estimate chiller electricity cost from average chiller demand, runtime, electricity rate, and cooling output basis.

The inputs for this scenario

  • Average chiller electrical demand: 210 kW (the input this scenario stresses; the baseline uses 420)
  • Chiller runtime: 240 hr (held at the documented default)
  • Blended electricity rate: 0.13 $ / kWh (held at the documented default)
  • Cooling tons, batches, or units served: 185,000 units (held at the documented default)

Working through the calculation

  • The calculation starts from the formula this tool documents: Chiller electricity used = average chiller electrical demand × chiller runtime.
  • Total chiller electricity cost works out to 6,552 $ at these inputs, and this is the headline figure for the scenario.
  • Chiller electricity used works out to 50,400 kWh at these inputs.
  • Chiller cost per served unit works out to 0.04 $ / unit at these inputs.
  • Chiller electricity cost per runtime hour works out to 27.3 $ / hr at these inputs.

How this compares with the baseline

  • Against the tool's baseline example, where average chiller electrical demand sits at 420 kW and the headline result is 13,104 $, this scenario comes in 50% below the baseline at 6,552 $.
  • It computes chiller electricity used (average demand times runtime), the total cost at your blended rate, and the cost spread across the units, batches, or cooling tons served. When the numbers land here, the stressed input is the lever to work; the walkthrough above shows exactly how much each output recovers as it climbs back toward the baseline.

Results at a glance

  • Total chiller electricity cost: 6,552 $ (headline result)
  • Chiller electricity used: 50,400 kWh
  • Chiller cost per served unit: 0.04 $ / unit
  • Chiller electricity cost per runtime hour: 27.3 $ / hr

Run it with your numbers

  • To rerun this with your own numbers, open the live Chiller Energy Cost calculator, set average chiller electrical demand to your actual value, and adjust the remaining inputs to match your operation.

Last reviewed 2026-05-12.