Restoration equipment runs continuously, day and night, for the length of the job. That electricity comes off the homeowner's meter, not the contractor's, and it does not appear on any estimate.
The arithmetic is straightforward. Watts, divided by a thousand, times hours, times the rate per kilowatt-hour.
What each machine draws
| Equipment | Typical draw | Per 24 hours |
|---|---|---|
| Axial air mover | 100–200 W | 2.4–4.8 kWh |
| Centrifugal air mover | 200–350 W | 4.8–8.4 kWh |
| LGR dehumidifier | 600–1,100 W | 14–26 kWh |
| Desiccant dehumidifier | 1,200–2,800 W | 29–67 kWh |
| HEPA air scrubber | 100–300 W | 2.4–7.2 kWh |
| Supplemental heater | 1,500 W | 36 kWh |
A worked example
A common residential setup: five axial air movers at 150 W and one LGR dehumidifier at 800 W.
Air movers: 5 × 150 W = 750 W, or 18 kWh per day. Dehumidifier: 800 W, or 19.2 kWh per day. Total: about 37 kWh per day.
At the US residential average of roughly 17 cents per kWh, that is about $6.30 a day — and at California or Northeast rates closer to 30 cents, about $11 a day.
Over a four-day job: $25 to $45. Over a ten-day hardwood job with a desiccant and a heater running: $150 to $300.
Where it gets expensive
The heater is the surprise. A 1,500 W space heater run continuously uses more electricity than five air movers and a dehumidifier combined. Heating a cold basement is usually the right call for the drying, and it should be a deliberate decision rather than something noticed on the bill.
Desiccants are the other one. They are the correct machine in cold or low-humidity conditions, and they draw two to three times what an LGR does.
The circuit problem
A standard 15-amp residential circuit carries about 1,800 W continuous. Five air movers and a dehumidifier is roughly 1,550 W — close enough that adding one more machine trips the breaker.
Restoration crews spread equipment across circuits for this reason, which usually means running cords to other rooms. Three practical consequences:
- Do not plug additional equipment into a circuit that already has drying gear on it
- If a breaker trips overnight, the equipment is off until someone notices, and a full day is lost
- Older homes with fewer circuits sometimes cannot support the equipment the job needs, and that is a real constraint on the timeline
Checking the panel each morning during a dry-out is worth the thirty seconds. A tripped breaker discovered on day three means two days of drying that did not happen and cannot be recovered.
Whether insurance pays it
Some policies reimburse the electricity used for mitigation, usually under additional living expense or as a documented mitigation cost. It is not automatic and it is rarely offered.
To claim it, note the meter reading when equipment goes in and when it comes out, and keep the utility bills either side of the loss. The difference against a normal month is the number. It is a modest amount on a short job and worth pursuing on a long one.
The trade worth understanding
None of this argues for running less equipment. Ten dollars a day of electricity that shortens a job from eight days to four is a good trade against equipment day charges that run far higher, and against the risk of a stalled job turning into a remediation.
The point is only that the electricity is real, it lands a month later, and it belongs in the plan rather than in the surprises.