Running a 1200 W workstation 8 h/day costs about $504 a year

How this is calculated

Unlike a gaming PC, a workstation often runs at high utilisation for the entire workday — a render, training run, or simulation routinely pulls 900-1100 W from the wall for hours. That's why we use 80% utilisation across 8 hours here rather than the lower fractions that fit a gamer's evening schedule. Cooling costs add to this too: a 1200 W draw into a small room raises ambient temperature noticeably, and climate-controlled setups add 10-20% to effective electricity use.

Verdict

$504 a year is the floor for a serious workstation. It's the line where professional users start caring about perf-per-watt (M-series Macs, efficient Zen cores) vs. raw throughput — the electricity bill becomes a real operating expense over a 3-5 year deployment.