Yearsticker

How it works

Every formula, in plain sight.

The site never looks anything up and never guesses a price. It takes the numbers you type and does the arithmetic below.

Cost Sheet

  1. Paid up front = price × (1 + sales tax %) + setup and accessories + protection plan. Tax is applied to the price only; some states also tax protection plans, so add that tax to the plan's cost if yours does.
  2. Electricity a year (kWh) = typical watts × hours a day × days a week × 52.14 weeks (365 ÷ 7) ÷ 1,000.
  3. Electricity a year ($) = kWh a year × your rate in cents ÷ 100. The starting rate is 18.31¢ per kWh, the U.S. residential average for July 2026 in the EIA's Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (released September 24, 2026). Rates vary a lot by state and month; your bill shows yours.
  4. Total = paid up front + (yearly costs + electricity a year) × years + repairs − what it sells for at the end.
  5. Cost per year = total ÷ years. Per month = cost per year ÷ 12. Per hour of use = total ÷ (hours a day × days a week × 52.14 × years).
  6. The computer with the lowest cost per year is marked; the others show how much more they cost a year. Ties go to the one listed first.

Typical watts

The number on a charger or power supply is the most it can deliver, not what the computer usually draws. A plug-in power meter between the wall and the computer shows the real figure. If you leave watts at 0, electricity counts as nothing.

What it does not include

Interest (use the Offer Reader for payment plans), your time, data moves, or the value of a faster or slower computer to you. Money spent later is not discounted for inflation.

Offer Reader

The four boxes use the terms and short descriptions of the federal Truth in Lending disclosure, 12 CFR 1026.18.

  1. Amount financed = cash price − paid at signing toward the price − fees at signing − a first payment made at signing. (1026.18(b): the cash price less any downpayment, less any prepaid finance charge. A payment made at signing is a downpayment, not credit.)
  2. Total of payments = payment × the payments made after signing + final buyout.
  3. Finance charge = total of payments − amount financed. This is the same as everything you pay minus the cash price.
  4. Estimated APR: the yearly rate i × periods a year at which the payments, each discounted by (1 + i) for every period between signing and its due date, add up to the amount financed. This is the actuarial method of Regulation Z Appendix J for a schedule of equal periods: 52 a year for weekly, 26 for every two weeks, 24 for twice a month and 12 for monthly. The rate is found by halving the search range 200 times. With the first payment "At signing", that payment counts as paid at signing and the rest fall at periods 1, 2, 3…; with "After one period" the payments fall at periods 1, 2, 3… as well, one more of them. A buyout is due with the last payment.
  5. If the payments add up to exactly the amount financed, the APR is 0%. If they add up to less, no real offer works that way, so the reader asks you to check the numbers instead of showing a result. If everything is paid at signing there is no credit to read.

Check: $1,000 financed and repaid with 12 monthly payments of $88.85 works out to an APR of 12.00%.

What it does not do

It doesn't know about odd first periods, skipped payments, deferred-interest promotions, late fees or insurance. A lender's Truth in Lending disclosure is the official figure; Regulation Z allows a small tolerance in a lender's APR. Lease-to-own agreements are often treated as leases rather than credit, so they may show no APR at all: the reader shows what the same payments would mean as a loan.

Sources

Sources read October 10, 2026.