We compare peak electricity demand and water-for-cooling consumption of two electric chillers –air-cooled and water-cooled– to that of a natural gas-fired heat-driven chiller – an absorption chiller – in the United States. We develop a mass-and-energy-balance model in which each chiller supplies the cooling demands of 16 commercial building types in 15 climate zones of the contiguous US. We quantify the water-for-cooling of each chiller within two categories: (1) ‘cooling and power’ (C&P) – the sum of water consumed directly by each chiller and water consumed at the point of power generation; and (2) ‘total’ – the sum of C&P water consumption and water consumption upstream from the power generation. The air-cooled, water-cooled and absorption chillers consume an average of 2.43, 3.73 ± 0.25, and 3.78 ± 0.35 m3 of C&P water per MWh of cooling, respectively. They consume an average of 9.26, 8.32 ± 0.25, and 3.89 ± 0.34 m3 of total water per MWh of cooling, respectively. That is, life cycle water consumption for natural gas-based absorption chilling is not negligible, though it is lower than for the electricity-based chillers under current grid conditions. Lower power grid life cycle water consumption, e.g., under decarbonization, could change this relationship.