Want to know how much it costs to run your clothes dryer? Use our free Dryer Cost Calculator to estimate the electricity cost per load, as well as your monthly and yearly running costs.
Enter your dryer’s power consumption, average cycle duration, number of loads per week, and electricity rate. The calculator will estimate the electricity used and the approximate cost of drying your clothes.
Dryer Cost Calculator
Estimate the electricity cost of each drying cycle and your regular laundry routine.
The calculator estimates electricity use from average power consumption, cycle duration, and the number of drying loads. Actual consumption depends on dryer type, load size, moisture level, cycle settings, and appliance efficiency. This estimate covers electricity only.
How Does the Dryer Cost Calculator Work?
The Dryer Cost Calculator estimates how much electricity a clothes dryer uses per load and how much it costs to operate over time.
The calculation uses four inputs:
- Average power consumption: The estimated average electrical power used by the dryer, measured in watts (W).
- Cycle duration: The length of a typical drying cycle, measured in hours.
- Loads per week: The number of loads you dry each week.
- Electricity rate: The price you pay for electricity, measured in dollars per kilowatt-hour (kWh).
The calculator estimates energy use per load by multiplying average power by cycle duration and converting watts to kilowatt-hours. It then uses your weekly drying frequency to estimate monthly and yearly electricity costs.
Actual energy use varies by dryer type, load size, moisture level, cycle settings, and appliance efficiency. The estimate covers electricity only, not the cost of operating a washing machine or other laundry equipment.
Example: How Much Does It Cost to Run a Clothes Dryer?
For example, let’s assume a clothes dryer averages 3,000 watts during a one-hour drying cycle. You run four loads per week, and your electricity rate is $0.16 per kWh.
The estimated electricity use is:
- 3 kWh per load
- 12 kWh per week
- 624 kWh per year
The estimated electricity cost would be:
- $0.48 per load
- $2.00 per week
- Approximately $8.32 per month
- $99.84 per year
These figures are illustrative estimates. Actual consumption may be considerably different depending on whether you use a conventional electric dryer, a gas dryer, or a heat-pump dryer. For the most accurate result, use measured energy consumption per cycle when available.