Cost to run a tumble dryer per load
What a tumble dryer costs
At 17 cents a kilowatt hour, a tumble dryer costs 51 cents an hour while it is drawing power. 1 hours a day with 100 percent average draw is 3.00 kWh a day, $15.30 a month and $186.15 a year. Change any of those three numbers in the calculator and the answer moves with them, because there is nothing else in the sum.
The label figure is 3000 watts. That is what the device draws while it is working, not what it draws around the clock.
| Hours of use a day | Energy a day | Cost a month | Cost a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 h | 3.00 kWh | $15.30 | $186.15 |
| 2 h | 6.00 kWh | $30.60 | $372.30 |
| 4 h | 12.00 kWh | $61.20 | $744.60 |
| 8 h | 24.00 kWh | $122.40 | $1,489.20 |
What changes the number
- A full cycle is 45 to 70 minutes, so one load is roughly 2.5 to 3 kWh. The monthly number is set by how many loads you run, not by how long the machine is plugged in.
- Heat-pump dryers use about 1 kWh per load. That is a third of a vented dryer and the only appliance-level change that cuts this bill by that much.
- Spinning clothes harder in the washer first removes water that would otherwise be evaporated. A faster spin is usually cheaper than a longer dry.
Find your own wattage
On the door frame or the back panel. Dryers are usually rated near 3,000 W for vented models and 800 to 1,000 W for heat-pump models.
What this does not include
It does not count the humidity the dryer dumps into the room, which a vented dryer in a cold flat can turn into a heating problem.
Check it against your own numbers
The [running cost calculator](../index.html?device=tumble-dryer) opens with this device already selected and its wattage filled in. Replace the wattage with your own reading, set the hours you actually use, and the monthly and yearly figures update in place.
Related: [A 1,500 W space heater](../space-heater/index.html), [An electric blanket](../electric-blanket/index.html), [A dehumidifier](../dehumidifier/index.html).