Laundry running costs
EIA data · June 20264 appliances, ranked by what they cost over a year at the U.S. average of 18.34¢ per kilowatt-hour. Run together at the default usage shown on each page they come to about $171 a year.
All of these draw power for only part of the time they are switched on — drawing in bursts rather than steadily — so the figures below apply a duty cycle to each. Ignoring that is the most common reason published estimates run high.
What drives cost in this category
Heat, not motion. A washing machine's drum motor is a few hundred watts and barely registers; what costs money is hot water, and that appears on the water heater rather than the washer. A dryer, by contrast, is a heating element with a drum attached.
The change with the most leverage
Washing in cold water removes nearly all the energy cost of a load, because no water needs heating. After that, a faster spin costs a little more at the washer and saves considerably more at the dryer, since less water is left to evaporate.
What people get wrong
Ironing and steaming look cheap because sessions are short, but both draw more than the washing machine while running. The washer is the least expensive thing in the laundry, which is the reverse of what most people assume.
Laundry ranked by yearly cost
| Appliance | Typical W | Duty | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electric clothes dryer | 5,000 | 75% | $134 |
| Washing machine | 500 | 60% | $14.34 |
| Clothes steamer | 1,500 | 80% | $12.05 |
| Clothes iron | 1,200 | 40% | $9.64 |