Using a clothes dryer three times a week will use about 468 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. It costs an average of $5.53 to run a dryer for a month and $66.41 to run for a year. The best way to save on electricity is to install solar panels.
Electric dryers span a wide range of wattages, from about 2,000 to 6,000 watts. That translates to about 2 to 6 kWh of electricity. Based on the national average rate of 12¢ per kWh, each hour of electric drying will cost somewhere between 24¢ and 72¢, depending on the model.
Dryer Wattage Explained: How Much Electricity Does a Dryer Use? Electric dryers use anywhere from 1800 to 5000 watts of energy, on average, dependent on the load and cycle configurations. This equates to about 1.8 to 5 kWh of electricity.
How much does it cost to run a tumble dryer for an hour? According to Heatable, a 2500W tumble dryer costs about 85p to use for an hour. However, the tumble dryer cost per hour depends on the energy efficiency rating of your tumble dryer and the cost of energy at the time.
Do dryers use a lot of power? Yes, though they do so over a shorter period of time than many other popular appliances. For example, let's compare your dryer to your TV, which (if relatively new) will use between 100-300 watts. Your TV could cost you a tenth of what your dryer costs you in the same period.
Heat pump tumble dryer running costs
On average, a heat pump dryer uses just 2.16 kWh for a full load cycle, costing approximately 53p per cycle – less than half the cost of vented or condenser models.
Heating and cooling are by far the greatest energy users in the home, making up around 40% of your electric bill. Other big users are washers, dryers, ovens, and stoves. Electronic devices like laptops and TVs are usually pretty cheap to run, but of course, it can all add up.
What time is cheapest to do laundry? We've already established that overnight is the cheapest time to do your laundry.
If you have a 2100W (2.1 kW) washing machine and you run it for an hour, it'll use 2.1kWh of electricity in that hour. If electricity costs 34p per unit, multiply 2.1kWh by 34p and you get a grand total of 71p.
Dryer Costs:
Once your clothes are washed, the drying cost comes into play. Typically, you'll find that dryers charge by time, with a standard drying cycle lasting around 30 to 45 minutes. The cost of drying a load ranges from $1.50 to $2.50 per cycle, depending on the dryer's size and location.
For example, if you run an old 7kg vented clothes dryer with a 2-star energy rating twice a week, it will cost you around $165 a year in electricity use at 2022 prices (on average: prices vary by state and territory). With the forecast energy price rise, this would cost around $250 a year by 2024.
Generally, TVs use between 50 to 200 watts (W) of electricity, depending on the model. Most TVs use less than one amp and connect to a 120-volt outlet. Older TVs that use technology such as Plasma and CRT are much less efficient compared to newer LED and LCD TVs.
The biggest risk of running a dryer when you're not home is the appliance overheating and causing a fire.
Using a clothes dryer three times a week will use about 468 kilowatt-hours of electricity per year. It costs an average of $5.53 to run a dryer for a month and $66.41 to run for a year. The best way to save on electricity is to install solar panels.
It costs an average of $20 a month or $240 a year to run a refrigerator. A refrigerator's actual energy use is typically much less than the stated wattage because they cycle on and off throughout the day. Generally, you can divide your refrigerator's wattage by 3 to estimate its energy usage.
Your average 9kg heat pump tumble dryer will use around 2.16 kWh for a full load cycle. Using your dryer two times a week will give you an average annual usage of 259 kWh – which translates to 63p for each cycle and £75.11 a year.
While the amount of energy a shower will use varies on the individual appliance, an electric shower can use an average of 8.5kW of energy. With this in mind to work out the cost of using an electric shower you need to multiply how much energy it is using, so 8.5, by the cost of electricity, 0.34.
The cheapest time of the day to do laundry is the off-peak hours which is from 8 pm on words. Peak hours start from 4 pm to 8 pm so make sure to keep that in mind.
Appliances account for 13.6% of your total household energy use and cost. Skipping the dryer, especially during spring, summer and fall, helps keep that money in your pocket. The sun is an efficient clothes dryer and clothes will dry outside even on breezy partly sunny days.
Not only will you save money on your energy bill, but you'll also be doing your part to reduce your carbon footprint and support a more sustainable lifestyle. Plus, you can potentially save anywhere from $256 to $590 per year by simply making the switch from clothes dryers to a clothesline.
Unplugging appliances has the potential to save you money on expenses, and this practice can also increase the life of your belongings. The more items you have plugged in around the house, the more susceptible your devices are to damage through an unexpected power surge.