How Much Does It Cost to Run an Electric Dryer?
Based on a 5,000 W electric dryer running 0.75 hours a day with a 80% duty cycle, priced at the 2025 EIA residential average for every state. Change the state and hours below for your own number.
Updated Oct 16, 2026
Quick answer
Quick answer, US average (17.3 c/kWh)
About $15.57 a month
The same use costs $10.63 a month in North Dakota and $36.53 in Hawaii. This appliance runs on a 240 V circuit, so plug-in meters will not fit it; use a panel monitor or the utility's hourly data instead.
- Per hour
- $0.69
- with 80% cycling; $0.87 at full 5,000 W
- Per day
- $0.52
- 0.75 h, 3.00 kWh
- Per month
- $15.57
- 30 days
- Per year
- $189.44
- 365 days at the same use
Your state, your hours
Per hour
$0.69
Per day
$0.52
Per month
$15.57
Per year
$189.44
Electric Dryer at 5,000 W, 0.75 h a day, 30 days a month, 80% duty cycle: 90.0 kWh a month. Using the 2025 US average of 17.3 cents/kWh.
Want to change the watts or duty cycle too? Open the full calculator.
What decides the cost of running an electric dryer
A conventional electric dryer is a 240 V heating element of about 4,500 to 5,600 W plus a drum motor and blower of 200 to 300 W. On a timed high-heat cycle the element runs most of the time, so this page uses an 80 percent duty cycle. A load that takes 45 minutes uses about 3 kWh. Households differ mostly in load count and in how wet the clothes are when they go in. A family doing seven to ten loads a week is in the 100 kWh a month range, and a single person doing two is closer to 25.
Moisture sensing saves more than any other feature. A dryer that stops when the clothes are dry, instead of when a timer runs out, skips the last 10 or 15 minutes of element time on a load that was already done. That can be a fifth of the energy. The washer matters too. A high-spin front loader leaves far less water in the load than an old top loader, and that water is what the dryer has to boil off. Allowing for a dryer's losses, every pound of water takes roughly 0.3 kWh to evaporate.
Heat pump dryers are the efficient option. They recirculate air through a small refrigeration coil instead of heating fresh air and venting it outside, and they use about half the electricity per load. They run longer per cycle and cost more up front, and they do not need a vent, which makes them the only choice for some apartments. At rates above 20 cents per kWh the savings on a heavy laundry schedule are worth checking. Gas dryers, where gas is available, cost less per load in nearly every state.
Lint is the maintenance item with a cost. A clogged screen or a long, kinked vent restricts airflow, so moist air leaves slower and the cycle runs longer. Clean the screen every load and the vent duct once a year.
How to cut it
- Use the moisture sensor setting instead of a timed cycle.
- Spin clothes at the washer's highest speed. Water spun out in the washer costs far less to remove than water the dryer has to boil off.
- Dry full loads back to back so the drum is already warm.
- Clean the lint screen every load and the vent run yearly. Restricted airflow lengthens every cycle.
Electric Dryer cost by state
Monthly cost for 5,000 W, 0.75 h a day, 80% duty cycle, 30 days, sorted cheapest to most expensive. Pick your state above to highlight it.
| Rank | State | Cents/kWh | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Dakota | 11.81 | $10.63 |
| 2 | Idaho | 11.82 | $10.64 |
| 3 | Nebraska | 12.34 | $11.11 |
| 4 | Louisiana | 12.57 | $11.31 |
| 5 | Arkansas | 12.84 | $11.56 |
| 6 | Montana | 12.98 | $11.68 |
| 7 | Utah | 13.07 | $11.76 |
| 8 | Washington | 13.11 | $11.80 |
| 9 | Oklahoma | 13.12 | $11.81 |
| 10 | Nevada | 13.15 | $11.84 |
| 11 | Tennessee | 13.18 | $11.86 |
| 12 | Kentucky | 13.24 | $11.92 |
| 13 | South Dakota | 13.38 | $12.04 |
| 14 | Wyoming | 13.38 | $12.04 |
| 15 | Missouri | 13.49 | $12.14 |
| 16 | Iowa | 13.72 | $12.35 |
| 17 | North Carolina | 14.02 | $12.62 |
| 18 | Mississippi | 14.03 | $12.63 |
| 19 | Kansas | 14.56 | $13.10 |
| 20 | Georgia | 14.73 | $13.26 |
| 21 | South Carolina | 14.96 | $13.46 |
| 22 | New Mexico | 15.08 | $13.57 |
| 23 | Florida | 15.24 | $13.72 |
| 24 | Virginia | 15.28 | $13.75 |
| 25 | Arizona | 15.32 | $13.79 |
| 26 | Oregon | 15.37 | $13.83 |
| 27 | West Virginia | 15.41 | $13.87 |
| 28 | Texas | 15.47 | $13.92 |
| 29 | Minnesota | 15.82 | $14.24 |
| 30 | Colorado | 15.85 | $14.27 |
| 31 | Alabama | 16.10 | $14.49 |
| 32 | Indiana | 16.23 | $14.61 |
| 33 | Ohio | 16.96 | $15.26 |
| 34 | Delaware | 17.13 | $15.42 |
| 35 | Illinois | 17.69 | $15.92 |
| 36 | Wisconsin | 18.16 | $16.34 |
| 37 | Pennsylvania | 19.30 | $17.37 |
| 38 | Maryland | 19.48 | $17.53 |
| 39 | Michigan | 20.01 | $18.01 |
| 40 | District of Columbia | 21.94 | $19.75 |
| 41 | New Jersey | 22.63 | $20.37 |
| 42 | Vermont | 22.92 | $20.63 |
| 43 | New Hampshire | 24.56 | $22.10 |
| 44 | Alaska | 26.09 | $23.48 |
| 45 | New York | 26.39 | $23.75 |
| 46 | Maine | 27.78 | $25.00 |
| 47 | Connecticut | 29.38 | $26.44 |
| 48 | Rhode Island | 29.46 | $26.51 |
| 49 | Massachusetts | 30.48 | $27.43 |
| 50 | California | 32.54 | $29.29 |
| 51 | Hawaii | 40.59 | $36.53 |
Rates: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Form EIA-861, annual average residential price, 2025 (eia.gov). Full list on the electricity rates by state page.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run an electric dryer per load?+
About 2.5 to 3.5 kWh for a typical full load, which is 40 to 60 cents at the national average rate, 30 to 45 cents in a cheap state and over $1 in Hawaii. Heat pump dryers use roughly half.
Is a gas dryer cheaper to run than an electric dryer?+
Usually, yes. A gas dryer uses about 0.2 therms of gas per load plus a small amount of electricity for the motor, which works out cheaper than 3 kWh of electricity at almost any US rate. The savings are largest in high-rate states.
Can a home battery run an electric dryer during an outage?+
Only a large one with 240 V output. The dryer pulls about 5,000 W continuously, so a 10 kWh battery would be drained by two loads. Most people leave the dryer off the backup circuit. See the home battery backup sizer.
How many watts does an electric dryer use?+
About 5,000 W on a typical model: a 4,500 to 5,600 W heating element plus a 200 to 300 W drum motor and blower. It runs on a 240 V circuit and draws about 21 amps (5,000 / 240 = 20.8 A).
How much does it cost to run an electric dryer per hour?+
About 69 cents an hour at the national average rate. The element runs about 80 percent of the time, so the dryer averages 4 kWh an hour (5,000 W x 0.8), and 4 x $0.173 = $0.69.
How much does it cost to run an electric dryer per month?+
At one 45 minute load a day, about $15.57 a month: 5,000 W x 0.75 hours x 0.8 = 3 kWh a day, 90 kWh a month, times $0.173. That is about 1,095 kWh or $189 a year.
Is a heat pump dryer cheaper to run?+
Yes, it uses about half the electricity per load. Saving 1.5 kWh on a 3 kWh load is about 26 cents per load at 17.3 cents per kWh, or about $95 a year at one load a day (365 x 1.5 x $0.173). The cycles take longer.
Is it cheaper to hang clothes to dry than use the dryer?+
Yes, by the full cost of the load, about 52 cents at the national average rate (3 kWh x $0.173). At five loads a week that is about $135 a year (260 x $0.52).
Can a generator run an electric dryer?+
Only a large one with 240 V output. The dryer needs about 5,000 W running and up to about 6,000 W at start, so the generator must be rated at least that high and connected through a transfer switch or interlock, with little left for anything else. Portable power stations and most inverter generators cannot run one.
How can I lower the cost of running an electric dryer?+
Use the moisture sensor setting instead of a timed cycle, which can cut up to a fifth of the energy, about 0.6 kWh or 10 cents per load. Spin clothes at the washer's highest speed, dry full loads back to back, and clean the lint screen every load and the vent yearly.
Marcus Reed
Founder and Editor, CrunchYourDollars
Marcus Reed builds the sizing tools on CrunchYourDollars. He is a software engineer with a long-running PC hardware and power supply habit, which is where the watts, watt-hours and surge math on this site comes from. Product specs are pulled from manufacturer data sheets, electricity rates from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and water chemistry rules from the Water Quality Association. He is not a licensed electrician or plumber: the tools show the math and the matching models so you can make the call, and anything involving your electrical panel should be checked by a licensed pro.
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