Laundry Cost Calculator

What a load of laundry costs

A load of laundry is not one expense, it is four stacked together: the electricity the washer uses, the electricity or gas the dryer uses, the water and sewer the wash draws, and the detergent you pour in. On average US rates the four add up to roughly a dollar a load, and the dryer is the single biggest piece.

That is why a line and a little patience can matter so much. Drying with heat uses far more energy than washing, so switching most loads to air drying cuts the per-load cost by more than half. The calculator above lets you enter your own numbers, because electricity rates and machine sizes swing the total from about $0.40 a load to well over $1.50.

Two figures to keep handy: the average US residential electricity price, tracked by the US Energy Information Administration, and the machine energy use the Energy Star appliance program lists for certified washers and dryers. Those two sources are where the defaults in this calculator come from.

Machine age matters too. An older top-loading washer with an agitator uses more water and more energy than a modern high-efficiency front-loader, so two households with the same habits can see totals that differ by half. That is why the calculator asks for your own numbers instead of assuming a single average.

How the calculator adds it up

Each line is a simple multiplication, then everything is summed.

• Washer energy: kilowatt-hours per load × your electricity rate. A high-efficiency machine uses about 1 kWh, and a cold wash cuts that by around 75%.
• Dryer energy: kilowatt-hours per load × your rate. An electric dryer uses about 3.5 kWh. A gas dryer costs less and you would enter its cost separately.
• Water: gallons per load × your cost per gallon. A front-loader uses about 15 gallons, a top-loader up to 40.
• Detergent: the cost of one dose, usually $0.15 to $0.30.

Add them for the cost per load, then multiply by loads per week for the weekly figure and by 52 weeks for the yearly one. Change any field and the total updates, so you can test what a cold wash or a line-dried load would save before you change a habit.

If your dryer is gas, enter the washer energy and water as usual and put the gas cost in the detergent field as a stand-in, or set the dryer energy to 0 and add the gas figure to the detergent line. The goal is to capture every real cost in one of the fields, so the per-load total is honest.

Worked example: one load with an electric dryer

The defaults in the calculator, using average US rates: a high-efficiency washer at 1 kWh per load, an electric dryer at 3.5 kWh, 15 gallons of water, $0.17 per kWh and $0.20 of detergent.

• Washer energy: 1.0 kWh × $0.17 = $0.17
• Dryer energy: 3.5 kWh × $0.17 = $0.60
• Water and sewer: 15 gal × $0.008 = $0.12
• Detergent: $0.20
• Total: $1.09 per load

At five loads a week that is $5.43 a week, and $282 a year. The dryer alone is 55% of the total, which tells you where to focus if the number feels high. Run the dryer only for full loads and clean the lint filter every time, because a clogged filter stretches the drying time and the energy bill with it.

Worked example: line drying most of the laundry

Now the same household washes in cold water and line dries everything. A cold wash drops the washer to about 0.3 kWh, and the dryer drops out entirely.

• Washer energy: 0.3 kWh × $0.17 = $0.05
• Dryer energy: $0.00
• Water and sewer: 15 gal = $0.12
• Detergent: $0.20
• Total: $0.37 per load

That is $1.86 a week and $96 a year, a saving of about $186 against the electric-dryer case. You do not have to go all the way to capture most of it. Line drying half the loads and using the dryer for the rest lands near $190 a year, and a gas dryer in place of electric saves roughly $90 a year on its own.

The point is that the dryer, not the washer or the soap, is the lever. Cutting drying heat is where the money is, and the other habits are smaller refinements on top.

Laundry cost per load at a glance

The default numbers behind the calculator, so you can see where each dollar goes and swap in your own rates.

Rates vary by region. In a state with $0.30 per kWh electricity, the same load costs about $1.55, while a low-rate area at $0.10 per kWh pays about $0.77. The EPA WaterSense program covers water use if you want to check how efficient your machine is. Confirm your own rate on your utility bill before you rely on the estimate.

Five ways to cut the cost

None of these require a new machine, and together they can halve the per-load cost.

• Wash in cold water. Heating water is most of a washer's energy use, so cold washing cuts that line by around 75% and is fine for everyday laundry.
• Run full loads. The energy per load is roughly fixed, so a full drum spreads the cost over more clothes and drops the cost per item.
• Clean the lint filter. A clogged filter chokes airflow and adds minutes to every dry cycle.
• Line dry when you can. The dryer is the biggest line item, so air drying is the single largest saving available.
• Skip the extra rinse and the long cycle. Extra cycles use more water and power for little gain on normally soiled clothes.

Add the savings up and the yearly figure can drop from around $280 to about $100 for a typical household. The exact amount depends on your rates and habits, so treat these figures as estimates for planning rather than a bill.

It also helps to think in cost per item rather than cost per load. A full drum of 20 shirts at $1.09 a load works out to about 5 cents a shirt, while running a half-empty machine for two items costs over 50 cents each. Filling the machine is the quiet saving that adds up fastest over a year.