A tumble dryer is one of the hungriest appliances in the laundry room, so it is fair to ask: how much does it cost to run a dryer, really? The answer is smaller than many people fear for a single load, and larger than most expect over a year. It depends on one thing above all else — which type of dryer you own. This guide works through the cost per load for vented, condenser and heat pump models, shows what that adds up to each week and each year, and explains the simple habits that bring the bill down.
The short answer: cost per load
The formula never changes: cost per load = kWh per load × your price per kWh. For a typical full load of about 8 kg, a heat pump dryer uses roughly 1.5 kWh, a vented dryer roughly 2.9 kWh, and a condenser dryer roughly 3.4 kWh. The prices in this guide are dated examples, not promises: US electricity at about $0.173 per kWh, the 2025 average, and UK electricity at about 26.35p per kWh under the October to December 2025 price cap. At the US rate, a vented load costs about $0.50. At the UK rate, the same vented load is about 76p. Your own tariff will move both figures, which is why you can drop your own rate into our appliance electricity cost calculator and get the number for your home in seconds.
Dryer running costs: per load, per week and per year
The table below uses the US rate of $0.173 per kWh, four loads a week, and about 208 loads a year. Figures are rounded and shown as approximations, because real loads vary with fabric, load size and how dry you like your laundry.
| Dryer type | kWh per load | Cost per load | Per week (4 loads) | Per year (208 loads) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heat pump | about 1.5 | about $0.26 | about $1.04 | about $54 |
| Vented | about 2.9 | about $0.50 | about $2.00 | about $104 |
| Condenser | about 3.4 | about $0.59 | about $2.35 | about $122 |
Read the spread, not just the rows. The most efficient type costs less than half as much to run as the least efficient, load after load. If your household dries six or seven loads a week, or your rate is higher than the example, scale the table up with the electricity cost calculator for any appliance rather than guessing — the gap between dryer types grows with every extra load.
Why dryers differ so much
All dryers do the same job — warm air through tumbling clothes until the water leaves as vapour — but they handle that warm, damp air very differently, and that is the whole efficiency story.
Vented dryers dump the heat
A vented dryer heats air, blows it through the drum, and then pushes the hot, moist air outside through a hose or duct. Every minute it runs, it throws away heat you have just paid to create, and pulls in fresh air to heat from scratch. The machines are cheap to buy and quick, but that one-way trip for the heat is why they sit in the middle of the running-cost table.
Condenser dryers re-cool the air
A condenser dryer keeps the air inside the machine, cooling it so the moisture condenses into water that collects in a tank or drains away. It can go anywhere with a socket, which is its great advantage, but cooling air you have just heated, then heating it again, is hard work. That is why condenser models typically use the most energy per load of the three types.
Heat pump dryers recycle the heat
A heat pump dryer also loops its air, but instead of wasting the heat when it extracts the moisture, it recovers and reuses it, much like a fridge running in reverse. The same warmth goes round and round, so the heater does far less work. Cycles are often a little longer and the purchase price is higher, but the energy per load drops dramatically — to roughly half of a vented model in the figures above.
Load size, fabric and the sensor matter too
Type is not everything. A half-empty drum still heats a full drum of air, heavy cotton towels hold far more water than synthetics, and a load that started soaking wet costs more than one that was well spun. How the cycle ends matters as well: a dryer with a working moisture sensor stops when the clothes are dry, while a timer model runs for the full time you set, whether the load needed it or not.
How to cut the cost of every load
- Spin faster first. Use the highest safe spin speed in the washer before drying. Spinning water out is far cheaper than evaporating it out, and a load that leaves the washer well spun can need noticeably less time and heat in the dryer.
- Run full loads, but do not pack them. A full drum shares the heated air across more clothes, so the cost per item falls. Pack it too tight, though, and the air cannot circulate, the cycle stretches, and you pay for the extra time.
- Clean the lint filter every load. A clogged filter chokes the airflow, makes the dryer work longer for the same result, and is a safety issue as well as a cost one. It takes ten seconds.
- Use the moisture sensor, not the timer. Sensor programmes stop at dry instead of baking clothes for a guessed extra ten or twenty minutes. If your machine has an eco setting, that usually means the sensor and gentler heat.
- Dry similar fabrics together. Thin synthetics dry much faster than thick towels. Mixed loads mean the fast items sit cooking while the slow ones finish, so grouping like with like shortens the cycle for everything.
None of these habits costs anything, and together they attack the two things you actually pay for: how much water the dryer has to remove, and how long the heater has to run to remove it.
Is a heat pump dryer worth the upgrade?
On energy alone, the honest answer is: slowly. A heat pump dryer saves roughly 1.4 kWh per load compared with a vented model. At 200 loads a year that is about 280 kWh saved — roughly $48 a year at US prices and about £74 a year at UK prices. Against a typical price premium, that pays back over years rather than months, and faster the more laundry you do. The case gets stronger if your vented dryer is dying anyway, if you dry daily, or if you value the gentler, cooler drying for your clothes. Run your own load count and rate through the Appliance Electricity Cost Calculator before you decide, rather than relying on anyone else’s payback claim.
It also helps to keep the dryer in perspective. It is a heavy load while it runs, but it runs for hours a week, not hours a day — see what uses the most electricity in a home for the appliances that really dominate a bill, and how much electricity a refrigerator uses for the opposite pattern: a small draw that never switches off.
Frequently asked questions
How much does one load of drying cost?
It depends on the dryer type. Using the dated examples in this guide — about 1.5 kWh for a heat pump load, 2.9 kWh for a vented load and 3.4 kWh for a condenser load — a load costs roughly $0.26, $0.50 or $0.59 at the US 2025 average rate of $0.173 per kWh. At the UK price cap rate of 26.35p per kWh, a vented load is about 76p.
How much does a dryer cost per month?
At about 17 loads a month — roughly four loads a week — a vented dryer costs around $8.50 a month at US prices, based on about $0.50 per load. A heat pump model doing the same laundry would cost roughly $4.40 a month, and a condenser model roughly $10. Your load count matters more than anything else, so scale the per-load figure by how often you actually dry.
Is a heat pump dryer worth it?
On energy alone it pays back slowly: it saves roughly 1.4 kWh per load versus a vented dryer, about 280 kWh a year at 200 loads, worth roughly $48 a year at US prices and about £74 at UK prices. It makes the most sense for heavy users, for households replacing a dryer anyway, and for anyone who wants gentler drying that is kinder to fabrics.
Does line drying really save much?
Yes — it saves the full per-load cost, every load, because a line or rack uses no electricity at all, and it also means less heat and tumbling, so less fabric wear. The honest limits are weather, space and time: line drying is free money on a dry, breezy day with room to hang things, and not an option at all in a rainy week in a small flat.