Enter your dishwasher's energy use, weekly runs, and electricity price to estimate its usage-based cost per run, month, and year.
The prefilled $0.1831 per kWh is a US planning estimate for July 2026. Replace it with your local usage price.
Advanced options
Water and sewer
Other cost and label assumption
Usage-based electricity plus any water, sewer, detergent, and rinse-aid costs you entered.
This uses an average month.
Calculation details
Fixed utility charges, taxes, minimum bills, maintenance, and unrelated adjustments are excluded.
Table of contents
How to use our Dishwasher Running Cost Calculator
- Choose the source for your electricity number: "EnergyGuide yearly kWh" for the number on an EnergyGuide label, or "kWh for my usual cycle" for a cycle-specific number from your manual or meter.
- Enter the electricity use in the unit shown beside the field. Then enter the number of completed dishwasher runs in a typical week. Enter 0 if you want a per-run estimate but are not currently using the dishwasher.
- Enter the usage-based electricity price from your bill in dollars per kWh. If the bill shows cents per kWh, divide by 100 first. For example, 18 cents per kWh is 0.18.
- Use the prefilled electricity price only as a US planning estimate. Replace it with your local bill rate when possible.
- Open "Advanced options" to add water, sewer, detergent, or rinse-aid cost. To include water or sewer, enter gallons used per run and at least one matching usage price.
- Choose the water billing unit printed on your bill. If you change between "$ per 1,000 gallons" and "$ per CCF," the calculator converts entered water and sewer prices to keep the same price.
- Select "Calculate." Start with "Estimated cost per dishwasher run," then use the monthly and yearly estimates for planning.
Definitions
EnergyGuide yearly kWh: Estimated annual electricity use printed on an EnergyGuide label. This calculator converts it to an estimated amount per run using the test-cycles-per-year setting. [3]
kWh (kilowatt-hour): A unit of electrical energy. Electricity bills commonly price electricity by kWh.
Usage-based price: The part of a utility bill that changes as more electricity or water is used. It excludes a fixed customer charge.
CCF: One hundred cubic feet of water. For utility billing, 1 CCF is 748 gallons. [2]
Common mistakes and quick fixes
Mistake: Entering yearly EnergyGuide kWh as though it is kWh for one dishwasher run.
Fix: Select "EnergyGuide yearly kWh" before entering the label number. The calculator divides yearly kWh by the test-cycles-per-year setting.
Mistake: Entering 18 for an electricity price of 18 cents per kWh.
Fix: Enter 0.18 because the field is in dollars per kWh.
Mistake: Using the entire utility bill or adding a fixed customer charge.
Fix: Enter only usage-based electricity, water, and sewer prices. Fixed account charges usually do not change because of one dishwasher run.
Mistake: Entering gallons per run without a water or sewer price, or entering a price without gallons.
Fix: Enter gallons and at least one usage price together, or clear all water and sewer fields.
Mistake: Using energy or water data for a different cycle than the one normally used.
Fix: Match the normal cycle, options, and drying setting as closely as possible.
Limitations & Key Assumptions / Boundary Conditions
- This is a planning estimate based on the appliance figures, utility prices, and weekly runs entered. Actual use can change with the selected cycle, drying setting, incoming water temperature, and local utility rates.
- For "EnergyGuide yearly kWh," the calculator estimates kWh per run by dividing yearly kWh by the editable test-cycles-per-year setting. That setting is not your household's actual annual run count.
- Monthly cost is an average based on 52 weeks divided by 12 months. A particular calendar month can have more or fewer dishwasher runs.
- Only entered usage-based electricity, water, sewer, detergent, and rinse-aid costs are included. Fixed charges, taxes, minimum bills, maintenance, repairs, and the dishwasher purchase price are excluded.
- Water and sewer estimates need gallons per run and at least one usage price. A local utility may calculate sewer charges differently from water charges.
Methodology
Calculation method
The calculator first finds electricity used by one dishwasher run. With "EnergyGuide yearly kWh," it divides the yearly figure by the editable test-cycles-per-year setting. With "kWh for my usual cycle," it uses the entered kWh per run directly.
yearly_runs = runs_per_week * 52
electricity_per_run = yearly_kWh / test_cycles_per_year, or entered_cycle_kWh
electricity_cost_per_run = electricity_per_run * electricity_price
Water and sewer are optional. When included, the calculator adds their usage prices and converts the total to dollars per gallon. For a per-CCF bill, it divides by 748 because 1 CCF is 748 gallons. [2]
water_sewer_cost_per_run = gallons_per_run * (water_price + sewer_price) / billing_gallons
Billing gallons are 1,000 for a per-1,000-gallon bill and 748 for a per-CCF bill. A blank water or sewer price counts as zero only when gallons and the other price are entered.
cost_per_run = electricity_cost_per_run + water_sewer_cost_per_run + consumables_cost_per_run
yearly_cost = cost_per_run * yearly_runs
monthly_cost = yearly_cost / 12
Mini-example
If yearly energy use is 184 kWh and the test-cycle setting is 184, the estimated electricity use is 1 kWh per run. At $0.20 per kWh, electricity costs $0.20 per run. At 5 runs per week, electricity alone costs $52.00 per year, or about $4.33 per month. The prefilled electricity price is a US planning estimate; replace it with the usage-based rate from a local bill. [1]