Estimate your washing machine cost per load, week, month, and year using your utility rates and laundry habits.
Table of contents
How to use our Washing Machine Running Cost Calculator
- Enter Loads per week for washer loads only, not dryer runs.
- Enter Electricity used per load, Electricity price, Water used per load, and Water plus sewer price from your washer information and utility bills.
- Open Advanced options if you want to include Detergent and supplies or compare a second washer cycle.
- Click Calculate to see yearly, monthly, weekly, and per-load cost, plus separate electricity and water amounts.
- Sanity-check the result: if Cost per load looks too high or too low, recheck that Water plus sewer price is per 1,000 gallons and Electricity price is per kWh.
Definitions
kWh: Kilowatt-hour, the energy unit used on electric bills. Electricity used per load is entered in kWh per washer load.
Electricity price: The amount you pay for each kWh of electricity. Use the per-kWh rate for the time when you usually wash clothes.
Water plus sewer price: The combined volume charge for water and sewer service, entered as dollars per 1,000 gallons.
Detergent and supplies: The washer supplies cost for one load, such as detergent, pods, softener, or similar wash products.
Comparison cycle: A second washer cycle, such as cold, quick, or eco, used to estimate Yearly savings with comparison cycle.
Yearly savings with comparison cycle: Current cycle utility cost minus comparison cycle utility cost for one year. A positive number means the comparison cycle is cheaper.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
Mistake: Counting dryer runs in Loads per week.
Fix: Use only washing machine loads so Estimated yearly washer cost does not include dryer cost.
Mistake: Entering a monthly electric bill as Electricity price.
Fix: Enter the $ per kWh price from your bill, such as 0.17, not the full bill amount.
Mistake: Entering Water plus sewer price as a total monthly bill.
Fix: Use the usage rate per 1,000 gallons and leave out fixed fees unless they really change with laundry use.
Mistake: Leaving one comparison field filled and the other blank.
Fix: Enter both Comparison cycle electricity and Comparison cycle water, or leave both blank.
Mistake: Adding dryer sheets or dryer energy to Detergent and supplies.
Fix: Include washer supplies only, such as detergent or pods, so Cost per load stays washer-focused.
Limitations & Key Assumptions / Boundary Conditions
- This is a washer-only estimate. It does not include dryer electricity, dryer gas, laundromat fees, or clothing wear.
- Electricity used per load should match the washer cycle you use. Hot-water costs may be outside the washer reading if your home's water heater supplies the hot water.
- Water plus sewer price uses usage-based charges only. Fixed monthly service fees are not included unless you choose to build them into the rate.
- Average monthly cost is yearly cost divided by 12, so it will not match every calendar month if your load count changes.
- Yearly savings with comparison cycle compares utility cost only. It does not include Detergent and supplies because those usually stay the same between cycles.
- Rates, washer settings, load size, water temperature, and utility billing tiers can make real bills differ from the estimate.
Methodology
How the washer cost is calculated
The calculator starts by turning Loads per week into yearly loads using 52 weeks per year.
loads_per_year = loads_per_week * 52
Electricity cost per load is the washer energy for one load multiplied by the electricity rate.
electricity_cost_per_load = kwh_per_load * electricity_price
Water and sewer cost per load is the washer gallons for one load multiplied by the per-gallon water and sewer rate. The rate is divided by 1000 because the input is dollars per 1,000 gallons.
water_cost_per_load = gallons_per_load * (water_sewer_price / 1000)
Total cost per load adds electricity, water and sewer, and Detergent and supplies. If the supplies field is blank, it is treated as 0.
cost_per_load = electricity_cost_per_load + water_cost_per_load + supplies_per_load
Weekly, yearly, and average monthly costs come from the per-load cost and load count.
weekly_cost = cost_per_load * loads_per_week
annual_cost = weekly_cost * 52
monthly_cost = annual_cost / 12
Yearly resource use is calculated separately so you can see the washer's electricity and water amounts.
annual_kwh = kwh_per_load * loads_per_year
annual_gallons = gallons_per_load * loads_per_year
If both comparison fields are entered, the calculator compares utility cost per load for the current cycle against the comparison cycle. The result is signed, so a negative value means the comparison cycle costs more.
compare_annual_savings = ((kwh_per_load * electricity_price + gallons_per_load * water_sewer_price / 1000) - (compare_kwh_per_load * electricity_price + compare_gallons_per_load * water_sewer_price / 1000)) * loads_per_year
Mini example
For 5 loads per week, 0.30 kWh per load, $0.17 per kWh, 15 gallons per load, $10 per 1,000 gallons, and $0.30 in supplies, electricity cost is $0.051 per load and water plus sewer cost is $0.150 per load. Total cost per load is $0.501, weekly cost is $2.505, yearly cost is $130.26, and average monthly cost is about $10.86.
With a comparison cycle using 0.20 kWh and 12 gallons per load, the comparison utility cost is $0.154 per load versus $0.201 for the current cycle. Over 260 loads per year, the comparison cycle saves about $12.22 per year.