Laundry & water: electricity cost calculators
Water heating and drying clothes — quiet heavyweights on the bill. Every calculator below starts from a realistic wattage and runtime preset and uses your state's average residential electricity price (May 2026 EIA data) — or the exact rate from your bill.
Most expensive to run
Typical monthly cost while in use, at the U.S. average price of 18.44¢/kWh.
| Appliance | Preset | Per month in use |
|---|---|---|
| Electric tankless water heater | ~18,000 W · 1h/day | $101 |
| Electric water heater | ~4,500 W · 3h/day | $76 |
| Electric clothes dryer | ~3,000 W · 1h/day | $17 |
| Heat pump water heater | ~550 W · 4h/day | $12 |
| Well pump | ~1,000 W · 2h/day | $11 |
All 8 calculators
Electric water heater Second-largest electricity user in most all-electric homes.
~4,500 W · 3h/day →
Heat pump water heater Same hot water for about a third of the electricity.
~550 W · 4h/day →
Electric tankless water heater Enormous draw, but only while hot water is flowing.
~18,000 W · 1h/day →
Washing machine Cold washes make it one of the cheapest appliances.
~500 W · 0.75h/day →
Electric clothes dryer Around 3 kWh per load for a standard electric dryer.
~3,000 W · 1h/day →
Heat pump dryer Slower cycles, less than half the energy per load.
~900 W · 1.5h/day →
Well pump A ½–2 HP motor that runs whenever water flows.
~1,000 W · 2h/day →
Sump pump Cheap insurance — until a wet spring runs it nonstop.
~800 W · 1h/day →
Other categories
How these estimates work
Cost = watts ÷ 1,000 × hours × price per kWh. Prices are average residential prices by state from the EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (May 2026), refreshed automatically each month. EIA averages include delivery and taxes but are not any specific utility tariff.