Looking to figure out how much it costs you to use a washer and dryer every year? Well, it’s impossible to give an accurate number for the average cost of running a washer or dryer because it depends on how much power is being consumed during their operations.
This largely depends on the type of machine you’re using. Electric dryers and gas dryers are going to come with very different costs, for example. Despite what a lot of people think, it’s actually the former that comes with higher costs – by a lot, too.
Overall, dryers in this country consume somewhere around 43 billion-kilowatt hours and go through 443 million therms of natural gas.
When looking at an electric dryer, you should find how many watts it uses by looking at the label on the back. As electric companies decide your bill based on the kilowatt-hour, you’re looking for how many kilowatts it takes for the machine to run for an hour. This is probably going to be somewhere between 1,800 and 5,000 watts an hour. If a cycle takes an hour at 5,000 watts and you are charged $00.14 per kilowatt, you’re going to have to pay $00.70.
Now, average out how many loads you have to do a year. Just count how many you do during an average week and multiply that number by 52. Then multiply it again by the hourly fee you came up with and there you go.
The same process can be used for the electricity your washer needs. However, you also have to think about the water being consumed, as well. Once again, you’ll have to check the label on the back of the machine, which will tell you how many gallons are used for every load.
Nowadays, high-efficiency machines use between 15 and 30 gallons of water. The most efficient models can do the job with just 5 gallons.
To turn this number into dollars and cents, you’ll need to look at what you pay for water in your home. Then, again, just do the math on how many loads your household does.
There could also be things like maintenance fees, but those probably won’t be annual costs. Nonetheless, it’s worth taking proper care of your machines to avoid this kind of burden on your budget.
As you can see, the annual costs of washers and dryers are fairly cheap given how important their jobs are. Nonetheless, if you’re in the market, try to go with a high-efficiency model.
Sources:
http://www.moneycrashers.com/save-money-laundry-costs/
http://www.thesimpledollar.com/a-cost-comparison-of-home-laundry-and-laundromats/
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/average-cost-hour-run-dryer-68320.html