Laundry, cost per load
Tumble dryer cost per load, and when it pays back
A heat pump dryer costs more than twice what a vented one costs and uses about a third of the electricity. Whether that is a good trade is not a question about the machines at all. It is a question about how much laundry you dry, and the answer is different for a couple and for a family of five.
Some links on this page are affiliate links, which earn us a commission if you buy. It costs you nothing extra, and it never changes which option comes out cheapest here, because the ranking is arithmetic. How this works.
The ranking, and the trap inside it
Sorted by cost per load the washing line wins, which is true and completely useless in February. Set the line aside and the real comparison is the three machines, where the one that costs most to buy is much the cheapest to run.
| Option | Running | Cost per load | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washing lineweather permitting | 0p | 2p | |
| Heated clothes airer300W for four hours | 31.3p | 40.8p | |
| Heat pump dryer1.6 kWh a load | 41.8p | 85.1p | |
| Condenser dryer4.0 kWh a load | £1.04 | £1.29 | |
| Vented dryer4.5 kWh a load | £1.17 | £1.35 |
A vented dryer costs £1.35 a load all in and a heat pump 85.1p, about a third less. On electricity alone the gap is far wider: £1.17 a load against 41.8p, because 4.5 kWh against 1.6 is nearly three to one. The reason the full figure narrows it is that the heat pump costs £385 more to buy, and that has to come out of the saving.
How many loads before the expensive one wins
This is the only question that matters here and it has a clean answer. The heat pump saves about 76p of electricity on every load. Divide the £385 price difference by that saving and you get the number of loads it takes to draw level.
| Loads dried | Vented, £265 | Heat pump, £650 | Cheaper |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | £324 | £671 | Vented, £265 |
| 100 | £382 | £692 | Vented, £265 |
| 200 | £500 | £734 | Vented, £265 |
| 300 | £617 | £775 | Vented, £265 |
| 500 | £852 | £859 | Vented, £265 |
| 509 | £863 | £863 | Heat pump, £650 |
| 750 | £1,146 | £963 | Heat pump, £650 |
| 1500 | £2,027 | £1,277 | Heat pump, £650 |
Around 508 loads. At 150 loads a year, roughly three a week, that is a little over three years, comfortably inside a ten year life, and the machine goes on saving for the rest of it. At 50 loads a year it takes more than a decade and never really pays back at all.
Count your loads honestly rather than optimistically. A household drying three times a week should buy the heat pump. A household drying once should not, and would do better putting the £385 anywhere else. Nobody selling you a dryer will ask how often you dry.
Where the working comes from
There is no consumable and no water in a tumble dryer, so the sum is unusually short: purchase price divided by loads, plus kilowatt hours times the unit rate. That also makes it unusually sensitive to the electricity price. On an off-peak rate near 7p per kWh the running gap shrinks to about 20p a load and the case for the expensive machine mostly disappears.
The airer is cheaper and it is not free
A heated airer runs at 31.3p a load and looks like the obvious answer. It takes most of a day rather than an hour, it needs floor space, and it evaporates roughly two litres of water into your house on every load. In a well ventilated house that is fine. In a sealed flat it is how people end up buying a dehumidifier, and at that point the airer's real running cost is the airer plus the dehumidifier.
The verdict
Dry outside whenever the weather allows, because nothing beats free. If you dry indoors more than twice a week, buy the heat pump machine and accept the price, because it draws level in about three years and saves money for the seven after that. If you dry indoors rarely, buy the cheapest machine on the shelf and spend the difference on something that will earn it back faster.
Put your own numbers in
Prefilled with a heat pump dryer. Change the loads a year to your own number, because that is the input this whole question turns on.
Cost per meal
Set the purchase price to zero for the running cost alone.
Questions
How much does it cost to run a tumble dryer per load?
Between 2p and £1.35 a load on these assumptions, including the machine divided across its life. On electricity alone a heat pump load is about 41.8p and a vented load about £1.17.
Are heat pump tumble dryers worth the extra money?
If you dry more than about twice a week, yes. The £385 premium over a vented machine pays back in roughly 508 loads, which is a little over three years at 150 loads a year.
Why is a vented tumble dryer so expensive to run?
It heats air, passes it through the drum once and throws it outside, then heats more air from cold. A heat pump reuses heat it has already paid for, so it needs about a third of the electricity.
Is a heated airer cheaper than a tumble dryer?
To run, yes, about 31.3p a load against 41.8p for a heat pump and £1.17 for a vented machine. It takes most of a day and releases around two litres of water into the room.
Does drying on a lower heat setting save money?
Not reliably, because lower heat means a longer run and the energy needed to remove the same water is broadly similar. Spinning faster in the washing machine first genuinely does help, since water removed mechanically costs almost nothing.
Related
- Cost per wash: pressure washer or a hand car washA pressure washer against a hand car wash at UK forecourt prices, per wash and at the number of washes it takes to pay for itself.
- Cost per kWh of heat: gas, electric, wood and heat pumpThe fuel price is not the cost of heat. Divide by how much of it a boiler, a heater, a stove and a heat pump actually turn into warmth in the room.
- What a kWh really costs, once the standing charge is inThe capped unit rate is not what you pay per kWh. Add the standing charge and a low user pays half again what a high user does.
More laundry costs, or read how we work these out.
Prices used on this page
- Electricity, 26.11p per kWh. Ofgem price cap, direct debit, average of England, Scotland and Wales, including 5% VAT.. Ofgem energy price cap unit rates and standing charges. Checked 22 August 2026.