Anything that makes heat is expensive to run, and a tumble dryer makes a lot of it. For a household that dries every load by machine it is often one of the largest single lines on the electricity bill, rivalling the fridge-freezer despite running a tiny fraction of the hours. The good news is that the cost is easy to work out, and it is one of the easiest big bills to trim, because the cheapest dryer of all costs nothing.
The short answer. A conventional vented or condenser dryer uses around 3 kWh for a full load, so at the standard electricity rate of about 26p a unit that is roughly 78p a load, or about 120 pounds a year drying three loads a week. A heat-pump dryer uses around half that, near 40p a load. Drying every day pushes a conventional dryer past 280 pounds a year. A washing line or airer costs nothing at all.
Why a tumble dryer costs so much
A conventional vented or condenser dryer works by heating fresh air, blowing it through the wet clothes, and throwing the warm damp air away, either out of a vent or into a condenser tank. Heating air like that draws a lot of power, typically a couple of kilowatts, and it runs for an hour or more per load, so the energy mounts up. That is the whole story of the bill: not the time the machine runs, but the heat it makes while running. It is the same reason an electric shower or a kettle pulls so much, and the reason a dryer can cost as much over a year as appliances that are switched on far longer.
What a load costs
The sum is the one the running cost calculator does for any appliance: the energy a cycle uses, multiplied by your price per unit. The table uses the standard price-cap rate of about 26p per kWh, current in mid 2026. The energy per load varies with the machine, the programme and how wet the clothes go in, so treat these as typical full-load figures and check your own machine's rating.
| Dryer type | Energy per load | Cost per load | Year at 3 loads/week | Year at 6 loads/week |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vented or condenser | ~3 kWh | ~78p | ~£122 | ~£244 |
| Heat-pump dryer | ~1.5 kWh | ~39p | ~£61 | ~£122 |
At an example 26p per kWh. The split is the headline: a heat-pump dryer used six times a week costs about what a conventional one costs at three. Energy per load varies with load size, fabric and how hard the washing machine spun first, so your figure may differ.
What it adds up to over a year
The per-load figure looks small, but a tumble dryer is a daily-habit appliance, and the annual total is where it bites. Dry three loads a week on a conventional machine and you are spending well over a hundred pounds a year just on drying; dry every day, as a busy family easily can, and a vented or condenser dryer climbs past 280 pounds. That is why the dryer so often turns out to be one of the priciest things in the house despite running only an hour at a time. Knowing your own number is the first step: find the machine's energy per cycle, often on the energy label as a figure per 100 cycles, and scale it to how often you really run it.
Conventional versus heat-pump: the big split
Not all dryers are equal, and the difference is large. A heat-pump dryer does not throw its warm air away; it passes it over a heat pump that recovers the heat and reuses it, drying the clothes for roughly half the electricity of a vented or condenser machine, sometimes less. That is the gap the energy label makes obvious, with heat-pump models rating far better than the old vented sort. The trade-offs are a higher purchase price and a slightly longer, gentler cycle. For a light user who rarely dries by machine, a cheap vented dryer used occasionally is fine. For anyone drying often, the running-cost saving of a heat-pump model adds up over the life of the machine and usually outweighs the higher sticker price, the same logic the energy labels guide applies to any appliance that runs a lot.
The free alternative
The cheapest dryer is a washing line or a clothes airer, which cost nothing to run at all. Drying outdoors whenever the weather allows, or on an airer in a well-ventilated room, removes the cost entirely, and you do not have to do it for every load to save real money. Even air-drying half your washing roughly halves the dryer's annual bill. The single most effective trick before any drying, by machine or otherwise, is to spin the washing harder: a higher spin speed in the washing machine wrings out more water, so there is less left for the dryer or the line to remove, and the dryer runs for less time. The drying clothes without a tumble dryer guide covers the indoor options, including low-watt heated airers and dehumidifiers, for the days the weather will not help.
If you must use the machine
When the dryer is the only option, a few habits keep its cost down. Dry full loads rather than dribs and drabs, since the machine uses similar energy whether half or fully loaded, so part loads waste it. Clean the lint filter every single time, because a clogged filter chokes the airflow and makes the dryer work harder and run longer for the same result. Use the moisture-sensor or eco programme if the machine has one, so it stops the moment the clothes are dry rather than grinding on to a fixed timer. And dry similar fabrics together, since a load of light, fast-drying items finishes far quicker than a mixed load held up by one heavy towel. None of these costs anything, and together they trim a meaningful slice off every cycle.
The bottom line
A tumble dryer costs real money because it makes heat: a conventional vented or condenser model runs to about 78p a load and well over a hundred pounds a year at modest use, while a heat-pump dryer does the same job for roughly half. Read the energy per cycle off your machine, scale it to how often you dry, and you will know your own figure. Then cut it the obvious ways: spin harder first, air-dry whatever you can, run only full loads with a clean filter, and if you dry a great deal, let a heat-pump model pay back its higher price in lower bills.