Enter your dryer's wattage, cycle time, and loads per week to see real running cost.
Electric dryers are one of the highest-wattage common appliances — a heat-pump dryer can use roughly half the energy of a standard resistive-heat model.
Electric dryers are resistive heating appliances, similar to a space heater with a drum attached, which makes them one of the more expensive common appliances to run per hour. Gas dryers use much less electricity (just the drum motor and controls) but add gas cost instead — this calculator covers the electric case.
Electric dryers are one of the more expensive common appliances to run per hour precisely because they're resistive heaters — like a large space heater with a rotating drum — so there's no efficiency multiplier working in your favor the way there is with a heat pump or a well-insulated fridge.
A heat-pump dryer typically uses 40-50% less energy than a standard electric resistive dryer, which can meaningfully cut annual laundry cost for larger households.
Moisture sensor cycles automatically shorten runtime once clothes are dry, so if your dryer has auto-sensing, actual cost is often somewhat lower than a fixed-cycle-time estimate.
Yes, meaningfully for partially-full or already-fairly-dry loads — auto-sensing cycles end as soon as clothes are dry rather than running a fixed timer, which can cut a chunk of runtime (and cost) compared to a manual timed cycle.