Laundry Cost Calculator: Home vs. Laundromat

More on coin laundry and laundromats: Coin laundry and laundromats — What to bring, what it costs and how long it takes, and questions about shared machines.

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A load of laundry at home costs whatever you pay for electricity, water and sewer, and detergent, plus the dryer if you use one. A laundromat load is the posted price of the washer and dryer, plus any detergent you bring or buy there. This calculator adds those pieces from your numbers. It pre-fills a few public averages you can replace: the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s residential electricity price, EPA WaterSense’s combined water and sewer rates, and ENERGY STAR’s gallons-per-load figures.

Last updated: November 13, 2026.

It will not guess your dryer’s kilowatt-hours. ENERGY STAR does not publish one kWh-per-load number that fits every machine, because official washer and dryer metrics also include other energy. Enter the yearly kWh from your EnergyGuide labels and divide by the number of loads you actually run, or by the 300 loads a year ENERGY STAR uses for a typical family. Related guides: detergents, coin laundry and laundromats, and the detergent dosage calculator.

Your rates and energy use

Electricity price (cents per kWh)

Default is 18.16¢, the U.S. average residential price for August 2026 from EIA Table 5.3 (preliminary, released October 23, 2026). Use the rate on your bill if you have it.

Washer energy (kWh per load)

Dryer energy (kWh per load)

Enter 0 if you hang the load to dry. ENERGY STAR certified dryers use about 20% less energy than standard models; certified heat pump dryers use around 70% less than conventional dryers. Those are relative figures, not a kWh default.

Water

14 gallons (ENERGY STAR certified full-size washer) 20 gallons (standard washer, ENERGY STAR comparison) Custom gallons

Water and sewer ($ per 1,000 gallons)

Default is EPA WaterSense’s 2024 national estimate: $7.74 for water plus $9.09 for wastewater, or $16.83 combined, based on AWWA rate surveys. Replace it with your utility’s rate if you know it.

Detergent and how often you wash

Detergent cost per load ($)

Loads per week

ENERGY STAR says the average American family washes about 300 loads a year, which is about 5.8 loads a week. The default here is 6, which you can change.

Laundromat prices (per load)

Washer price ($)

Dryer price ($)

Add the same detergent cost to the laundromat load (you bring your own)

How the math works

At home, the cost of one wash-and-dry load is:

Electricity + water and sewer + detergent. Electricity is (washer kWh + dryer kWh) × your price per kWh. Water and sewer is (gallons per load ÷ 1,000) × your combined rate. Detergent is whatever you spend on that load. If you hang clothes to dry, dryer kWh is zero and you drop that line.

At a laundromat, the cost of one load is the washer price plus the dryer price, and the detergent cost if you bring your own or buy it there. The shop’s machines include their own electricity and water in the posted price, so this calculator does not add those utilities again on the laundromat side.

Weekly, monthly, and yearly totals are your per-load figures times loads per week, then times 52 for a year, and times 52 ÷ 12 for an average month. Your real month will vary with how often you wash.

Where the default numbers come from

The electricity default is 18.16 cents per kWh, the U.S. average residential price for August 2026 in the EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.3, released October 23, 2026 (preliminary). The year-to-date 2026 residential average in that table is 18.19 cents. Use your own bill if you have it; state averages differ widely.

The water default is EPA WaterSense’s 2024 national estimate of $7.74 per 1,000 gallons for water and $9.09 for wastewater, or $16.83 combined, based on American Water Works Association rate surveys, with adjustments in years without a new survey. The gallons default is from ENERGY STAR’s October 2024 laundry fact sheet: a full-size certified washer uses 14 gallons per load, compared with 20 gallons for a standard machine. The same fact sheet says the average American family washes about 300 loads a year, and that certified washers use about 20% less energy and about 30% less water than standard models, while certified dryers use about 20% less energy than standard dryers. Certified heat pump dryers use around 70% less energy than conventional dryers.

Washer and dryer kWh boxes start empty on purpose. To fill them from an EnergyGuide label, take the yearly kWh on the sticker and divide by 300 if that matches how you wash, or by your own annual load count. That is your kWh per load for this calculator. A worked example of the division, not a claimed average: if a dryer’s label listed 600 kWh per year and you ran 300 loads, that would be 2 kWh per load, which at 18.16 cents per kWh would be about 36 cents in dryer electricity.

Frequently asked questions

Does this include heating the wash water?

Only if your washer’s EnergyGuide yearly kWh already includes it, or if you add that energy yourself. A cold-wash load uses little or no water-heater electricity. This tool does not invent a hot-water kWh figure.

What if I have a gas dryer?

Enter any electricity the gas dryer still uses, and add the gas cost some other way for now; this version only prices electricity, water, detergent, and laundromat fees. ENERGY STAR’s relative savings figures still apply when you compare dryer types, but they are not a gas-bill calculator.

Does this tell me whether a laundromat is cheaper?

It compares the operating costs you enter. It does not include the purchase price of a home washer and dryer, or travel time to a shop. If you use a laundromat for bulky items only, run those loads separately in the form.

How do I estimate detergent cost per load?

Divide what you paid for the bottle or box by the number of medium-load doses it contains, using the label or the dosage calculator. Then enter that dollar amount here.