Answer
Oct 03, 2025 - 12:06 PM
Over time, the savings can be big. The difference between your old dryer's yearly energy usage and any given new dryer can be calculated simply with a bit of math and access to online databases. All clothes dryers are mandated by the US Department of Energy to be tested for energy efficiency using the Combined Energy Factor (CEF) metric after 2013, and Energy Factor (EF) prior to 2013. You can find these metrics for your old dryer in government databases here: https://www.regulations.doe.gov/certi...
CEF is measured as pounds of laundry dried per kWh (lb/kWh). A 4-person family washes, on average, 1800 lbs of laundry per year. Divide that by your old dryer's CEF, likely 2.75 if it is over 20-years old, and you're using 655 killowat-hours of energy each year. The average cost of a killowat-hour of energy is 17 cents nationwide (as of 2025). Your spending $111 per year to dry your family's clothes. Compare that to a typical Heat Pump dryer with a CEF of 6. Your consuming less than half tthe energy at 300 kWh, costing you only $55 per year.
