Dryer vs Clothesline Cost Calculator

The model, stated exactly

Loads per year = loads per week × 52. Cost per load = energy per load in kWh × electricity rate per kWh, rounded to cents. Dryer annual energy cost = loads per year × cost per load, rounded to cents. Line drying energy cost = $0.00, always. Saving = dryer annual energy cost − $0.00, which is simply the dryer cost itself. The comparison is energy cost only: it deliberately excludes the price of buying a dryer, repairs, venting, and detergent, which are the same or separate questions. It also assumes every load you count would otherwise go in the dryer; loads you already line-dry should not be counted.

The worked example, line by line

Setup: 5 loads a week, 3.0 kWh per load, $0.17 per kWh.

Line 1 — loads per year. 5 × 52 = 260 loads a year.

Line 2 — cost per load. 3.0 × $0.17 = $0.51 per dryer load.

Line 3 — dryer annual energy cost. 260 × $0.51 = $132.60 a year.

Line 4 — line drying annual energy cost. $0.00 — sun and wind are not metered.

Line 5 — the saving. $132.60 − $0.00 = $132.60 a year.

Try these

Just 3 loads a week. 156 loads a year at $0.51 each costs $79.56 a year — even a small household saves real money by hanging laundry.

7 loads a week. 364 loads a year at $0.51 each costs $185.64 a year — large families are where the clothesline pays best.

An efficient dryer at 2.0 kWh per load. Each load costs $0.34, so 260 loads cost $88.40 a year — a newer machine cuts a third off the bill, but the line still beats it by the full $88.40.

Expensive electricity: $0.30 per kWh. Each load costs $0.90, so 260 loads cost $234.00 a year — in high-rate areas the clothesline is worth nearly twice the default saving.

Output · formula · meaning

Who uses this

• The homeowner eyeing the backyard line: enters 5 loads a week and learns the line is worth $132.60 a year — enough to notice, and the line itself costs almost nothing to put up.
• The large family doing laundry daily: enters 7 loads a week and finds $185.64 a year, which makes a partial switch — towels and bedding on the line, delicates in the dryer — still worth real money.
• The renter with a balcony rail: enters 3 loads a week and sees $79.56 a year, a saving that needs no appliance, no landlord permission, and no installation.
• The household on expensive electricity: enters $0.30 per kWh and sees $234.00 a year, which turns line drying from a nice habit into one of the cheapest energy savings in the house.

Accuracy & limitations

The energy math is exact for the numbers you enter, but the headline needs its stated boundary: this is energy cost only. It does not count buying a dryer (several hundred dollars, spread over a decade or more), repairs, or the vent and ductwork — and it does not count the clothesline's own small costs either, such as a line, pins, or a drying rack. It also does not credit the line's side benefits: clothes last longer without dryer heat, and no dryer heat is dumped into the house in summer. On the other side, it does not charge the line's real costs in time and weather: line drying is slower, it fails on rainy days, and some households cannot hang laundry outdoors at all. Error policy: missing, non-numeric, or non-positive inputs (loads per week, energy per load) and a negative electricity rate are reported as errors rather than calculated, so no result ever shows NaN.