What an electric clothes dryer costs to run in California
California homes use 544 kWh a year on an electric clothes dryer. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $83.88 to $281.94 a year across 115 published California plans — a $198.06 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.
Cheapest 25 of 115 priced plans, average
| Plan | Per year | vs cheapest | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| Residential Smart Pricing Pilot Weekday Value Plan - Single Phase (Closed)time-of-use · closed to new customers | $58.17 | −$25.71 | 14.4¢ |
| Residential Smart Pricing Pilot Weekday Value Plan - Three Phase (Closed)time-of-use · closed to new customers | $58.17 | −$25.71 | 22.3¢ |
| Residential Lifeline Rate Discounttiered · lifeline rate | $63.12 | −$20.76 | 13.7¢ |
| Residential TOD (Option B - Currently Closed)time-of-use · closed to new customers | $63.15 | −$20.73 | 15.4¢ |
| Residential Service✓ cheapestflat rate | $83.88 | — | 18.2¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region R; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $87.66 | +$3.78 | 15.2¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region P; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $87.74 | +$3.86 | 15.1¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region S; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $90.63 | +$6.75 | 15.2¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region W; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $95.77 | +$11.89 | 15.4¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region Y; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $98.04 | +$14.16 | 15.4¢ |
| E-6 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region Y; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $98.70 | +$14.82 | 17.9¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region X; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $103.57 | +$19.69 | 13.8¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region Q; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $109.23 | +$25.35 | 16.6¢ |
| Residential Service (R1A): Zone 1 - Tier 1 (Less than 350 kWh)time-of-use · a single tier of a larger tariff | $110.34 | +$26.46 | 20.7¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region V; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $110.92 | +$27.04 | 16.3¢ |
| Residential Multi-Family (R-3)time-of-use · demand charge | $119.69 | +$35.81 | 22.0¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region T; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $121.22 | +$37.34 | 17.5¢ |
| Residential Time of Use (R1B)time-of-use | $125.28 | +$41.40 | 24.5¢ |
| R-2 Low-Income Residential Servicetime-of-use · tiered · low-income rate | $125.88 | +$42.00 | 15.7¢ |
| E-7 -Residential Time of Use Baseline Region Z; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $130.56 | +$46.68 | 17.9¢ |
| E-TOU Option B - Residential Time of Use Service (All Baseline Regions)time-of-use | $132.65 | +$48.77 | 24.4¢ |
| Residential Service (R1A): Zone 2time-of-use · tiered | $133.92 | +$50.04 | 24.2¢ |
| Residential Service (R1A): Zone 1time-of-use · tiered | $134.24 | +$50.36 | 24.3¢ |
| REV-1 Experimental Electric Vehicle Programtime-of-use · tiered · experimental | $134.76 | +$50.88 | 19.3¢ |
| E-6 -Residential Time of Use- Baseline Region P; Closed Ratetime-of-use · tiered · closed to new customers | $135.34 | +$51.46 | 23.5¢ |
90 further schedules are published and priced but not listed here — mostly regional and seasonal variants of the plans above. The dearest of them costs $281.94 a year at this usage.
Cost across usage levels
The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.
- Lighter use — cheapest $31.68 (Residential Service), dearest $106.62, a $74.94 spread
- Average — cheapest $83.88 (Residential Service), dearest $281.94, a $198.06 spread
- Heavier use — cheapest $106.32 (Residential Service), dearest $357.26, a $250.94 spread
What an electric clothes dryer costs here
Across 115 plans priced in California, an electric clothes dryer adds $83.88 to $281.94 a year — $6.99 to $23.50 a month. The median plan puts an electric clothes dryer at $207.29 a year.
Cheapest for an electric clothes dryer: Residential Service, City of Redding, California (Utility Company). Dearest: DR - Inland Baseline Region, San Diego Gas & Electric Co.
Those 544 kWh are billed at 15.4¢–51.8¢, against a 39.5¢ whole-bill average on the median plan: they land in the last tier the household reaches, so the average rate understates them by up to 12.4¢ per kWh.
What California homes use
EIA's 2020 residential survey found 544 kWh a year across 471 sampled homes that run one, 20% under the national 680 kWh. The middle half spans 206 kWh to 690 kWh, so an electric clothes dryer varies by 484 kWh between one household and another.
The heating element and drum motor across a year of loads. That average covers homes with an electric clothes dryer — 38% of homes here, against 67% nationally.
That makes an electric clothes dryer about 8% of the electricity a California home uses. The remaining 5,938 kWh is what an electric clothes dryer is billed on top of, and on a tiered or time-of-use plan that is what sets the rate it meets.
By provider
On each California provider's cheapest plan: City of Redding, California (Utility Company), $83.88; Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, $119.69; Pacific Gas & Electric Co, $132.65; City & County of San Francisco (Utility Company), $179.76; San Diego Gas & Electric Co, $207.29.
San Diego Gas & Electric Co charges $123.41 a year more than City of Redding, California (Utility Company) on Residential Service for the same 544 kWh.
Light and heavy use of an electric clothes dryer
A household in the lighter quarter runs an electric clothes dryer for 206 kWh a year and pays $31.68 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 690 kWh and pays $106.32 — $74.64 more for an electric clothes dryer on the same tariff.
Limits
A 2020 survey average for California, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 115 California tariffs WattClear has ingested — not every plan sold there.
New to these terms? The methodology page explains tiered bands, time-of-use periods and fixed charges, and sets out exactly what the rate engine assumes.
Estimate — your actual bill may differ.
Tariff structures from NREL/OpenEI Utility Rate Database (CC0 1.0), retrieved September 2, 2026.
Location resolved through the US Census Bureau Geocoder (Public domain) at 40.5865, -122.3917.