What an electric clothes dryer costs to run in Texas
Texas homes use 711 kWh a year on an electric clothes dryer. Priced on top of the rest of the bill, that costs $48.32 to $127.92 a year across 17 published Texas plans — a $79.60 gap. Checked September 2, 2026.
Every priced plan, average
| Plan | Per year | vs cheapest | Effective |
|---|---|---|---|
| RESIDENTIAL ELECTRIC SPACE HEATING SERVICEtime-of-use · needs electric heating | $46.16 | −$2.16 | 7.2¢ |
| RS - TOD✓ cheapesttime-of-use | $48.32 | — | 7.4¢ |
| Residential Time-of-Use Pilot Program - Outside Austintime-of-use · pilot programme | $49.88 | +$1.56 | 7.9¢ |
| Residential servicetime-of-use | $50.64 | +$2.32 | 7.8¢ |
| RA - Residential All-Electrictime-of-use · tiered · needs an all-electric home | $56.60 | +$8.28 | 9.3¢ |
| RE - Residential Servicetime-of-use · tiered | $68.44 | +$20.12 | 10.1¢ |
| Residential Service - TOUtime-of-use · demand charge | $71.71 | +$23.39 | 10.9¢ |
| Residential Time-of-Use Pilot Programtime-of-use · pilot programme | $81.11 | +$32.79 | 12.8¢ |
| Residential Service - TOU (Alternative)time-of-use | $86.83 | +$38.51 | 13.0¢ |
| Residential - Outside Austintiered | $87.48 | +$39.16 | 12.4¢ |
| Residential Net Metering Servicetime-of-use · tiered · needs on-site generation | $87.76 | +$39.44 | 11.5¢ |
| Residential Servicetime-of-use · tiered | $90.18 | +$41.86 | 13.4¢ |
| Residential LSP POLR(McAllen Service Area)flat rate | $95.04 | +$46.72 | 14.1¢ |
| Residential Service Low Incometime-of-use · tiered · low-income rate | $96.24 | +$47.92 | 13.4¢ |
| Residentialtiered | $99.24 | +$50.92 | 13.1¢ |
| Residential Low Incometiered · low-income rate | $101.16 | +$52.84 | 19.0¢ |
| Residential LSP POLRflat rate | $127.92 | +$79.60 | 18.9¢ |
Cost across usage levels
The cheapest plan at each consumption level, showing whether the ranking holds as usage changes.
- Lighter use — cheapest $22.81 (RS - TOD), dearest $60.36, a $37.55 spread
- Average — cheapest $48.32 (RS - TOD), dearest $127.92, a $79.60 spread
- Heavier use — cheapest $59.46 (RS - TOD), dearest $157.44, a $97.98 spread
What an electric clothes dryer costs here
Across 17 plans priced in Texas, an electric clothes dryer adds $48.32 to $127.92 a year — $4.03 to $10.66 a month. The median plan puts an electric clothes dryer at $87.15 a year.
Cheapest for an electric clothes dryer: RS - TOD, El Paso Electric Co (New Mexico). Dearest: Residential LSP POLR, Sharyland Utilities LP.
Those 711 kWh are billed at 6.8¢–18.0¢, against a 12.7¢ 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 5.3¢ per kWh.
What Texas homes use
EIA's 2020 residential survey found 711 kWh a year across 778 sampled homes that run one, near the national 680 kWh. The middle half spans 336 kWh to 875 kWh, so an electric clothes dryer varies by 539 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 — 75% of homes here, against 67% nationally.
That makes an electric clothes dryer about 5% of the electricity a Texas home uses. The remaining 12,729 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 Texas provider's cheapest plan: El Paso Electric Co (New Mexico), $48.32; City of Lubbock, Texas (Utility Company), $50.64; City of San Antonio, Texas (Utility Company), $68.44; El Paso Electric Co, $71.71; Austin Energy, $87.48; Sharyland Utilities LP, $95.04.
Sharyland Utilities LP charges $46.72 a year more than El Paso Electric Co (New Mexico) on RS - TOD for the same 711 kWh.
Light and heavy use of an electric clothes dryer
A household in the lighter quarter runs an electric clothes dryer for 336 kWh a year and pays $22.81 on the cheapest plan. One in the heavier quarter runs it for 875 kWh and pays $59.46 — $36.65 more for an electric clothes dryer on the same tariff.
Limits
A 2020 survey average for Texas, not a measurement of any one home, priced against the 17 Texas 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 26.2034, -98.2300.