On the official EU label test, a conventional tumble dryer costs around £81.99 a year and a heat pump dryer around £26.75 - roughly three times as much. In a typical household - around three loads a week, on everyday programmes rather than the label's single eco cycle - expect more: roughly £138-205 for a conventional dryer and roughly £59-85 for a heat pump.
Based on 12 conventional and 14 heat pump full-size models we hold real energy figures for (anything under 6.0kg excluded - see below).
| Label test (per cycle) | Label test (year) | Typical household (year) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conventional | £0.82 | £81.99 | £138-205 |
| Heat pump | £0.27 | £26.75 | £59-85 |
The per-cycle figure is each model's own published EU label rating - the one number here you can check directly against your own dryer's energy label. The year figures are that per-cycle figure scaled out, first on the label's own test basis (one eco cycle at a full load, 100 cycles a year), then on a typical household's actual usage (see "why is your figure different" below).
Within the conventional group, 4.3% is the gap between the two technologies we hold: vented models average 320.0 kWh/year against 306.8 kWh/year for standard condenser models - real, but small next to the gap against heat pump above, so we keep "conventional" as one group rather than splitting it further.
Label figures are each model's own EU energy-label rating, at today's Ofgem price cap rate of 26.32p per kWh (effective 2026-10-01 to 2026-12-31). The typical-household range is our own estimate, not a measurement - see "why is your figure different" below for exactly how it's built. Models under 6.0kg rated capacity are excluded from every figure on this page.
Sorted cheapest to run first by each model's own EU label figure. Models with a live EPREL registration link straight to it. Model numbers are each product's own energy-label registration code - manufacturers don't always use the same name shown in shops.
| Manufacturer | Model | Type | Capacity | Annual cost (label) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEG | TR98VX66C 916900723 | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £17.11 Cheapest | EPREL |
| Electrolux | EW9D4854K1E 916900711 | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £17.11 | EPREL |
| AEG | TR9XW80180 916900702 | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £17.11 | EPREL |
| Miele | TK740I WP | Heat pump | 9.0kg | £20.79 | EPREL |
| Haier | HD90-AQ387BU1 | Heat pump | 9.0kg | £20.79 | EPREL |
| Electrolux | YW9HI105A 916900788 | Heat pump | 10.0kg | £22.11 | EPREL |
| Electrolux | XLND65835N 916900574 | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £26.85 | EPREL |
| LG Electronics | RNX3008NLB | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £26.85 | EPREL |
| Bush | BHPTD7W | Heat pump | 7.0kg | £28.69 | EPREL |
| Electrolux | EW6D89WOT 916900959 | Heat pump | 9.0kg | £28.95 | EPREL |
| Hoover | HGD 8N2BBC-80 | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £31.32 | EPREL |
| SELECO | Asciugatrice 8KG - HB8072BKE | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £35.53 | EPREL |
| Helvetia | HSHP8EB1 | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £37.37 | EPREL |
| BAUKNECHT | TS M10 81SK EU | Heat pump | 8.0kg | £43.95 | EPREL |
| Beko | DTLCE80051W IR | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.54 | EPREL |
| Beko | DTLCE80121W | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.54 | EPREL |
| THOMSON | THTD80WH | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.80 | EPREL |
| Candy | CSE C8LF-S | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.80 | EPREL |
| Russell Hobbs | RH8CTD111B | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.80 | EPREL |
| Russell Hobbs | RH8CTD111W | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.80 | EPREL |
| Candy | CSE C8DF-80 | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.80 | EPREL |
| Hoover | HLEC8LGB-80 | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.80 | EPREL |
| Candy | CSE C8LG-47 | Condenser | 8.0kg | £80.80 | EPREL |
| INDESIT | I1 D80W UK | Vented | 8.0kg | £84.22 | EPREL |
| HOTPOINT | H1 D80W UK | Vented | 8.0kg | £84.22 | EPREL |
| Hoover | HLEC9TE-80 | Condenser | 9.0kg | £88.70 Most expensive | EPREL |
No account needed. Defaults are a typical-household estimate, not the label test - adjust either figure for your own dryer and usage.
Your dryer's energy-per-cycle figure is on its EU energy label, or in the manual - that label figure is for one eco cycle at a full load, so a real cycle usually uses a bit more (we've pre-filled a typical-household estimate, not the bare label number). Want a full breakdown across your whole home? Try the free calculator.
Yes, significantly. Heat pump dryers recycle warm air instead of venting it outside, typically using around half the energy, or less, of a conventional vented or condenser dryer. Among the full-size models we hold figures for, a conventional dryer costs roughly three times as much as a heat pump dryer on the EU label test - around £81.99 a year against £26.75. In a typical household, expect more: roughly £138-205 against £59-85. That gap compounds over a dryer's working life, so the higher upfront cost of a heat pump model is often worth it for anyone drying several loads a week.
On the EU label test, a cycle for the conventional models we hold figures for costs £0.82 - that figure is each model's own published label rating, the one number here you can check directly against your own dryer's label. A real cycle (everyday programme, not the label's single eco cycle at a full load) tends to use more - closer to £1.14 for a typical household.
An airer away from your heating costs nothing extra to run. Drying on a radiator isn't free either, though it feels like it: it can make your heating work harder to hold room temperature, and it raises the risk of damp and condensation in a poorly ventilated room. An airer in a well-ventilated room, or by an open window, is the genuinely low-cost option.
Yes, usually. A higher spin speed on your washing machine removes more water before the dryer ever starts, which cuts the dryer's running time - and drying uses far more energy per minute than spinning does. The washing machine itself uses a little more energy to spin faster, but the saving on the dryer side is typically the larger of the two.
Across the full-size models tracked here, each one's own EU label rating ranges from 65.0 kWh to 337.0 kWh a year, averaging around 198.5 kWh. People often compare dryers in kWh rather than pounds, since the kWh figure does not change with your tariff - the cost does. A real household's actual usage tends to run higher than this label figure - see "why is your figure different" below for the two separate reasons why.
It shouldn't be, once you compare the same basis - which is why we show both above rather than just the label figure. There are two separate reasons for the gap, and we keep them apart rather than folding them into one multiplier. First, cycles: the EU label's own test basis is 100 cycles a year - every published UK estimate we checked assumes more (104-160 a year, "around three loads a week"), which alone accounts for a meaningful part of the gap, purely from how often a household actually runs the dryer, nothing to do with efficiency. Second, load and programme: the EU label is measured on a dryer's single most efficient programme ("eco"), run at a full rated load - not the programme or load size most people use day to day. Even after matching for cycle count, published per-cycle energy figures still run higher than our label figure - by roughly 1.12x-1.67x for conventional dryers and 1.48x-2.13x for heat pump ones, across the three sources below. That residual varies enough across just three sources that we show it as a range rather than one number - a single average here would claim more precision than three sources support. The "typical household" figures above combine both factors at a representative 150 cycles a year - roughly the middle of the published range, not picked to fit a target number. Sources: thehomeenergyhub.co.uk, homeenergyquotes.co.uk, markselectrical.co.uk (via Ideal Home).
Some models in the table have a live registration with the EU's EPREL energy-label database - those link straight to their EPREL page. Either way, every label figure is a real, named model's own test-cycle rating - never an estimate or an average standing in for a real product. The "typical household" figures are our own derived estimate, built from those label figures - never presented as a measurement. We exclude anything under 6.0kg rated capacity from the table and every average - a tabletop or mini dryer isn't comparable to a full-size household machine, whatever its technology.
Label figures above are sourced from the EU's EPREL product registry. WatchYourWatts is not affiliated with or endorsed by EPREL or the European Commission. Real-world cycle count and per-cycle usage are discussed separately in "why is your figure different" above, with sources (thehomeenergyhub.co.uk, homeenergyquotes.co.uk, markselectrical.co.uk (via Ideal Home)) - not folded into the figures shown here. Electricity price: 26.32p/kWh, the Ofgem price cap for 2026-10-01 to 2026-12-31.
