SnapEnergyLab

Appliance running costs

How much electricity does a dishwasher use?

A dishwasher draws about 1,000–1,800 W while its heating element is on, but energy per cycle is what counts. ENERGY STAR caps standard-size models at 240 kWh a year under the federal test (215 cycles), about 1.1 kWh per cycle including water heating. This page uses 1.0 kWh per cycle as an editable example.

How much electricity does a dishwasher use?

Example: at 1.00 kWh per cycle and 4 cycles a week, a dishwasher uses about 17.4 kWh per average month and 208.7 kWh per year. At $0.180/kWh that is $0.180 per cycle, $3.13 per month and $37.57 per year. The 1.00 kWh is an example — enter your own below.

Include water heating if your water heater is electric.

$0.180

per cycle

1.000 kWh per cycle · 4.0 cycles a week

Calculated from your inputs
kWh per month
17.4 kWh
Cost per month
$3.13
kWh per year
208.7 kWh
Cost per year
$37.57

Method

  1. cost per cycle = kWh per cycle × rate
  2. kWh per year = kWh per cycle × cycles per week × 52.18 weeks
  3. kWh per month = kWh per year ÷ 12

Assumptions

  • 52.18 weeks per year = 365.24 days ÷ 7, the site's average-year convention.
  • Energy per cycle is the whole-cycle figure, not watts × an assumed runtime.
  • Label figures assume an electric water heater; with gas water heating, your electricity per cycle is lower.

What can change the result?

  • Cycle setting (eco, normal, heavy, sanitise)
  • Heated dry versus air dry
  • Electric vs gas water heater for the incoming water
  • Cycles per week

Dishwasher watts — and why they are not the whole answer

What the figures represent: Watts are the draw while the element heats. kWh per cycle covers the whole cycle, including — in federal figures — heating the incoming water.

A dishwasher's power changes through the cycle. The pump and controls draw relatively little; the heating element that heats water and dries dishes draws roughly 1,000–1,800 W while it is on. Federal annual figures also include the energy to heat incoming water. So the meaningful figure is energy per cycle, not the element's wattage.

Use your dishwasher's EnergyGuide label if you have it — its yearly kWh is based on 4 loads a week — and divide it per cycle with the label mode. Heated dry, sanitise and high-temperature options raise energy per cycle; eco and air-dry settings lower it.

Each row is labelled with what it is: certified-model data, a regulatory threshold or an illustrative range.
TypeFigureBasis
Heating element drawabout 1,000–1,800 WIllustrative; pump alone is far lower
ENERGY STAR maximum, standard size240 kWh/yr ≈ 1.12 kWh/cycleThreshold at 215 cycles/yr, not typical use
Federal maximum, standard size307 kWh/yr ≈ 1.43 kWh/cycleMinimum standard, at 215 cycles/yr
ENERGY STAR maximum, compact155 kWh/yr ≈ 0.72 kWh/cycleThreshold at 215 cycles/yr

Electricity use per cycle, month and year

All rows use 4 cycles a week at $0.180/kWh; only energy per cycle changes.

Calculated with the same formulas as the calculator above.
Energy per cycleCost per cyclePer monthPer yearBasis
ENERGY STAR compact maximum (155 ÷ 215): 0.72 kWh$0.130$2.26$27.08Threshold
Default example: 1.00 kWh$0.180$3.13$37.57Site example
ENERGY STAR standard maximum (240 ÷ 215): 1.12 kWh$0.201$3.49$41.94Threshold
Federal standard maximum (307 ÷ 215): 1.43 kWh$0.257$4.47$53.64Threshold
Label example: 200 kWh/yr at 4 loads/wk → 0.958 kWh$0.172$3.00$36.00Site example of a label

What changes how much electricity a dishwasher uses

  • Cycle setting and soil level (soil-sensing models vary).
  • Heated dry vs air dry.
  • Electric vs gas water heater.
  • Cycles per week.

Where these numbers come from

  • ENERGY STAR criteria (effective 19 July 2023): standard ≤ 240 kWh/yr, compact ≤ 155 kWh/yr, tested under DOE Appendix C1 at 215 cycles per year, including standby.
  • The federal minimum standard for standard-size dishwashers is 307 kWh/yr (compact 222 kWh/yr). These are maximum allowed values, not typical consumption.
  • The EnergyGuide label's yearly kWh uses 4 loads per week — a different basis from the 215-cycle test figure.
  • The 1.0 kWh/cycle default is a SnapEnergyLab example, not a measured average.
Every default and range on this page, with what it represents and when the source was checked.
ValueWhat it measuresKindSourceChecked
≤ 240 kWh/yr (standard), ≤ 155 kWh/yr (compact)ENERGY STAR maximum annual energy, incl. standby, effective 19 Jul 2023Regulatory thresholdENERGY STAR Dishwashers Key Product Criteria2026-10-03
215 cycles per yearAnnual cycles assumed by the DOE test procedure (10 CFR 430 Subpart B, Appendix C1)Test-procedure assumptionENERGY STAR Dishwashers Key Product Criteria (test method section)2026-10-03
307 kWh/yr (standard), 222 kWh/yr (compact)Federal maximum annual energy (10 CFR 430.32(f))Regulatory thresholdDOE energy conservation standards for residential dishwashers2026-10-03
4 loads per weekUsage basis of the EnergyGuide label's yearly kWh and costLabel assumptionFTC Energy Labeling Rule (16 CFR Part 305)2026-10-03
1.0 kWh per cycle; 4 cycles per week; 1,200 W elementCalculator defaultsSite exampleSnapEnergyLab, set just below the ENERGY STAR maximum2026-10-03

Worth knowing

ENERGY STAR and federal kWh/year figures are maximum allowed values under a test, not the typical use of every model.

Worth knowing

Annual figures assume an electric water heater for incoming hot water.

Your next decision

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Defaults come from the published default registry and the formulas are documented in the methodology.