How Much Does It Cost to Run a Dryer on PG&E? Electric vs. Gas vs. Heat Pump (Winter 2026)

An electric dryer costs about 79 cents to $1.48 per load on PG&E this winter, a gas dryer about 32 to 78 cents, and a heat pump dryer about 35 to 65 cents. The low end of each range is the federal lab-test load; the high end is a heavier, real-world load. At about five loads a week, a standard electric dryer adds roughly $224 to $419 a year to a PG&E bill. Running it after 9 p.m. instead of during the 4-9 p.m. peak saves a few cents a load on E-TOU-C in winter, and more on EV2-A, E-ELEC and in summer.

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Key facts

• What a dryer uses per load (lab test). Under the Department of Energy's test procedure, dryer efficiency is rated as a Combined Energy Factor (CEF): pounds of test load (8.45 lb for a standard-size dryer) dried per kWh (ENERGY STAR key product criteria). An ENERGY STAR standard electric dryer must reach CEF 3.93, which works out to 2.15 kWh per load. The federal minimum for a vented standard electric dryer is 3.73, or 2.27 kWh (10 CFR 430.32(h)).
• Heat pump dryers use far less. In the ENERGY STAR certified list, the LG DLHC5502 heat pump dryer series rates CEF 9.0, or 0.94 kWh per load, and the top-rated models reach 10 to 11.5 (ENERGY STAR certified dryers). ENERGY STAR says heat pump dryers use around 70% less energy than conventional dryers (ENERGY STAR clothes dryers).
• Real loads are usually heavier than the test load. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Home Energy Saver model, based on PG&E field data, assumes 3.8 kWh of drying energy per load for an electric dryer and 0.22 therms of gas for a gas dryer, plus 0.23 kWh for the motor and controls on either type (LBNL drying energy, machine energy). Those figures date from 1995, so a newer dryer with a moisture sensor will usually land between the lab number and this one.
• PG&E winter electric rates (bundled, effective June 1, 2026; winter is October 1 to May 31): E-TOU-C $0.39757 peak (4-9 p.m.) and $0.36757 off-peak, minus a $0.08140 credit on usage within your baseline (Schedule E-TOU-C). EV2-A $0.41099 peak, $0.39428 part-peak, $0.22558 off-peak (midnight-3 p.m.) (Schedule EV2). E-ELEC $0.32063 peak, $0.28468 off-peak (Schedule E-ELEC). E-1 $0.32561 Tier 1, $0.40702 Tier 2 (Schedule E-1).
• PG&E gas (Schedule G-1, effective November 1, 2026): $2.65648 per therm within baseline and $3.15960 above it, including the $0.12103 public purpose program surcharge (Schedule G-1, G-PPPS).

Cost per load on PG&E this winter

This table uses E-TOU-C off-peak ($0.36757 per kWh) for electricity, since most laundry can run outside 4-9 p.m., and the above-baseline G-1 gas rate ($3.15960 per therm), since winter heating pushes many homes past their gas baseline.

*The LBNL field figure is for conventional dryers. For the heat pump row we assume a heavy load takes the same share of energy as in the lab test (9.0 vs. 3.93 CEF), so treat it as an estimate. For the gas lab-test row, CEF counts gas and electricity together; we took LBNL's 0.23 kWh for the motor and controls out of the total and counted the rest as gas.

Within your gas baseline ($2.65648 per therm), the gas dryer costs about $0.28 to $0.67 a load. These are PG&E bundled rates; if MCE, EBCE, SJCE or another community choice aggregator supplies your generation, your electric numbers will be a little different (how CCAs work).

The takeaway: at today's PG&E prices, gas is the cheapest way to run a conventional dryer, and a heat pump dryer costs about the same as gas per load without a gas line or a vent. A standard electric dryer costs roughly twice as much as either.

Standard electric dryer cost by PG&E plan

Using the ENERGY STAR lab figure (2.15 kWh) and the heavier field figure (4.03 kWh):

283 loads a year (about 5.4 a week) is the representative annual figure in DOE's dryer test procedure (10 CFR 430 Appendix D2), and ENERGY STAR's annual estimates are built on it. Your own count is what matters: multiply the per-load cost by the loads you actually run.

When to run the dryer on time-of-use

The 4-9 p.m. peak is exactly when most people do laundry after work. How much moving it saves depends on your plan and the season:

• E-TOU-C in winter: peak is only $0.03 more per kWh than off-peak, so a load after 9 p.m. saves about 6 to 12 cents. In summer (June through September) the gap is $0.12300 ($0.52240 vs. $0.39940), about 26 to 50 cents a load.
• EV2-A: the overnight and daytime off-peak rate ($0.22558) is $0.18541 below winter peak, about 40 to 75 cents a load if you run it after midnight or before 3 p.m.
• E-ELEC: off-peak is $0.03595 below winter peak, about 8 to 14 cents a load.
• E-1 (tiered, no time-of-use): the clock doesn't matter. What you pay depends on whether the load pushes you into Tier 2.

Most newer dryers and washers have a delay-start button, which is the easiest way to shift a load. Smart plugs don't help here: standard dryers run on 240 volts, and cutting power doesn't start a cycle anyway (what smart plugs can and can't do on TOU). For a full picture of PG&E's windows, see PG&E Time-of-Use Rates Explained; EV2-A and E-ELEC households can stack laundry with car charging using our EV charging schedule guide.

Is a heat pump dryer worth it on PG&E?

Compared with an ENERGY STAR electric dryer at 283 loads a year on E-TOU-C off-peak, the LG DLHC5502-series heat pump dryer saves about $126 a year at the lab figure ($223.66 vs. $97.67), and roughly $236 a year if your loads are as heavy as LBNL's field estimate ($419.21 vs. $183.05). On EV2-A off-peak, the lab-figure saving is about $77 a year. Savings are bigger in summer, when E-TOU-C rates are higher, and smaller if you dry fewer loads.

Against a gas dryer, a heat pump dryer saves little or nothing per load at today's rates; the reasons to switch are getting off gas entirely (see induction vs. gas and heat pump water heaters for the other appliances) or skipping a vent.

Things to know before buying:

• Heat pump dryers are ventless. They condense moisture into a tank or a drain line, so you need a way to drain the water (DOE Energy Saver Guide, p. 33).
• ENERGY STAR says typical heat pump dry times are comparable to conventional dryers, and all heat pump dryers meet its Most Efficient criteria (ENERGY STAR clothes dryers).
• Compare models by CEF in the ENERGY STAR product finder, and check the ENERGY STAR rebate finder and your community choice aggregator for rebates by ZIP code before you buy.

Ways to cut dryer cost without a new dryer

From the DOE's Energy Saver Guide:

1. Use the high-speed or extended spin on your washer to remove as much water as possible before drying.
2. Use a lower heat setting, even if the cycle runs longer, and use the moisture-sensing (auto-dry) cycle instead of a timed one. ENERGY STAR dryers with a moisture sensor shut off when the load is dry.
3. Dry towels and heavy cottons separately from lighter clothes, and use the cool-down cycle so clothes finish on leftover heat.
4. Clean the lint screen after every load and check that the vent isn't blocked. DOE notes manufacturers recommend rigid venting, not plastic vents that can collapse.
5. Air-dry what you can. Even in a rainy Bay Area winter, a drying rack indoors handles sweaters, workout clothes and delicates. Every load you don't run saves the per-load cost above.

Clean the vent: winter is dryer fire season

The U.S. Fire Administration estimates about 2,900 clothes dryer fires in homes each year. Failure to clean was the leading factor, at 34%, and dryer fires peak in January (USFA Clothes Dryer Fires in Residential Buildings). Lint in a long or crushed vent also slows airflow, so the dryer runs longer for the same load.

Gear that helps

Prices and ratings below were checked on Amazon on November 3, 2026, and can change.

• Clean the whole vent run: the Gardus LintEater RLE202 Rotary Dryer Vent Cleaning Kit ($29.99, 4.6 stars from about 5,046 ratings) has four 3-foot flexible rods that spin with a cordless drill to reach 12 feet, plus a lint-trap brush and vacuum adapter.
• A cheaper vent brush: the Holikme 15-ft Dryer Vent Cleaner Kit ($14.99, 4.4 stars from about 6,366 ratings) is a 4-inch brush on flexible nylon rods that works by hand or with a drill.
• Skip the dryer for some loads: the Amazon Basics Foldable Clothes Drying Rack ($33.83, 4.7 stars from about 72,127 ratings) folds flat and measures 29.5 by 41.8 inches open.
• Measure what your dryer really uses: plug-in meters like a Kill A Watt can't read a 240-volt dryer, but a whole-home monitor like the Emporia Vue 3 ($199.99, 4.6 stars from about 887 ratings) can put a sensor on the dryer circuit and show the kWh of every load. See our home energy monitor guide.

The bottom line

On PG&E's winter 2026 rates, a standard electric dryer costs about 79 cents to $1.48 a load, roughly two to two and a half times what a gas or heat pump dryer costs. If you have an electric dryer, the cheapest fixes are a fast spin, auto-dry instead of timed dry, a clean vent, and running loads off-peak. That last one matters most on EV2-A and in summer. A heat pump dryer is worth pricing when your electric dryer is due for replacement, especially if you dry a lot of laundry.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to run a dryer per load on PG&E?

On E-TOU-C winter off-peak ($0.36757 per kWh), an ENERGY STAR electric dryer costs about 79 cents for a lab-test load and up to about $1.48 for a heavier real-world load. A gas dryer costs about 32 to 78 cents at the above-baseline gas rate, and a heat pump dryer about 35 to 65 cents.

How many kWh does a dryer use per load?

An ENERGY STAR standard electric dryer uses about 2.15 kWh per DOE test load (8.45 lb), and one at the federal minimum about 2.27 kWh. Heavier real-world loads can take around 4 kWh, the figure Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory uses from PG&E field data. Heat pump dryers rated CEF 9.0 use about 0.94 kWh per test load.

Is a gas dryer cheaper than an electric dryer on PG&E?

Yes, at current rates. A gas dryer uses roughly 0.08 to 0.22 therms plus about 0.23 kWh per load, which comes to about 32 to 78 cents at PG&E's above-baseline gas rate of $3.15960 per therm. A standard electric dryer costs about 79 cents to $1.48 on E-TOU-C off-peak.

What is the cheapest time to run a dryer on PG&E?

Avoid 4 to 9 p.m., the peak on every PG&E time-of-use plan. On EV2-A and E-ELEC, midnight to 3 p.m. is cheapest. On E-TOU-C, any time outside 4-9 p.m. is off-peak; the saving is about 6 to 12 cents a load in winter and 26 to 50 cents in summer. On tiered E-1, timing doesn't change the price.

How much does a heat pump dryer save on PG&E?

Compared with an ENERGY STAR electric dryer, a CEF 9.0 heat pump dryer saves about $126 a year at 283 loads on E-TOU-C winter off-peak using lab-test loads, and roughly $236 a year if your loads are heavier. Compared with a gas dryer, it saves little per load at today's rates.

Does cleaning the dryer vent save energy?

It helps the dryer move air, so loads dry faster, and it's a safety issue. The U.S. Fire Administration found failure to clean was the leading factor in residential dryer fires, and those fires peak in January. DOE recommends cleaning the lint screen after every load and checking that the vent isn't blocked.

See what laundry is doing to your bill

Upload your PG&E bill to My Big Bill for a free audit. It reads your rate plan, shows how much of your usage lands in the 4-9 p.m. peak and above baseline, and won't claim savings your bill doesn't support. If you have your PG&E Green Button file, our usage analyzer re-prices your hourly usage on each plan. For winter gas, see why PG&E gas bills spike in winter, and for everything else, How to Lower Your PG&E Bill.