If you are planning to buy a new front-load washing machine or wondering how much electricity your existing washing machine is consuming then this article is for you. In this article, we will calculate the power consumption of a front-load washing machine and also look at how much it costs to use one.

Front-load washing machines usually are rated between 2000 watts to 2500 watts, however the running wattage is between 450 watts to 1000 watts if you are using the inbuilt heater and between 250 watts to 500 watts if you are not using the inbuilt water heater.

The power consumption of front-load washing machine for one wash cycle (45 min to 1 hour) is between 0.25 kWh to 0.45 kWh without using the inbuilt water heater and between 0.45 kWh to 0.70 kWh with the heater.

This is going to be a slightly long article where I show you three ways to calculate your front-load washing machines power consumption, hence, feel free to skip to the part you are interested in.

Front Load Washing Machine Power Consumption:

There are three ways to calculate the power consumption of any front-load washing machine or any washing machine for that matter,

1. Calculate the power consumption of a front-load washing machine using energy saving label. (easiest)
2. Calculate the power consumption of a front-load washing machine using wattage.
3. Calculate the power consumption of a front-load washing machine using an energy meter. (most accurate)

Let’s look at each method more in detail.

Calculate the power consumption of a Front-Load Washing Machine using energy saving label:

Most front-load washing machines available today are energy star rated and you will see an energy-saving label on it that basically shows the power consumption of the washing machine per wash cycle.

You can simply refer to the energy-saving label to get a ballpark figure of your washing machine’s power consumption.

In the image below, you can see the energy consumption per kg per wash cycle of 6 kg, 7kg, and 8 kg front-load washing machines.

Few things to understand this label properly:

• All front-load washing machines have a motor to spin the tub and a heater to heat the water. The motor is rated between 300 watts to 400 watts. But combining it with the heater the overall wattage of a front-load washing machine is between 2000 watts to 2500 watts.

• The average time of one washing cycle considered for this calculation is 45 minutes and the inlet water temperature used is 20 to 40 degree Celsius, which is heated up to 60 degrees Celsius.

• The kWh/kg/cycle value you see on the sticker is the energy consumed to wash per kg of clothes in 1 wash cycle (typically 45 minutes). Hence, if you are using your washing machine at full load, then you will have to multiply the load (kg of clothes) on your washing machine with the per-wash power consumption mentioned on the label. (Don’t worry I have done all this for you)

By using the energy consumption per kg, per cycle from the energy saving label, I have calculated the daily, monthly, and annual power consumption of different size front-load washing machines.

Front-load washing machine power consumption, 1 full load of washing every day.

Most people don’t use washing machines every day or at least not on full load every day.

Hence, I have made the below table that shows front-load washing machine power consumption, 1 full load of washing every 2 days or 1/2 load of washing every day.

From the above table, we can see that even if we are using our front-load washing machine at full load once every day, the annual power consumption will be between 180 kWh to 250 kWh.

Front Load Washing Machine Power Consumption Per Wash Cycle:

• 6 kg Front-load washing machine power consumption per wash cycle at full load: 0.49 kWh
• 6.5 kg Front-load washing machine power consumption per wash cycle at full load: 0.52 kWh
• 7 kg Front-load washing machine power consumption per wash cycle at full load: 0.42 kWh
• 8 kg Front-load washing machine power consumption per wash cycle at full load: 0.49 kWh
• 9 kg Front-load washing machine power consumption per wash cycle at full load: 0.64 kWh
• 10 kg Front-load washing machine power consumption per wash cycle at full load: 0.70 kWh

I’ll repeat it again, one thing to keep in mind is while calculating the power consumption of washing machines the temperature of the inlet water is between 20 to 40 degrees Celsius, but, this water is heated to 60 degrees Celsius using the inbuilt heater.

Hence, if you are not heating your water during washing, then the power consumption of your front-load washing machine will be lower than this (almost half of the above values).

However, if you are heating the water more than 60 degree Celsius then your washing machine’s power consumption will be higher than this.

Always remember, heating water using electricity takes a lot of power.

Now that you know the annual power consumption of your front-load washing machine, simply multiply it by your electricity tariff to get the annual cost to run it.

Cost to run an appliance = Power consumption of an appliance X electricity tariff.

If you are confused about what is kWh or what is an electricity tariff, then here is a quick explanation.

In simple words, an electricity tariff is the amount your electricity provider charges you for one kWh (unit) of electricity. I live in Mumbai, India here the electricity tariff is Rs 12/kWh.

(What is a Kilowatt hour (kWh) – Kilowatt hour or unit of electricity is the energy consumption of a device. For example, a 50-watt fan running for 50 hours will consume 50 watts x 50 hours = 2500-watt hours = 2.5-kilowatt hours of electricity = 2.5 units of electricity. (1 kWh of electricity = 1 unit of electricity))

To find your electricity tariff, just look into your previous month’s electricity bill and find out your monthly electricity consumption, then just divide your monthly electricity consumption by your total monthly electricity bill, the figure you get is approximately your electricity tariff.

I have put together the following table that shows the electricity tariff of a few countries.

Electricity Tariff Around The World:

You can also check out the following resources to know your electricity tariff:

• https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/electricity_prices/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/

How Much Does it Cost To Run A Front-Load Washing Machine?

For your reference, I have calculated the cost to run different capacities of front-load washing machines for an entire year in 5 different countries, if your country is not listed then just multiply your washing machine’s power consumption by your electricity tariff.

Monthly Running Cost & Electricity Consumption of Front-Load Washing Machine:

Operation: 1 Full Load of washing cycle every 2 days for an entire month.

Annual Running Cost & Electricity Consumption of Front-Load Washing Machine:

Operation: 1 Full Load of washing cycle every 2 days for an entire year.

From the above table, it’s pretty clear that the running cost of a front-load washing machine is not that high, especially keeping in mind the comfort it provides.

This wraps up the portion on how we can find the power consumption of front-load washing machines using energy-saving labels.

If for some reason you can’t find your washing machine’s energy-saving label, then use this second method.

Calculate The Power Consumption of A Front Load Washing Machine Using Wattage:

The power consumption of a front-load washing machine (for that matter any electrical appliance) depends upon two main things,

1. First is the wattage of your washing machine,
2. And second is the electricity tariff in your area.

Let’s quickly see what is the wattage of a front-load washing machine and how you can find the wattage of your washing machine.

What is the wattage of A Front load washing machine:

The rated wattage of Front load washing machines varies from 1900 Watts to 2500 Watts. (this is what is mentioned on the technical specification label on the back)

You can find this wattage value in your washing machine manual or on the technical specification sticker on the back of your washing machine.

However, this rated wattage value is misleading for our calculation purpose, the reason being, washing machines barely run at this high rated wattage for a few seconds.

You see all front-load washing machines have two main electrical components that consume power. First is the electric motor that spins the tub, this is normally rated at 300 watts to 500 watts.

And the second is the inbuilt water heater that heats the water. This is rated at 1000 watts to 1500 watts.

Combining both of these, you get a total wattage of between 2000 watts to 2500 watts.

However, neither your electric motor nor the water heater runs continuously at all times during the entire washing cycle (45 min to 1 hour).

During the water-filling stage, your electric motor does not run. And if you are not heating the water your inbuilt water heater will not run.

Hence, it’s difficult to say the exact running wattage of a front-load washing machine, as it totally depends on whether you heat the water or not.

However, based on the research I have done and my own experiment on calculating the power consumption of my Bosch front-load washing machine, I have built the following table that sums up the wattage of the front-load washing machine somewhat accurately.

You can take the above wattage values for your calculations.

If you don’t know what a watt is then here is a quick explanation,

Watt is the unit of power. It means the rate at which a device consumes or produces electricity. For example, a 2000-watt front-load washing machine consumes power at a rate of 2000 watts per hour, it does not mean that the washing machine consumed 2000 units of electricity, it means it will consume power at a rate of 2000 watts every hour.

With this information in your hand, you are ready to find the power consumption of your front-load washing machine.

Let me show you an example,

Let’s say we have a 6 kg fully automatic front-load washing machine and we use it once every day for an entire year.

We will do calculations with the heater and without the heater.

As we saw above, the running wattage of a 6kg front-load washing machine without using the water heater is 250 watts, and operation hours in our case is 1 wash cycle or 1 hour in a day, 30 in a month, and 365 in a year.

Hence by using the above formula,

• Daily Power consumption of a 6 kg front-load washing machine (1 hour) = 250 watts X 1 hour = 0.25 kWh
• Similarly, the monthly power consumption of a 6 kg front-load washing machine (1 hour/day @ 30 days) = 250 watts X 1 X 30 = 7.50 kWh
• And the annual power consumption of a 6 kg front-load washing machine (1 hour/day @ 365 days) = 250 watts X 1 X 365 = 91.25 kWh.

In a similar way, I have calculated the daily, monthly and annual power consumption of different sizes of front-load washing machines.

Power Consumption Of Front-Load Washing Machines Using Water Heater:

Power Consumption Of Front-Load Washing Machines Without Using Water Heater:

As you can see, the power consumption of a front-load washing machine without using the water heater is almost half of what it’s with the heater.

If your washing cycle does not fit what I have calculated, then use the below calculator.

Washing Machine Power consumption calculator:

If you are not happy with the approximate results and you want to know the exact power consumption of your washing machine, then I would suggest you buy a cheap Kill-A-Watt Meter from amazon.

Calculate the exact power consumption of any Washing Machine using Kill A Watt Meter:

Kill A Watt Meter is a simple device that gives real-time data on the power consumption of any device.

You can check it on amazon using this link – Kill A Watt Electricity Usage Monitor

To use a kill-a-watt meter to calculate the power consumption of your washing machine, first, connect your washing machine‘s plug into the kill-a-watt meter and then plug the kill-a-watt meter in your wall socket and you are good to go.

Then start using your washing machine and you can see in real-time how many kWh (units) of electricity it is consuming.

Do Front-load washing machines consume a lot of electricity:

The honest answer is NO, a front-load washing machine does not consume a lot of electricity, especially keeping in mind the comfort it provides.

If you are not heating the water in your front-load washing machine, then the power consumption per wash at full load is just between 0.25 kWh to 0.45 kWh.

And even if you heat the water the power consumption per wash will be between 0.45 kWh to 1 kWh at the max.

To give you some comparison, a 4-inch LED TV running for 4 to 5 hours will consume 0.5 kWh of electricity.

If you like this article, then please share it with someone who might be interested in this.

Check out top-load washing machine power consumption

You can check out this article to know more about the power consumption of all types of refrigerators, How much power does a refrigerator consume?

or check the following articles to know their power consumption in detail:

• Power consumption of a mini fridge.
• Power consumption of a pedestal fan.
• Power consumption of a table fan.
• Power consumption of a ceiling fan.
• Power consumption of an air cooler.
• Power consumption of an AC.
• Power consumption of an electric fireplace.
• Power consumption of a refrigerator.
• Power consumption of a dehumidifier.
• Power consumption of an electric blanket.
• Power consumption of a washing machine.

You can check out this article to know more about the power consumption of common household appliances.

Check out my articles on solar power for home and how it can help you save your electricity bill.

Thank you for reading.

Aavjo.

References:

• https://www.globalpetrolprices.com/electricity_prices/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/263492/electricity-prices-in-selected-countries/
• https://beeindia.gov.in/sites/default/files/ctools/Schedule12-WM.pdf
• https://bigee.net/media/filer_public/2013/09/30/bigee_domestic_washing_machines_user_savings_20130328.pdf
• https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-79124-7
• https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC114329