If you are planning to buy a new top-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 top-load washing machine and also look at how much it costs to use one.
Top-load washing machines are rated between 200 watts to 500 watts. Generally, the bigger the capacity of the washing machine, the higher the wattage.
Assuming 1 full load of washing cycle every day for a month, The monthly power consumption of top-load washing machines of different capacities is between 7 kWh to 12 kWh.
Read the article to know more about top-load washing machine power consumption and how you can calculate your washing machine’s power consumption using a simple calculator.
How To Calculate Top Load Washing Machine Power Consumption:
The power consumption of a top-load washing machine (for that matter any electrical appliance) depends upon two main things,
- First is the wattage of your washing machine,
- And second is the electricity tariff in your area.
Before we jump into calculating the power consumption of your top-load washing machine let’s see what these terms are and how you can find out your top-load washing machine’s wattage and the electricity tariff of your locality.
If you already know these terms and just want to use the calculator then please scroll down to use the calculator.
What is The Wattage Of A Top-Load Washing Machine:
The wattage of fully automatic top-load washing machines varies from 200 Watts to 500 Watts. Generally, the bigger the size of the washing machine, the higher the wattage, and the higher the power consumption.
You can find the wattage of your top-load washing machine by reading the label on it or in the product manual.
For example, from the above image (I got from Samsung’s product manual), the wattage of a 7 kg fully automatic top load washing machine is between 240 watts to 330 watts.
The washing machine consumes around 240 watts during spinning (to remove water) and around 330 watts while washing.
For your reference, I have built the following table that shows the wattage of different size top-load washing machines.
| Top Load Washing Machine (Full Automatic) | Wattage |
|---|---|
| 6 kg top-load washing machine | 200 Watts – 300 Watts |
| 6.5 kg top-load washing machine | 200 Watts – 300 Watts |
| 7 kg top-load washing machine | 240 Watts – 330 Watts |
| 8 kg top-load washing machine | 240 Watts – 330 Watts |
| 9 kg top-load washing machine | 240 Watts – 400 Watts |
| 10 kg top-load washing machine | 240 Watts – 480 Watts |
If you are confused about 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 360-watt top-load washing machine consumes power at a rate of 360 watts per hour, it does not mean that the washing machine consumes 360 units of electricity, it means it will consume power at a rate of 360 watts every hour.
So, in short, the wattage of a fully automatic top-load washing machine lies between 200 watts to 500 watts and you can find it by looking at the label on it.
With that out of the way, let’s look at what is electricity tariff.
What is your Electricity Tariff:
In simple words, electricity tariff is the amount your electricity provider charges you for the usage of one unit (kWh) of electricity. I live in Mumbai, India here the electricity tariff is Rs 12/kWh.
(What is a Kilowatt hour (kWh) – Kilowatt hours or units of electricity is the energy consumption of a device. For example, a 50-watt table 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.
Top Load Washing Machine Power Consumption:
With this information in your hand, you are ready to find the power consumption of your top-load washing machine.
Let me show you an example,
I have selected a 6.5 kg top-load washing machine and we will calculate its daily, monthly, and annual power consumption at full load.
We will assume 1 full load of wash cycle (rinse, wash, dry) every day (roughly 1 hour) for an entire year.
For our example, the wattage is between 200 watts to 300 watts, let’s average it out to 250 watts. And the operational hours are 1 in a day, 30 a month, and 365 a year.
Let’s use this simple formula to calculate the power consumption of a top-load washing machine.
Power consumption of an appliance = Wattage of the appliance X operational hours
Cost to run an appliance = Power consumption of the appliance X electricity tariff
Hence by using the above formula.
- Daily power consumption of a 6.5 kg washing machine (1 hour) = 250 watts X 1 hour = 0.25 kWh
- Similarly, the monthly power consumption of a 6.5 kg washing machine (1 hour/day @ 30 days) = 250 watts X 1 X 30 = 7.5 kWh
- And the annual power consumption of a 6.5 kg 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 washing machines.
| Top-Load Washing Machine | Daily power consumption (1 Cycle, @Full Load) | Monthly power consumption (30 Cycles, @Full Load) | Annual power consumption (365 Cycles, @Full Load) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 kg washing machine (250 W) | 0.25 kWh | 7.5 kWh | 91.25 kWh |
| 6.5 kg washing machine (250 W) | 0.25 kWh | 7.5 kWh | 91.25 kWh |
| 7 kg washing machine (300 W) | 0.30 kWh | 9.0 kWh | 109.50 kWh |
| 8 kg washing machine (300 W) | 0.30 kWh | 9.0 kWh | 109.50 kWh |
| 9 kg washing machine (350 W) | 0.35 kWh | 10.50 kWh | 127.75 kWh |
| 10 kg washing machine (400 W) | 0.40 kWh | 12 kWh | 146 kWh |
A small disclaimer, the above values shows the maximum power consumption of a top-load washing machine, in real life, the actual power consumption can be 10 % to 30 % lower than this.
The reason is, during the entire 1 hour-long washing cycle, the electric motor that consumes a bulk of power does not run all the time. At max, it is running for 60 % to 70% of the entire washing time.
Still, even though we go with the higher values, it is pretty evident that top-load washing machines are energy efficient, they don’t consume a lot of power.
Even for a 10kg top-load washing machine, the annual power consumption is just 146 kWh, that too considering 1 wash cycle every day at full load.
Now that we know the power consumption of top-load washing machines, let’s look at the cost to run them.
How much does it cost to run a top-load washing machine:
Continuing with our same example of a 6.5 kg top load washing machine, the monthly running cost would be.
Cost to run an appliance = Power consumption of the appliance X electricity tariff
- In Mumbai, India, the avg. electricity tariff is around Rs 10 per kWh, hence it will cost around Rs 75 (7.50 kWh X Rs 10/kWh) to run this 6.5 kg top-load washing machine for 1 hour every day for an entire month.
- In the Philippines,, the avg. electricity tariff is around ₱ 9.70 per kWh, hence it will cost around Rs 72.75 (7.50 kWh X ₱ 9.70/kWh) to run this 6.5 kg top-load washing machine for 1 hour every day for an entire month.
- In the US, the avg. electricity tariff is around 16.20 cents per kWh, hence it will cost around $ 1.21 (7.50 kWh X 16.20 cents) to run this 6.5 kg top-load washing machine for 1 hour every day for an entire month.
- In the UK, the avg. electricity tariff is around 27 pence per kWh, hence it will cost around £ 2.02 (7.50 kWh X 36p/kWh) to run this 6.5 kg top-load washing machine for 1 hour every day for an entire month.
- In Canada, the avg. electricity tariff is around C$ 0.156 per kWh, hence it will cost around C$ 1.17 (7.50 kWh X C$ 0.156/kWh) to run this 6.5 kg top-load washing machine for 1 hour every day for an entire month.
- In Australia, the avg. electricity tariff is around A$ 0.32 per kWh, hence it will cost around A$ 2.40 (7.50 kWh X A$ 0.32/kWh) to run this 6.5 kg top-load washing machine for 1 hour every day for an entire month.
For your easy reference, In the following tables, I have tabulated the power consumption and running cost of different sizes of the top-load washing machines.
Power Consumption & Running Cost of 6 kg & 6.5 kg Top Load Washing Machine:-
| Country (Tariff) | Daily Running Cost (1 Cycle/day) | Monthly Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 30 days) | Annual Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 365 days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai, India (Tariff, Rs 10/kWh) | 0.25 kWh, Rs 2.5 | 7.5 kWh, Rs 75 | 91.25 kWh, Rs 912.50 |
| Philippines (Tariff ₱ 9.70/kWh) | 0.25 kWh, ₱ 2.425 | 7.5 kWh, ₱ 72.75 | 91.25 kWh, ₱ 885.12 |
| US (Tariff, $0.162/kWh) | 0.25 kWh, $ 0.0405 | 7.5 kWh, $ 1.21 | 91.25 kWh, $ 14.78 |
| UK (Tariff, £ 0.27/kWh) | 0.25 kWh, $ 0.0675 | 7.5 kWh, $ 2.02 | 91.25 kWh, $ 24.63 |
| Canada (Tariff, C$ 0.156/kWh) | 0.25 kWh, $ 0.039 | 7.5 kWh, $ 1.17 | 91.25 kWh, $ 14.23 |
Power Consumption & Running Cost of 7 kg & 8 kg Top Load Washing Machine:-
| Country (Tariff) | Daily Running Cost (1 Cycle/day) | Monthly Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 30 days) | Annual Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 365 days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai, India (Tariff, Rs 10/kWh) | 0.3 kWh, Rs 3 | 9 kWh, Rs 90 | 109.5 kWh, Rs 1095 |
| Philippines (Tariff ₱ 9.70/kWh) | 0.3 kWh, ₱ 2.91 | 9 kWh, ₱ 87.3 | 109.5 kWh, ₱ 1062.15 |
| US (Tariff, $0.162/kWh) | 0.3 kWh, $ 0.0486 | 9 kWh, $ 1.45 | 109.5 kWh, $ 17.73 |
| UK (Tariff, £ 0.27/kWh) | 0.3 kWh, $ 0.081 | 9 kWh, $ 2.43 | 109.5 kWh, $ 29.56 |
| Canada (Tariff, C$ 0.156/kWh) | 0.3 kWh, $ 0.0468 | 9 kWh, $ 1.40 | 109.5 kWh, $ 17.08 |
Power Consumption & Running Cost of 9 kg Top Load Washing Machine:-
| Country (Tariff) | Daily Running Cost (1 Cycle/day) | Monthly Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 30 days) | Annual Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 365 days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai, India (Tariff, Rs 10/kWh) | 0.35 kWh, Rs 3.5 | 10.5 kWh, Rs 105 | 127.75 kWh, Rs 1277.5 |
| Philippines (Tariff ₱ 9.70/kWh) | 0.35 kWh, ₱ 3.395 | 10.5 kWh, ₱ 101.85 | 127.75 kWh, ₱ 1239.17 |
| US (Tariff, $0.162 /kWh) | 0.35 kWh, $ 0.0567 | 10.5 kWh, $ 1.70 | 127.75 kWh, $ 20.69 |
| UK (Tariff, £ 0.27/kWh) | 0.35 kWh, $ 0.0945 | 10.5 kWh, $ 2.83 | 127.75 kWh, $ 34.49 |
| Canada (Tariff, C$ 0.156/kWh) | 0.35 kWh, $ 0.0546 | 10.5 kWh, $ 1.63 | 127.75 kWh, $ 19.92 |
Power Consumption & Running Cost of 10 kg Top Load Washing Machine:-
| Country (Tariff) | Daily Running Cost (1 Cycle/day) | Monthly Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 30 days) | Annual Running Cost (1 Cycle/day @ 365 days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mumbai, India (Tariff, Rs 10/kWh) | 0.4 kWh, Rs 4 | 12 kWh, Rs 120 | 146 kWh, Rs 1460 |
| Philippines (Tariff ₱ 9.70/kWh) | 0.4 kWh, ₱ 3.88 | 12 kWh, ₱ 116.4 | 146 kWh, ₱ 1416.2 |
| US (Tariff, $0.162 /kWh) | 0.4 kWh, $ 0.0648 | 12 kWh, $ 1.94 | 146 kWh, $ 23.65 |
| UK (Tariff, £ 0.27/kWh) | 0.4 kWh, $ 0.108 | 12 kWh, $ 3.24 | 146 kWh, $ 39.42 |
| Canada (Tariff, C$ 0.156/kWh) | 0.4 kWh, $ 0.0624 | 12 kWh, $ 1.87 | 146 kWh, $ 22.77 |
From all the above power consumption tables, it’s pretty clear, top-load washing machines don’t consume a lot of power, especially keeping in mind the comfort it provides by eliminating doing laundry by hand.
If your washing cycle does not fit what I have calculated, then use the below calculator.
Top Load 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 top-load washing machines consumes a lot of electricity?
NO, top-load washing machines don’t consume a lot of electricity.
Even the biggest top-load washing machine will consume 150 kWh of electricity in a year for 1 daily wash cycle at full load.
That’s less than 0.5 kWh of electricity per wash, which is not that high, especially keeping in mind the comfort it provides by eliminating doing laundry by hand.
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Wondering about front-load washing machine power consumption?
You can check out this article to learn 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.
Check out the following articles to know the power consumption of other appliances:
- Power consumption of infrared heaters.
- Power consumption of water heater
- Power consumption of tankless water heater.
- Power consumption of an electric immersion heater.
- Power consumption of an electric kettle.
- Power consumption of an electric fireplace.
- Power consumption of a washing machine.
- Power consumption of air conditioner.
You can check out this article to learn more about the power consumption of common household appliances.
Check out my articles on solar power for your home and how it can help you save your electricity bill.
Thank you for reading.
Aavjo
References:
- 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
