Blog
Longer-form writing built on the same data as the rest of the site — buying guides, efficiency deep-dives, and notes on what changes in the datasets.
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Air Conditioners
At the April 2026 U.S. average residential electricity price of 18.83¢/kWh, a portable air conditioner drawing 900 watts costs about 17¢ per hour, an 1,100-watt unit about 21¢, and a 1,400-watt unit…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Clothes Dryers
For the current certified-model medians, an electric clothes dryer uses about 2.15 kWh per DOE test-basis load, while a clothes washer uses about 0.47 kWh. At 18.83¢/kWh, that is roughly 40¢ for…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Dishwashers
Usually, yes. A dishwasher's heated-dry setting uses extra energy compared with an available no-heat or air-dry option because drying is part of the appliance's energy demand. ENERGY STAR recommends…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Refrigerators
A garage refrigerator can use more electricity than its EnergyGuide estimate when its surroundings and use differ from the standardized test, but there is no honest one-size-fits-all multiplier.…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Dehumidifiers
The 152 certified 50-pint dehumidifiers in WattCost's July 2026 snapshot average 514 kWh a year. At the April 2026 U.S. average residential electricity price of 18.83¢/kWh, that is about $8 a month…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Clothes Washers
Yes. Washing clothes in cold water can reduce laundry energy use because heating water is the dominant part of a washer's energy demand. ENERGY STAR says water heating accounts for about 90% of the…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Clothes Washers
The median ENERGY STAR certified clothes washer in WattCost's July 2026 snapshot uses 110 kWh a year. Using the DOE test basis of 234 wash cycles, that equals about 0.47 kWh and 9¢ per load at the…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Water Heaters
In WattCost's July 2026 snapshot, the median certified electric water heater uses 1,082 kWh a year. At the April 2026 U.S. average residential price of 18.83¢/kWh, that works out to about $17 a…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Refrigerators
The median certified refrigerator in WattCost's current dataset costs about $5.41 per month to run at the April 2026 U.S. average residential electricity price. That is $64.96 a year for 345 kWh of…
· Sharon Ben-Moshe · Dishwashers
The median certified dishwasher in WattCost's current data costs about 21¢ of electricity per cycle at the April 2026 U.S. average residential rate. The estimate comes from 239 kWh/year divided by…
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