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Why most dryer advice gets it wrong
Dryer buying guides line up models on price and capacity and treat them as broadly similar running costs. They aren't. There's a fundamental split between resistive dryers (vented, condenser) that make heat one-for-one, and heat-pump dryers that move heat and use about a third as much power. Miss that split and you can buy the cheap dryer that's the dearest to live with.
And in an Australian context, the guides almost never start where they should: the clothesline. The sun is free and the climate is on your side for much of the year. A dryer is a backup for wet weeks and time pressure, not a default, and choosing the right backup matters precisely because every load you do run on it costs real money.
How clothes dryer running costs work
Drying is about removing water, and how efficiently the machine makes and uses heat decides the cost.
Resistive vs heat-pump drying
Vented and condenser dryers heat air with a resistive element, one unit of heat per unit of power, then either blow the damp air outside (vented) or collect the moisture (condenser). Both use similar, high amounts of energy. A heat-pump dryer recycles the warm air and uses a heat pump to do it, so it runs cooler and uses roughly a third of the energy for the same load. It costs more up front and is gentler on clothes, and it wins clearly on running cost over its life.
The free option, and a free head start
Line drying costs nothing, and across most of Australia it's practical for a large part of the year, so the cheapest strategy is to use the line first and a dryer only when you must. When you do use the dryer, a high spin speed in the wash gives a free head start by leaving clothes drier, so the dryer runs for less time. On a time-of-use tariff, running the dryer off-peak trims the cost further.
Vented vs heat-pump vs the line
This calculator costs a year of drying on a vented dryer, a heat-pump dryer, and the clothesline. The gap between the two dryers, and the zero on the line, is the whole decision. Every figure also appears in the worked example below.
Clothes dryer running cost
Per year. Edit any input.
Cost = dryer loads/week × 52 × (1 − line-dried share) × energy × rate. Line-dried loads cost nothing. Vented and condenser dryers use similar energy. Rate is an editable default.
Worked example (the calculator's default). 4 dryer loads a week, none line-dried, vented 3.5 kWh, heat-pump 1.3 kWh, at 30 c/kWh:
| Dryer | Energy/year | Cost for the year |
|---|---|---|
| Vented / condenser | 728 kWh | ~$218 |
| Heat-pump dryer | 270 kWh | ~$81 |
| Line drying | 0 kWh | $0 |
The heat-pump dryer saves about $137 a year over a vented one, and every load you put on the line instead saves the lot. Line-dry half your loads on a heat-pump dryer and the dryer bill is around $40 a year.
How Aussies overpay without realising it
The low purchase price hides a running cost roughly three times a heat-pump dryer's, paid on every load for years.
Reaching for the dryer when the sun's out skips the free option the Australian climate hands you most of the year.
A low wash spin leaves more water for the dryer to remove, lengthening every cycle. Spin high first.
Running a timed cycle longer than needed wastes energy. Use auto-sensing or pull clothes when dry.
The insider insight: buy for the loads you can't line dry
Here's the framing that gets the dryer decision right in Australia. The dryer isn't your main drying method, the clothesline is, or should be. The dryer exists for the wet weeks, the cold snaps and the time-poor days when the line won't do. So the question isn't "which dryer for all my drying"; it's "which dryer for the minority of loads I genuinely can't line dry".
That reframe pushes hard toward the heat-pump dryer. Because you're paying for it only on the loads you can't avoid, you want each of those loads to be as cheap as possible, which is exactly what the heat-pump's lower per-load cost delivers. A cheap vented dryer optimises the purchase price for an appliance whose whole job is to be used sparingly but efficiently. Line dry by default, and make your backup the efficient one.
What you should actually do
| Do this | Why it works |
|---|---|
| Line dry whenever the weather allows | Free, and the Australian climate suits it most of the year. |
| Make your dryer a heat-pump model | About a third of a vented dryer's running cost on every load you must dry. |
| Spin clothes fast in the wash first | Less water left in clothes means shorter, cheaper dryer cycles. |
| Use auto-sensing, don't over-dry | Stops the cycle once clothes are dry instead of running on. |
| Run the dryer off-peak on time-of-use | Same load, cheaper power. |
| In VIC, NSW, SA, QLD, ACT: compare plans against the DMO/VDO | A better rate lowers the cost of every load you can't line dry. |
In Western Australia (Synergy) and the Northern Territory (Power and Water) there's no retailer to switch to, so line drying and a heat-pump dryer are the wins. See our washing machine guide for the spin-speed head start.
Why this matters right now
With power prices high, the gap between a cheap vented dryer and a heat-pump model is real money over the appliance's life, and the free clothesline has never been more valuable. Choosing the efficient backup, and using it sparingly, is the winning combination.
The takeaway: line dry first, and make the dryer a heat pump. The cheapest dryer is the one in the backyard; the second cheapest is the one that moves heat.
Frequently asked questions
Current figures — last updated 2026-06-13
All values in AUD and Australian units. Volatile figures change; check the Energy Rating Label before relying on them.
| Vented / condenser dryer energy | ~3–4 kWh per load (~$1–$1.20) |
|---|---|
| Heat-pump dryer energy | ~1–1.5 kWh per load (~30–45 c) |
| Line drying | $0 |
| Running-cost gap, vented vs heat-pump | ~3× / often $100+ a year |
| Typical electricity rate | ~25–35 c/kWh [verify: your plan] |
| Reference price (NSW, SA, SE QLD / VIC) | AER DMO / ESC VDO [verify: current value] |
Sources: energy.gov.au, Energy Rating Label scheme, Australian Energy Regulator (DMO), ESC Victoria (VDO).