A dishwasher averages about 550 watts over a cycle, or 1.10 kWh per 2-hour load. Enter your hours and electricity rate below for the exact cost per day, month and year.
Wattage is pre-filled with a typical value for a dishwasher; change any field for your own device, usage and rate. Cost uses your rate × kWh — a US-average placeholder rate of $0.17/kWh is shown; enter your own from your bill for an accurate figure.
A dishwasher averages about 550 watts over a cycle. Energy is billed in kilowatt-hours (kWh), and one kWh is 1000 watts for one hour — so a dishwasher uses 550 ÷ 1000 = 0.55 kWh for every hour it is on. Multiply that by the hours you use it and by your rate per kWh to get the cost. The calculator above does it live; change the wattage if your model differs. Kept up every day of the year at one 2-hour load a day, that is about 402 kWh — roughly $68.26 at the $0.17/kWh placeholder rate used here.
Most of the energy heats the water; eco and cold-wash cycles use noticeably less.
Wattage moves with size, age and model, so treat 550 W as a starting point rather than a fixed number. The median ENERGY STAR standard dishwasher is rated about 1.1 kWh per load, water heating included; spread over a roughly 2-hour normal cycle that averages about 550 W. The rating plate shows peak draw, which is higher than the average, so for your own model take its ENERGY STAR or EnergyGuide kWh per year, divide by the number of loads, and adjust the hours to your cycle length. The rate matters just as much: the US Energy Information Administration publishes current average residential prices by state, and the figure on your own bill is better still. This LK Forge calculator recomputes every result as you type.
Two levers change the bill: hours of use and your rate per kWh. Running high-wattage devices less, or shifting them to off-peak hours on a time-of-use plan, has the biggest effect. For a whole-home estimate or to compare devices, use the full electricity bill & appliance calculator.