What the LG DLHC5502* costs to run
At 266 kWh/yr, the LG DLHC5502*'s ENERGY STAR certification puts it one of the cheaper models in its category to run against every other certified clothes dryer.
That $50 is priced at 18.8¢/kWh, the average of all 51 state rates this site tracks. Your own state's rate is one click away.
Efficient, or not, for a clothes dryer
Against the category average of 572 kWh/yr, this model uses 53.5% less, ranking 51 of 639 clothes dryers tracked here for running cost. That average is drawn from all 639 clothes dryers ENERGY STAR currently certifies, not an outside number, a $58/year gap from this model at the national rate. Full sourcing is in the sourcing notes.
Right next to it on the list
A rank or two either side of the LG DLHC5502*: Samsung DV45DG60**H* ($49/yr, 263 kWh/yr), then LG DLHC6702* ($50/yr, 266 kWh/yr).
Same brand, different models
Ranked 6 of LG's 144 certified clothes dryers, this sits between the DLHC1455* ($25/yr, the brand's cheapest) and the WSGX201H*A ($129/yr, its priciest).
What this adds up to over time
12 years is NAHB's typical service life for this category; at $50/year, the LG DLHC5502* adds up to about $600 in electricity over that span.
Shopping for a new one
Efficient as certified clothes dryers go, $50/year is a reasonable baseline if you're comparing what else is on the market.
Compare current ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryers before buying.
If you're keeping it
At $50/year just to run, a clothes dryer is worth protecting against an unplanned repair bill on top of that.
Where this number comes from
Ranked 51 of 639 certified dryers for running cost, the LG DLHC5502* is also worth reading with a caveat specific to this category: the methodology page explains why ENERGY STAR's own combined-energy figure for dryers can overstate the electric bill impact of a gas model. The 266 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.