Whirlpool WED9750EW*: running cost
ENERGY STAR certifies the Whirlpool WED9750EW* at 608 kWh/yr, about average for its category to run for its category.
The $114 figure above uses the simple average of all 51 published state rates. Pick your state for the real number.
Whirlpool WED9750EW* against the category
That's 6.3% above the clothes dryer category average of 572 kWh/yr, and ranks 417 of 639 certified clothes dryers for annual running cost, 1 being cheapest. The category average comes from every clothes dryer ENERGY STAR currently certifies (639 models), not an outside benchmark, about $7/year above that average at the national rate. See the methodology page.
What sits beside it in the ranking
Whirlpool WED97HED*+ ($114/yr, 608 kWh/yr) costs a little more to run than the Whirlpool WED9750EW*. Whirlpool WED9620H** ($114/yr, 608 kWh/yr) costs a little less.
Same brand, different models
Whirlpool makes 114 ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryers; this one ranks 60 of 114 for running cost, between the brand's cheapest, the WHD3090G** at $43/yr, and its priciest, the WGF5727T** at $129/yr.
What this adds up to over time
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical clothes dryer's service life at 12 years; run the Whirlpool WED9750EW* that long and it costs about $1,372 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Is it worth replacing?
The Whirlpool WED9750EW* is already efficient for its category at $114/year. If you're shopping and comparing options, this is roughly what a well-chosen new clothes dryer costs to run.
Worth comparing a few current certified models before deciding.
Protecting what you have
$114/year to run is the predictable cost of the Whirlpool WED9750EW*; a protection plan covers the unpredictable one, a repair bill.
Sourcing
Ranked 417 of 639 certified dryers for running cost, the Whirlpool WED9750EW* 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 608 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.