Whirlpool WGD5605M**: running cost
At 687 kWh/yr, the Whirlpool WGD5605M**'s ENERGY STAR certification puts it more expensive than most models in its category to run against every other certified clothes dryer.
The $129 figure above uses the simple average of all 51 published state rates. Pick your state for the real number.
Whirlpool WGD5605M** against the category
That's 20.1% above the clothes dryer category average of 572 kWh/yr, and ranks 625 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 $22/year above that average at the national rate. See the methodology page.
What sits beside it in the ranking
Whirlpool WGD560LH** ($129/yr, 687 kWh/yr) costs a little more to run than the Whirlpool WGD5605M**. Whirlpool WGD5220R** ($129/yr, 687 kWh/yr) costs a little less.
Same brand, different models
Whirlpool makes 114 ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryers; this one ranks 100 of 114 for running cost, between the brand's cheapest, the WHD3090G** at $43/yr, and its priciest, the WGF5727T** at $129/yr.
Cost over its typical lifespan
NAHB's Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components puts a typical clothes dryer's service life at 12 years; run the Whirlpool WGD5605M** that long and it costs about $1,550 in electricity, on top of whatever it cost to buy.
Weighing a replacement
The Whirlpool WGD5605M** runs above its category average. If the clothes dryer you actually own is older still, likely well past ENERGY STAR's efficiency baseline when it was made, a current certified model could cost meaningfully less than this model's $129/year every year.
See what else is certified in this category before you decide.
Protecting what you have
Whether or not the Whirlpool WGD5605M** ever needs replacing, a repair is the more common failure for a clothes dryer, one a protection plan budgets for ahead of time.
Sourcing
Nothing here is estimated from a nameplate wattage; the 687 kWh/yr is ENERGY STAR's own certified figure for this model. Ranked 625 of 639 certified dryers for running cost, the Whirlpool WGD5605M** 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.