Whirlpool WGD8120H Running Cost (Clothes Dryer)
Whirlpool WGD8120H: running cost
ENERGY STAR certifies the Whirlpool WGD8120H at 687 kWh/yr, more expensive than most models in its category to run for its category.
The $129 figure above uses the simple average of all 51 published state rates. Pick your state for the real number.
Whirlpool WGD8120H against the category
That's 20.1% above the clothes dryer category average of 572 kWh/yr, and ranks 633 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 WGD8127L ($129/yr, 687 kWh/yr) costs a little more to run than the Whirlpool WGD8120H. Whirlpool WGD7120H ($129/yr, 687 kWh/yr) costs a little less.
Same brand, different models
Whirlpool makes 114 ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryers; this one ranks 108 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
Over the 12-year service life NAHB reports for this category, running the Whirlpool WGD8120H costs roughly $1,550 in electricity, separate from the purchase price.
Weighing a replacement
The Whirlpool WGD8120H 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.
Compare current ENERGY STAR certified clothes dryers before buying.
Protecting what you have
The Whirlpool WGD8120H already costs $129/year to run; a repair bill on top of that is the kind of expense a protection plan exists to smooth out.
Sourcing
Ranked 633 of 639 certified dryers for running cost, the Whirlpool WGD8120H 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. Whether a repair or a full replacement dryer makes more sense once the electric bill is this well known is covered in the guide to when replacing one pays off. The 687 kWh/yr figure is ENERGY STAR's own certification, not a wattage estimate; exact dataset IDs are on the data sources page.