Dryers · running-cost arithmetic

Heat pump dryer payback

The payback depends on how many loads a week the dryer runs. The energy label's annual figure assumes one load a week, so the tables below scale it directly — two loads a week means twice the labelled figure. Every number is computed from the register and the daily price checks at 32¢/kWh.

If you buy through a link on this page, the retailer may pay us a commission.

Heat pump dryers run at lower temperatures than vented and condenser models and take longer over the same load. Electrolux Australia states that this is normal and not a malfunction, that the last ten minutes of a cycle are cooling without heat, and that the room itself matters: 19–24°C is the range it gives for best drying results, so a cold or closed-up laundry dries more slowly than the label suggests. Electrolux's support article, read 20 Sept 2026. A laundry below that range costs running time, and therefore some of the saving below.

The three designs, in medians

Type	Models	Median kWh/yr	$/yr at 1/wk	$/yr at 2/wk	$/yr at 4/wk	$/yr at 7/wk
Heat pump	152	130	$42	$83	$166	$291
Condenser	8	357	$114	$228	$457	$800
Vented	28	291	$93	$186	$372	$652

At the medians, a heat pump uses 161 kWh a year less than a vented dryer on the label's one-load-a-week basis — $52 a year at one load a week, $206 at four, $361 at seven.

Worked examples, current models

The cheapest tracked 7–9 kg machine of each design, priced 28 Oct 2026:

	Esatto MVD28W	Solt GGSHPD800S2W
Type	Vented	Heat pump
Capacity	8 kg	8 kg
Best price, checked 28 Oct 2026	$379 Check price	$699 Check price
Labelled energy (one load a week)	351 kWh/yr	159 kWh/yr
Cost a year at 1 load a week	$112	$51
Cost a year at 2 loads a week	$225	$102
Cost a year at 4 loads a week	$449	$204
Cost a year at 7 loads a week	$786	$356
Price gap repaid by the energy saving	1/wk: 5.2 years · 2/wk: 2.6 years · 4/wk: 1.3 years · 7/wk: under a year

The same brand, both designs, within a kilo:

	Haier HDV60AWW1	Haier HDHPS70LW1
Type	Vented	Heat pump
Capacity	6 kg	7 kg
Best price, checked 28 Oct 2026	$484 Check price	$763 Check price
Labelled energy (one load a week)	267 kWh/yr	130 kWh/yr
Cost a year at 1 load a week	$85	$42
Cost a year at 2 loads a week	$171	$83
Cost a year at 4 loads a week	$342	$166
Cost a year at 7 loads a week	$598	$291
Price gap repaid by the energy saving	1/wk: 6.4 years · 2/wk: 3.2 years · 4/wk: 1.6 years · 7/wk: under a year

Sources and method

Energy figures are the Australian Government's labelled annual consumption, which for dryers assumes one full load a week; the label itself states this basis. Multiplying by loads a week is plain scaling — drying half loads or line-drying part of the year sits outside it. Prices are best tracked prices on the date shown and move often; the payback line divides the price gap by the yearly energy saving at 32¢/kWh. The full table filters every current dryer; heat pump and vented models each have their own page.