How much does it cost to run a clothes iron?
About $1.22 a month on the typical usage below, at the U.S. average $0.1816/kWh. Set your own rate and usage and the figure updates instantly.
An iron pulls ~1,100W while heating, cycling to hold temperature.
Running a clothes iron at 0.39 kWh a cycle, 4 cycles a week costs about
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A clothes iron looks tiny next to a space heater, but the two work the same way: pure electric-resistance heat, no efficiency losses to hide behind. At 1,100 watts, ironing for an hour costs about the same per minute as running that space heater — the only reason irons don't wreck your bill is that nobody irons for eight hours a night. The thermostat also isn't holding 1,100 watts the whole time; it clicks the element on and off to hold the soleplate at temperature, so your real draw over a session runs noticeably below the peak rating.
That's why the monthly cost is one of the smallest numbers this calculator will ever show you — a typical 15-20 minutes of ironing a few times a week lands well under a dollar a month at average U.S. rates. The lesson isn't to iron less, it's that if you're chasing bill savings, an iron was never the problem: it's the dryer, the water heater, and anything that runs for hours instead of minutes.
What drives the cost of running a clothes iron
- Wattage while heating: irons draw close to their peak (typically 800-1,800W, ~1,100W typical) only while bringing the soleplate up to temperature
- Thermostat cycling: once at temperature, the element cycles on and off to hold heat, so average draw during a session runs well under the peak wattage
- Total minutes at the ironing board: because the default use case is ~0.2 hours/day (about 12 minutes), total session length — not the wattage — is what actually moves the monthly total
How to cut it
- Iron in batches: do all your ironing in one session instead of heating up the iron multiple times a week, since reheating from cold costs more than staying at temperature
- Use the lowest heat/steam setting the fabric allows — cotton and linen need the full 1,100W range, but synthetics and silk press fine at a fraction of that power
- Iron slightly damp clothes pulled straight from the dryer or a spray bottle — steam does the flattening work so you need less time at high heat
- Turn the iron off (many auto-shutoff after ~8-15 min idle anyway) the moment you're on the last item, and finish the pile while the soleplate coasts down
Data basis
- Electricity price
- U.S. Energy Information Administration, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.B, June 2026 year to date, released 2026-08-26. Retrieved 2026-09-11. Average residential revenue per kWh. A benchmark average, not a utility tariff — it excludes the fixed charges, tiers, time-of-use windows, taxes and fuel adjustments on a real bill.
- Appliance energy
- A representative running power for a clothes iron, compiled from published manufacturer specifications and public appliance-energy guidance, and presented as a typical figure with the usual range shown above. It is not a measurement of your unit, and we do not claim a single primary source for it — the nameplate on your appliance, or an hour with a plug-in energy meter, beats any typical figure we can publish.
- Usage model
- Per cycle — 0.39 kWh a cycle, 4 cycles a week
- International prices
- rounded typical household tariffs for each market, in that market's own currency unless the row says US$ equivalent. These are planning benchmarks with no single primary source; enter the per-kWh price from your own bill for an accurate figure.
- Last reviewed
- 20 August 2026. Next scheduled review 20 February 2027.
- Corrections
- Think a figure is wrong? Tell us at corrections@watt-dollar.com and see our corrections policy.
Common questions
How much does it cost to run a clothes iron per month?
On the assumption shown above — 0.39 kWh a cycle, 4 cycles a week — a clothes iron costs about $1.22 a month, or $14.58 a year, at $0.1816/kWh. That price is the U.S. average; set your own rate and usage above and the figure updates.
How is that worked out?
Energy per cycle x cycles per week, plus any standby draw between cycles. At 0.39 kWh a cycle, 4 cycles a week that is 0.22 kWh a day, which at $0.1816/kWh costs $0.04 a day.
How can I cut the cost of running a clothes iron?
Iron in batches: do all your ironing in one session instead of heating up the iron multiple times a week, since reheating from cold costs more than staying at temperature As a worked example: running 3.2 cycles a week instead of 4 takes it from $14.58 to $11.67 a year, about $2.92 less.
Does a steam iron cost more to run than a dry iron?
Both. The iron pulls close to its full wattage (roughly 1,100W typical, up to 1,800W on some models) for the first minute or two while the soleplate heats from cold. Once it reaches your set temperature, the thermostat cycles the heating element on and off to hold it there, so the average draw over a full session is lower than that peak number — but the peak is what determines which circuit breaker or extension cord rating you need.
Is it cheaper to iron a full load at once instead of spreading it out?
Steam irons draw slightly more than dry irons at the same heat setting, since some extra power keeps the water reservoir hot enough to generate steam — but the difference is small next to the cost of the heating element itself, typically adding only a few cents a month even with daily use.