Running cost comes down to wattage, hours and your rate. In Massachusetts the rate is 28.82 cents per kWh, which is 56.3 percent above the national average. Here is what that means for a washing machine.
A washing machine drawing 500 W costs $0.14 per hour in Massachusetts. Run 1 hours a day that is $0.14 daily, $4.32 a month and $52.60 a year, which is $18.94 more than the same appliance at the US average rate.
Washing machine cost at Massachusetts rates
Change any box. The result updates as you type.
Planning estimate. The rate box is prefilled with a regional average; the figure on your own bill is the one that matters. Power is draw while running, not while switched on.
Cost by hours used per day in Massachusetts
| Hours/day | Energy | Per day | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 h | 0.50 kWh | $0.14 | $4.32 |
| 2 h | 1.00 kWh | $0.29 | $8.65 |
| 4 h | 2.00 kWh | $0.58 | $17.29 |
| 6 h | 3.00 kWh | $0.86 | $25.94 |
| 8 h | 4.00 kWh | $1.15 | $34.58 |
| 12 h | 6.00 kWh | $1.73 | $51.88 |
| 24 h | 12.00 kWh | $3.46 | $104 |
Cost by wattage at 28.82 cents
| Rated power | Per hour | Per day | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255 W | $0.07 | $0.07 | $2.20 |
| 400 W | $0.12 | $0.12 | $3.46 |
| 500 W | $0.14 | $0.14 | $4.32 |
| 800 W | $0.23 | $0.23 | $6.92 |
| 1,400 W | $0.40 | $0.40 | $12.10 |
Find the row matching the nameplate on your own unit. Within a single appliance category the spread is often wider than the difference between categories, so the label is worth reading.
What actually varies by state
Washing machine cycles run much the same regardless of climate; the wattage and cycle length barely change between Massachusetts and anywhere else. What genuinely differs here is the electricity rate itself, which is why this page exists at all rather than a single national figure.
Why Massachusetts pays what it does
Massachusetts has a competitive retail electricity market, so the rate used here blends households on the utility default with households on shopped supply plans. If you have never switched supplier you are probably on the default, which is usually the more expensive side of that blend. Only the generation portion of your bill changes when you switch; delivery and outage response do not.
At 28.82 cents, Massachusetts ranks 47 of 51 from cheapest to most expensive. The Northeast regional average is 25.91 cents. Roughly half of any residential bill is transmission and distribution rather than generation, which is why rates keep climbing even when fuel prices fall.
How this compares across the country
The same washing machine on the same schedule, in the cheapest and dearest states:
| State | Rate | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho | 12.35¢ | $1.85 | $22.54 |
| Utah | 12.96¢ | $1.94 | $23.65 |
| Massachusetts | 28.82¢ | $4.32 | $52.60 |
| California | 33.25¢ | $4.99 | $60.68 |
| Hawaii | 52.00¢ | $7.80 | $94.90 |
Lowering the number in Massachusetts
- Wash in cold water unless the load needs hot. Heating the water, not the motor, is what actually costs money.
- Run full loads. A half load uses nearly the same water and energy as a full one.
- Use a higher spin speed. Less water left in the load means less work for the dryer afterward.
- Clean the pump filter periodically. A blocked filter makes the machine work harder through every cycle.
Offsetting it with solar in Massachusetts
This load uses about 0.50 kWh a day. Covering that would take roughly 1 standard 400 W panels at typical sun hours, an array of about 0.40 kW. Because it offsets electricity worth 28.82 cents rather than the national 18.44 cents, the same array is worth more here than the national payback figures suggest.
Short cycles and modest draw make this one of the easier appliances to run on solar, provided you run it in daylight. Full sizing, including battery and inverter requirements, is on the solar sizing page for this appliance.