Everyday & Big Purchases

Compare Appliances by Lifetime Cost, Not by the Sticker Price

By Owen Marsh / November 9, 2026

A refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher or range is a ten-year-plus relationship, and the price tag is only the down payment. What you actually pay is the sticker price, plus delivery and hookup, plus a decade or more of electricity, plus whatever breaks. This guide gives you a simple formula, a worked example with clearly labelled made-up numbers, and a checklist, so you can compare two models on total cost instead of on the number in big red type.

Key takeaways

Lifetime cost = purchase price + delivery, install and haul-away fees + (yearly energy cost x years you keep it) + likely repairs.
The yellow EnergyGuide label is an estimate built on typical use and a national average energy price. Your own electricity rate decides whether the efficient model pays off.
ENERGY STAR means the model meets EPA efficiency guidelines. It is a good filter, not a guarantee of savings.
Store financing that says “no interest” may be deferred interest, which can charge you back-interest from day one.
Published lifespan figures vary a lot, so use a range, not a promise.

The formula (and why the sticker price misleads)

Here it is, in plain arithmetic:

Yearly energy cost = yearly kilowatt-hours (kWh) x your price per kWh.
Lifetime energy cost = yearly energy cost x the number of years you expect to keep the appliance.
Lifetime cost = purchase price + fees + lifetime energy cost + repairs and any extended plan.

A kilowatt-hour is the unit your utility bills you in. Your rate is on your electric bill. For context only, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported an average residential price of 18.16 cents per kWh for August 2026. Your rate may be well above or below that, and it can change.

There is also a shortcut for choosing between two models. Divide the extra purchase price of the efficient one by the yearly kWh it saves times the years you will keep it. The result is the electricity price at which the two models tie. If your rate is higher than that, the pricier model wins. If it is lower, the cheaper one wins.

How to read the yellow EnergyGuide label

The Federal Trade Commission describes the EnergyGuide label as the yellow tag on most home appliances that shows how much energy the product uses and how it compares with similar models. The FTC’s list of labelled products includes refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers, dishwashers, water heaters and air conditioners. Clothes dryers and ranges are not on that list, so for those use the manufacturer’s spec sheet or the ENERGY STAR listing.

Three things to remember about the dollar figure:

It is an estimate based on typical use and a national average price for energy. The FTC says your actual cost depends on how you use the appliance and on your local energy price.
Compare labels only between the same kind of product, such as one refrigerator against another.
If a label is missing from the floor model, the FTC suggests looking inside the appliance or checking the seller’s or manufacturer’s website.

What ENERGY STAR does and does not tell you

ENERGY STAR is the government-backed efficiency mark, and the FTC describes it as identifying high-efficiency models that meet U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guidelines. On its own product pages, ENERGY STAR says certified clothes washers use about 20 percent less energy and about 30 percent less water than regular washers, with about $530 in energy savings over the product’s lifetime. For refrigerators it says certified models are about 9 percent more efficient than standard ones, and that replacing an old unit and recycling it can save about $150 over a 12-year lifetime.

Read those as program averages. Its dishwasher savings figures are measured against hand washing, so they do not help you compare two dishwashers. Use ENERGY STAR to narrow the field, then use the label and your own rate to compare what is left.

How long will it last?

Nobody publishes a warranty on lifespan, and sources disagree. An older table attributed to the National Association of Home Builders and hosted by the USDA Forest Service lists 10 years for dishwashers, 13 for washers, 14 for dryers, 17 for standard refrigerators and 17 to 19 for electric and gas ranges. A March 2026 CP24 article on appliance lifespans gives shorter ranges: refrigerators 10 to 14 years, washers 8 to 12, dryers 10 to 13, dishwashers 9 to 10 and ranges 13 to 15. The page does not tie each figure to a named study.

So the honest answer is roughly 8 to 19 years depending on the product, the fuel and how hard you use it. In the formula, use the low end if you run the machine daily.

The fees people forget

Consumer Reports’ appliance store guide (updated January 2023) says to compare delivery and other fees before you buy. It notes that some big retailers charge to install items such as dishwashers and gas ranges, that one warehouse club generally includes delivery and basic hookup and does not charge to haul away the old unit, and that you can ask any retailer to discount or waive delivery, installation or haul-away. It gives no standard price, and neither will this article, because fees vary by store and region.

Ask for an itemised quote that covers:

Delivery, and whether there is a fee for stairs or a long carry.
Installation or hookup, and whether hoses, a vent kit, a water line or a gas fitting cost extra.
Haul-away of the old unit.
Any restocking fee if it does not fit.

Parts and repairs are the other unknown. Check the manufacturer’s warranty length and what it covers. On extended plans, Consumer Reports calls them rarely worthwhile, and it notes that some credit cards extend a purchase’s warranty automatically, so check your card terms first.

A worked example (illustrative numbers only)

The prices and kWh figures below are invented to show the arithmetic. They are not real models. Assume a $100 delivery and haul-away fee on both, a 12-year ownership period, and no repair costs. The first scenario uses an electricity rate of $0.18 per kWh, close to the national average cited above. The second uses $0.30 to show what a high-rate region changes.

Item	Model A (cheaper)	Model B (efficient)
Sticker price	$1,000	$1,250
Delivery and haul-away	$100	$100
Yearly electricity use	450 kWh	350 kWh
12-year energy cost at $0.18/kWh	$972	$756
Lifetime cost at $0.18/kWh	$2,072	$2,106
12-year energy cost at $0.30/kWh	$1,620	$1,260
Lifetime cost at $0.30/kWh	$2,720	$2,610

At the lower rate, the cheaper model wins by $34. At the higher rate, the efficient model wins by $110. The tie point here is $250 divided by 1,200 kWh saved over 12 years, or about $0.21 per kWh. Same two appliances, opposite answers, and the only thing that changed was the rate. The label’s national average is a starting point, not your answer.

Financing: the deferred-interest trap

Many stores push a store credit card with a “no interest if paid in full” offer. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau describes deferred-interest promotions as common on store cards for purchases such as appliances. You pay no interest if the promotional balance is cleared within the set period, which the CFPB says is typically six to 12 months. If any of it remains when the period ends, the card charges the interest that built up from the purchase date. The CFPB’s 2017 announcement said store card rates are generally about 25 percent, so that back-charge can be large.

As a rough illustration, not a quote: on a $1,200 range at 25 percent, a year of retroactive interest could land somewhere around $150 to $300, depending on how you paid it down. The CFPB’s advice is to know how long the promotion lasts, know the regular rate that applies afterward, and calculate the monthly payment needed to clear the balance in time, because the minimum payment may not do it. That advice dates from 2017, so read your own card agreement for current terms.

Frequently asked questions

Is the EnergyGuide cost what I will actually pay?

No. The FTC calls it an estimate based on typical use and a national average energy price. Multiply the model’s yearly kWh by your own rate for a better number.

Does every appliance have a yellow label?

No. The FTC says not all appliances do. Its list covers products such as refrigerators, washers and dishwashers, but not clothes dryers.

Is ENERGY STAR always worth the extra money?

Not always. It is worth it when the savings over your ownership period exceed the price difference at your rate. Use the tie-point calculation above.

Should I buy the extended warranty?

Consumer Reports calls them rarely worthwhile, and some credit cards extend warranties automatically. Compare the plan’s terms with your card’s first.

Checklist before you buy

Write down your electricity rate from your latest bill.
Get the yearly kWh for each model from the label or spec sheet.
Measure the space, the door swing and the path to the room, as the FTC suggests.
Get an itemised quote for delivery, installation, parts and haul-away.
Check for utility rebates or other incentives, which the FTC page says salespeople or utilities may know about.
Pick an ownership period from the lifespan ranges and run the formula for both models.
If financing, ask whether it is deferred interest, then calculate the monthly payment that clears it in time.

Before you decide

Run the numbers for your top two or three models. If the tie point is well above your rate, buy the cheaper one and keep the difference. If your rate is higher, the efficient model may earn its premium.