Looking to find out the power consumption of your Whirlpool washer?
Good news, you’re in the right place.
Recently, I was looking for this exact information but it seemed impossible to find a clear answer. So I decided to investigate for myself!
Below we will discuss and test Whirlpool washing machine wattage, explain how to work it out for yourself, and calculate the total electricity required.
How Many Watts is a Whirlpool Washer?
A Whirlpool washer uses an average running power of between 350 and 650 watts. Adding to this, a Whirlpool washing machine reaches a much higher peak of around 2000 watts when heating water.
The exact number depends on the size, model, and setting of your Whirlpool washer. For example, running on an eco wash setting washer averages at 350W during a cycle while hotter washes reach a running average of 650W.
It’s important to understand that the power peaks and falls during a wash cycle. It is never constant. When heating water it is highest and then drops during a gentle spin. This makes a big contrast between the average and peak wattage.
There are two main components drawing power – the motor to spin the drum and the heating element for water. The heating element accounts for 70% of the power consumption and the motor 30% of the consumption.
Finding the running watts of a Whirlpool washer is tricky as it is not always listed. You will come across several numbers to take into account:
- Peak Running Watts – The highest power a clothes washer reaches.
- Average Running Watts – The average power draw during a cycle.
- Total Energy Consumption – The amount of electricity in kWh used per cycle.
How to Find Out Your Whirlpool Washer Wattage
There are 3 ways to work out the wattage of a Whirlpool washing machine.
- Check Product Specification
The quickest way is to look at the Whirlpool washer’s specifications. The power is sometimes written on a sticker on the side of the appliance. If not, you can check the user manual or Whirlpool’s website for technical details.
- Use a Wattmeter
A wattmeter is brilliant for getting a live wattage reading and tracking total energy usage of any appliance. You can plug it into your Whirlpool washer to get instant information.
I used one to test a Whirlpool washing machine which gave a reading of 470W during a mixed cycle.
- Wattage Formula or Calculator
If you know the amperage and voltage of your Whirlpool washer you can use this to find the maximum watt rating. Simply use the formula Amps x Volts = Watts. Or you can head over to the ‘Watt Calculator’ to work this out.
How Much Electricity Does a Whirlpool Washer Use?
You can use Whirlpool washer wattage to work out how much electricity it uses. Plus this can be useful in understanding how much it costs to run your Whirlpool washer.
A watt (W) is a measurement of power at a single point in time. A watt-hour (Wh) is the total amount of electricity used in an hour. For example, a Whirlpool washer drawing an average 650W would use 650Wh when running for an hour.
Happily, electricity bills are recorded in kilowatt-hours (kWh). A kilowatt is simply 1000 watts. So a 650W Whirlpool washer running for 1 hour uses 0.65kWh.
In reality, you might use a washer 3 times a week on a 1 hour cycle. This means a Whirlpool washing machine uses about 1950Wh or 1.95kWh electricity a week. That’s 8.385kWh a month and 100kWh a year.
That’s a rough electricity cost of $1.25 a month or $15 a year to wash your clothes 3 times a week.
Using a Whirlpool Washer Off-Grid
If you’re planning to use your Whirlpool washer in an off-grid situation, like a power outage, the information above is key. It enables you to choose and install the correct electrical equipment, plus calculate runtime.
You can either use a power inverter, portable power station, or generator to generate AC electricity.
To make sure everything runs smoothly you should check two things on this equipment – wattage capacity and total energy capacity.
Your power source, like an inverter, should have a wattage capacity of at least 20% more than your Whirlpool washer’s peak running watts. This ensures it will be able to deliver enough power as they are never 100% efficient.
Secondly, you need to ensure your energy source, like a battery, has enough energy to run the Whirlpool washer for the required amount of time. As we already know, it will use upto 1000Wh electricity for each cycle. This is the equivalent to 83.3Ah on a 12V battery.
To be honest, this appliance draws a serious amount of power. It might be best to avoid using it when you have limited electricity. Or consider just running a cold wash to dramatically reduce the electricity usage.
How Many Watts Does a Whirlpool Washer Use Summary
I hope you now clearly understand how many watts a Whirlpool washing machine uses.
What we have learned is that these appliances use a fair amount of power but are efficient compared to many competitors. Many other washing machines draw more electricity than a Whirlpool, especially when you use the eco setting for your cycles. That being said, your machine can still reach over 2000W on a hot wash so if you plan to run from an inverter makes sure it has ample capacity.
