Boot dryer running-cost calculator
Put in a wattage and your own electricity rate. Get the cost per night, per week and per season, with the arithmetic printed so you can check it.
By Scooter M., Enthusiast. Published September 1, 2026.
Take this from the manufacturer’s specification page, not from a retail listing. If only amps are published, watts = amps x 120 on US household power.
Default is 18.34 cents, the EIA published US average residential price. Your own bill is better - the figure is usually on it, and rates vary by more than a factor of three between states.
- Per night
- 5.3 cents
- Per week (7 nights)
- 37.0 cents
- Per season (90 nights)
- $4.75
The arithmetic, with your numbers
36 W ÷ 1000 × 8 h = 0.288 kWh per night.
0.288 kWh × 18.34 cents = 5.3 cents per night.
5.3 cents × 90 nights = $4.75 per season.
This is electricity only. It does not include the purchase price of the dryer, and it assumes the unit draws its rated power for the whole period - units with a thermostat or a timer will draw less.
Nobody else publishes this number
We read every competing boot-dryer page we could find while researching this site, and not one of them publishes a running-cost figure. Several imply that convection dryers are the cheap option and forced-air dryers are expensive to run, which is presented as common sense and never checked.
The arithmetic says something more interesting. Every option in this category is cheap to run. A 36-watt convection stand costs about five cents a night; even a 250-watt heated forced-air unit costs under ten cents for a two-hour cycle. The difference between the cheapest and most expensive dryer to operate, across a whole season, is a few dollars.
Which means running cost should not decide your purchase. What should: whether you need boots dry in two hours or overnight, and whether heat is safe for the material. That conclusion only becomes available once somebody does the sum - so we did it, and built this so you can do it with your own numbers.
How it is calculated
watts ÷ 1000 × hours × price per kWh
Dividing by 1000 converts watts to kilowatts. Multiplying by hours gives kilowatt-hours, which is the unit your utility bills you in. Multiplying by your rate gives the cost. There is nothing else in it.
Two caveats we would rather state than bury. This is electricity only - it excludes the purchase price of the unit, which is almost always the larger number. And it assumes the dryer draws its rated power continuously; units with a thermostat or a timer will draw less than this in practice, so treat the output as a ceiling.
Sourced, not estimated
The default rate of 18.34 cents per kilowatt-hour is the US Energy Information Administration’s published average residential electricity price. Use your own if you have your bill to hand - state rates vary by more than a factor of three, so the average is a starting point rather than an answer.
The wattage presets come from manufacturer specification pages. We hold published wattage figures for 6 dryers, and where a maker does not publish one we leave the field blank on that product’s card rather than estimating it. That is why some dryers in our roundup have a running-cost box and others do not.
Dryers we hold published wattages for
Every one of these has a manufacturer-published wattage figure behind it, which is what makes the running-cost box on its card possible. Where a maker publishes nothing, we say so rather than filling the gap.
PEET
PEET Original 2-Shoe Dryer
The convection dryer the rest of the category gets measured against: 36 watts, no fan, no noise, and a 25-year warranty behind it.
Skip it if: You need boots dry in two hours. PEET's own FAQ puts non-fan models at 4 to 8 hours.
#ad We hold no verified live price for this product, so we show none. How this site is funded.
PEET
PEET Original XL Tall Shoe & Boot Dryer
The Original with another 2.5 inches of tube, which is the difference between drying a work boot and drying only its ankle.
Skip it if: Your boots are knee-height or waders - at 24.5 in overall this still will not reach the top.
#ad We hold no verified live price for this product, so we show none. How this site is funded.
PEET
PEET Wader Dryer
42.5 inches of tube on the same 36-watt element - the only dryer here that reaches the top of a hip wader or a knee boot.
Skip it if: You only own ankle boots. You would be paying for height you never use; the Original dries them at the same wattage.
#ad We hold no verified live price for this product, so we show none. How this site is funded.
PEET
PEET Multi Shoe & Glove Dryer
Four ports on 72 watts - two pairs of boots, or a pair plus gloves, for about eleven cents a night.
Skip it if: You need one pair dry fast. Four ports on a convection element is still an overnight job.
#ad We hold no verified live price for this product, so we show none. How this site is funded.
Frequently asked
How much does it cost to run a boot dryer?
For a 36-watt convection dryer running 8 hours a night at the EIA US average residential rate of 18.34 cents per kWh, about 5.3 cents a night, or roughly $4.75 across a 90-night season. The formula is watts divided by 1000, times hours, times the price per kilowatt-hour.
Are boot dryers expensive to run?
No, and the assumption that forced-air models are costly is the one this calculator is here to test. Even a 250-watt heated forced-air dryer run for 2 hours costs under 10 cents at the US average rate. The bigger cost is almost always the purchase price, not the electricity.
How do I find my boot dryer's wattage?
Use the manufacturer's specification page rather than a retail listing, which is often wrong. If only an amp draw is published, multiply amps by 120 for US household power to get watts.
What electricity rate should I use?
Your own, from your utility bill. The 18.34 cents per kWh default is the EIA published US average residential price, and state rates vary by more than a factor of three, so your own figure is substantially more accurate.
Does a convection or forced-air dryer cost more to run?
Per hour, forced-air costs more because it draws more power. Per drying job, the gap narrows sharply because forced-air units finish in 1 to 4 hours where convection models run overnight. Both are small numbers; the choice should be made on drying speed and on whether heat is safe for your boots, not on running cost.