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Laundromat vs. Home Units: Why it Can be Cheaper to Visit the Laundromat

Is it cheaper to visit the laundromat to do your laundry or to purchase a washer and dryer so you can do it yourself from within the home? The answer is really based on a combination of personal preference and convenience – but there may be some cost advantages to taking your laundry to the laundromat. In this post, we’ll break down some of the cost considerations. Here’s a look:

Equipment Costs

The first major consideration you have to weigh is equipment costs. When you visit a laundromat, you obviously are using the laundromat’s equipment, which tends to be effective and efficient cleaning and drying machines. Purchasing equipment from your home can run anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars depending on the brand and type of equipment you buy. Unless you’re willing to shell out some major dollars, it likely won’t be as good of equipment as you’ll find at the laundromat.

Cost Per Laundry Load

According to data, it costs a total of $3.12 per load at the laundromat when you factor in washing machine and dryer fees per load and the cost to travel to and from the laundromat. Conversely, it’s estimated that it costs about $2.15 per load at home when you consider electricity and water costs. Keep in mind that the cost to do laundry at home excludes upfront equipment fees.

The Bottom Line

Assuming that you purchase a washing machine at the average price of $700 and a clothes dryer at the average cost of $600, it’s estimated that you’ll need to perform about 600 loads of laundry to break even on this investment versus what it costs to use the laundromat’s equipment. It’s estimated that the average household does about 10 loads of laundry per week, which means that they’ll break even on this investment in a little more than one year.

The bottom line is that if you’re a household that only does a few loads of laundry per week or you don’t want to invest in home units, then it makes more sense fiscally to visit a laundromat. But if you’re a large household that’s always doing laundry, home units are likely the better option.

There are other factors to consider too, such as proximity to a laundromat, current utility costs, and how long you plan to stay in your current home.