How Much Electricity Does an Automatic Ironing Machine Use? Cost per Shirt vs an Ironing Service
22 October 2026 · 7 min read
Key takeaways
- A 10-minute cycle at 1250 W uses at most 0.21 kWh. At the October–December 2026 price cap (26.32p per kWh) that is about 5.5p per shirt, and usually less because the heater cycles on and off.
- Seven items a week (5 shirts, 2 trousers) cost about £20 a year in electricity.
- The same seven items at an ironing service, at £2 a shirt and, as an example, £3.50 a pair of trousers, cost about £884 a year.
- Hands-on time drops from about 7 minutes per shirt to about 1 minute of set-up: around 38 hours a year for that weekly routine.
- Use the calculator below with your own numbers and your own tariff.
An appliance that blows warm air for ten minutes sounds as if it might be expensive to run. It is not. Here is the exact sum for one shirt, what a year looks like, and how that compares with handing your shirts to an ironing service or doing them yourself. At the end, a calculator lets you put in your own numbers.
The electricity for one cycle
Energy used is power multiplied by time. The Standheld is rated at 1250 W, which is 1.25 kW. A typical shirt cycle is 8 to 12 minutes; take 10 minutes, a sixth of an hour:
1.25 kW × 10/60 h = 0.208 kWh
That is the maximum. The rating covers the fan and the heater together, and the heater switches on and off to hold the temperature you choose, so the real figure is usually lower. At the Ofgem price cap for October to December 2026, 26.32p per kWh, the maximum is:
0.208 kWh × 26.32p = about 5.5p per shirt
| Cycle | Energy (at most) | Cost (at most) |
|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes (lightly misted shirt) | 0.17 kWh | 4.4p |
| 10 minutes (shirt from the spin) | 0.21 kWh | 5.5p |
| 12 minutes (thicker cotton) | 0.25 kWh | 6.6p |
| 20 minutes (jeans) | 0.42 kWh | 11p |
A year of shirts
Take someone who wears a shirt five days a week and smooths two pairs of trousers: seven cycles a week, 364 a year. At 10 minutes each, the electricity costs at most:
364 × 5.5p = about £20 a year
Your tariff may differ from the cap. If you are on a fixed or time-of-use tariff, use your own price per kWh in the calculator below.
Compared with an ironing service
Ironing services in the UK usually charge per item. A 2026 guide from Love2Laundry puts ironing a shirt at £1.50 to £3.50, and Airtasker lists shirts at around £2 each. Taking £2 a shirt and £3.50 for a pair of trousers as an example, the same seven items a week cost:
(5 × £2 + 2 × £3.50) × 52 = £884 a year
Against that, the Standheld Complete Set costs £159.90 once, plus about £20 a year of electricity. At those prices it pays for itself in about 10 weeks. If you only use a service now and then, or your service is cheaper, the payback takes longer; the calculator shows it for your numbers.
Compared with ironing yourself
If you iron your own shirts, the machine does not save much money: a steam iron, usually rated at 2000 W or more, uses electricity in the same range per shirt once you count heating up. What it saves is time. Ironing a shirt properly takes around five to ten minutes; take seven. On the machine, your part is fitting the shirt, clipping the hem and pressing start, about a minute. For five shirts and two pairs of trousers a week:
- By hand: 5 × 7 + 2 × 8 = 51 minutes a week.
- On the machine: about 7 minutes of set-up.
- Saved: about 44 minutes a week, or around 38 hours a year.
Work out your own savings
Change the number of shirts and trousers, the service prices you pay and your electricity tariff. The figures update as you type.
Ironing savings calculator
| Shirts per week | 5 |
|---|---|
| Trousers per week | 2 |
| Price per shirt at an ironing service | £2.00 |
| Price per pair of trousers | £3.50 |
| Your electricity price (Ofgem price cap, October–December 2026) | £0.2632 |
| Hands-on time saved per year | 38.1 h |
| Ironing service per year | £884 |
| Electricity per 10-minute cycle | £0.055 |
| Electricity per year | £19.96 |
| Complete Set pays for itself in | about 10 weeks |
Estimates, not a promise. Your own times and prices decide the result.
Elsewhere: Europe and the US
The same 0.21 kWh costs different amounts depending on where you live. At the EDF regulated "Base" tariff in France from August 2026 (€0.2001 per kWh) it is about 4 euro cents; at the average German household price published by Eurostat for the second half of 2025 (€0.3869) about 8 cents. In the US, the Energy Information Administration forecasts a 2026 residential average of 18.2 cents per kWh, so a 10-minute cycle on a similar 110–120 V machine would cost roughly 3.6 to 3.8 cents.
Three ways to use less
- Spin well. A shirt from a normal spin dries faster than one that drips.
- Match the temperature to the fabric. Lower settings are kinder to delicate fabrics and use less.
- Do not over-run. Set the time for the garment; the machine switches off at the end.
Choosing a machine? Our 2026 comparison lists power, attachments and prices for the main brands.
Sources
- Ofgem, energy price cap 1 October to 31 December 2026
- Love2Laundry, ironing service prices in the UK (2026) and Airtasker, ironing prices
- EDF Tarif Bleu Base, August 2026
- Eurostat, household electricity prices
- US EIA, Short-Term Energy Outlook, October 2026
Frequently asked questions
How much electricity does an automatic ironing machine use?
At most its rated power multiplied by the time: 1.25 kW for 10 minutes is 0.21 kWh. In practice it is usually less, because the heater switches on and off to hold the temperature you set.
How much does one shirt cost to dry and iron?
At 26.32p per kWh (the Ofgem cap for October to December 2026), a 10-minute cycle costs at most about 5.5p. A heavier item that needs 15 minutes costs at most about 8p.
Is it cheaper than a steam iron?
Per shirt, the electricity is in the same range: a steam iron is usually rated at 2000 W or more and is on for the time you iron, plus heating up. The real difference is your time, not the pennies.
How long until it pays for itself?
Compared with an ironing service, quickly: at £2 a shirt and £3.50 for trousers, five shirts and two pairs of trousers a week cost £17, so the £159.90 Complete Set pays for itself in about 10 weeks. Compared with ironing yourself, it pays back in time rather than money.
What about the US?
The US version runs on 110–120 V. If it draws a similar 1.2 to 1.25 kW, a 10-minute cycle uses about 0.2 kWh, roughly 3.6 to 3.8 cents at the 18.2 cents per kWh the US Energy Information Administration forecasts as the 2026 residential average.