Model
Lg DLGX7881*E
Rank #500 means 499 of the 615 clothes dryer models we track cost less to run each year; the 6th efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 6% of those models.
What does the Lg DLGX7881*E cost to run per year?
Rank #500 of 615 puts the Lg DLGX7881*E among the pricier clothes dryer models we track to keep running, at roughly $127 a year. Efficiency-wise, once size is accounted for, it lags most of the class, ahead of only 6% of the models we track. The CEF figure of 3.49 on this model captures combined energy factor, the main efficiency lever ENERGY STAR tracks for this class.
Immediately around it on the leaderboard, the Lg DLG3401* at $127/yr runs a little cheaper and the Lg DLGX4201* at $127/yr runs a little more, a sense of how tightly models are packed at this point in the ranking. A clothes dryer typically stays in service for somewhere around 13 years; over that span, the Lg DLGX7881*E's $127/yr adds up to roughly $1651 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Lg DLG6101*.
By the numbers
The Lg DLGX7881*E normalized against its whole class, so each figure means something.
What it costs you over time
Running cost is an every-year number, so it compounds. At $127/yr, here is what the Lg DLGX7881*E adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Lg DLGX7881*E costs about $1270. That is roughly $140 more than the class median, which would run closer to $1130 over the same ten years.
How the Lg DLGX7881*E compares
The clothes dryer class we track runs from $23 to $128 a year. At $127/yr, it runs about $14 a year above the class median of $113, and it is about $104 a year more than the cheapest clothes dryer to run at $23.
What drives its running cost
At 7.3 cu ft, the Lg DLGX7881*E is a small clothes dryer for its class, which spans 3.8 to 9.2 cu ft with a median of 7.4 cu ft, and smaller clothes dryer models generally cost less to run for the same job, all else being equal. The CEF of 3.49 on this model, below the class median of 3.93, measures combined energy factor; it is the number to compare directly against another model's CEF if capacity is similar.
- Heat source and Combined Energy Factor (CEF). Heat-pump dryers recycle heat instead of generating it fresh with a resistance coil, and typically use meaningfully less electricity per load than a conventional resistance dryer, at the cost of a longer cycle; CEF is the federal figure that captures this.
- Drum capacity. A larger drum can dry a bigger load per cycle, but it also usually needs more energy per cycle to heat the extra air volume.
Common questions
Is the Lg DLGX7881*E cheap to run?
Its $127/yr running cost, rank #500 of 615, is above what most clothes dryer models we track cost to run, so this is not one of the cheaper picks on electricity alone.
How much does the Lg DLGX7881*E cost per month?
About $10.59 a month, which is the $127 annual estimate spread across twelve months at the US average rate of $0.1856/kWh. Your own bill scales with your local electricity rate and how heavily you use it.
How is this running-cost figure calculated?
The formula is annual kWh times price per kWh: 685 kWh from ENERGY STAR times the US average of $0.1856/kWh comes to about $127 a year. It covers electricity only, not the purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Lg DLGX7881*E for its size?
6th percentile once size is factored in. That means its size-adjusted efficiency is not the main reason for the running-cost figure above; its capacity plays a large role too.
Cheaper to run in the same class
| Rank | Model | Cost/yr |
|---|---|---|
| 482 | Lg DLG3401*7.4 cu ft | $127 |
| 481 | Lg DLG7061*E7.3 cu ft | $127 |
| 480 | Lg DLG3461*7.4 cu ft | $127 |
| 479 | Lg DLGX4501*7.4 cu ft | $127 |
| 478 | Lg DLGX7801*E7.3 cu ft | $127 |
Source
ES_1118034_DLGX7881*E_01292020021527_80031961View certified clothes dryer listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Lg and DLGX7881*E are used here for identification only and are not endorsements. Figures are computed by WattWise Labs from public ENERGY STAR data, not measured in our own lab.