Model
Smeg DW8220
Rank #284 means 283 of the 709 dishwasher models we track cost less to run each year; the 71st efficiency percentile means it uses less energy for its size than 71% of those models.
What does the Smeg DW8220 cost to run per year?
Do the math and the Smeg DW8220's $44/yr puts it at rank #284 of 709, right around the class average. It uses 23.5% less energy than the U.S. federal standard model in its class, which would cost about $57/yr to run, a saving of roughly $13 a year. Normalized for capacity, it beats 71% of dishwasher models we track, a better-than-average efficiency result. At 15 place settings, it is a mid-size dishwasher for the class, which runs 2 to 18 place settings; size and efficiency are the two levers behind the figure above, and this dataset does not carry a separate efficiency-factor column for this class.
Immediately around it on the leaderboard, the Zline DW7714-18 at $43/yr runs a little cheaper and the Smeg DW8620 at $44/yr runs a little more, a sense of how tightly models are packed at this point in the ranking. A dishwasher typically stays in service for somewhere around 9 years; over that span, the Smeg DW8220's $44/yr adds up to roughly $396 in electricity alone, before purchase price or repairs.
Also sold as: Smeg DW8620.
By the numbers
The Smeg DW8220 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 $44/yr, here is what the Smeg DW8220 adds up to before purchase price, water, or repairs enter the math.
Left running for a decade at today's US average rate, the Smeg DW8220 costs about $440. That is roughly $130 less than a standard model in its class, which would run closer to $570 over the same ten years.
How the Smeg DW8220 compares
The dishwasher class we track runs from $15 to $45 a year. At $44/yr, it sits right on the class median of $44, and it is about $29 a year more than the cheapest dishwasher to run at $15. Against the US federal standard model for its class at about $57/yr, the Smeg DW8220 uses 23.5% less energy.
What drives its running cost
At 15 place settings, the Smeg DW8220 is a mid-size dishwasher for its class, which spans 2 to 18 place settings with a median of 14 place settings, right in the middle of the capacity range, so capacity is roughly a wash compared with the rest of the class.
- Place-setting capacity. A larger dishwasher heats more water per cycle, so bigger capacity generally means a higher annual energy figure, independent of how efficient the unit is.
- Water heating. The booster heater that brings water up to sanitizing temperature is usually the single largest electrical load in a dishwasher's cycle.
- Cycle length and drying method. Cycle selection, eco versus heavy, air-dry versus heated-dry, moves real running cost more than most owners realize for a given capacity.
Common questions
Is the Smeg DW8220 cheap to run?
It is about average. At $44 a year it ranks #284 of 709 dishwasher models we track, close to the middle of its class on running cost.
How much does the Smeg DW8220 cost per month?
Roughly $3.63/mo, spreading the $44/yr estimate evenly across twelve months at $0.1856/kWh. Actual monthly bills swing with your rate and usage pattern.
How is this running-cost figure calculated?
We take the model's published annual energy use of 235 kWh from ENERGY STAR and multiply it by the US average residential electricity rate of $0.1856/kWh, giving about $44 a year. It is an electricity-only estimate and does not include purchase price, water, or installation.
How efficient is the Smeg DW8220 for its size?
71st percentile once size is factored in, a fairly typical result for the class.
Cheaper to run in the same class
Source
ES_92281_DW8220_06162025085340_4278070View certified dishwasher listingsENERGY STAR data as of July 2026Smeg and DW8220 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.