The calculation
Cycles per year are washes per week multiplied by 52. Electricity use per cycle becomes annual kilowatt-hours; water litres are divided by 1,000 to become cubic metres. Each annual quantity is multiplied by its local unit price and the two costs are combined.
A worked example
A household washing four times per week completes about 208 cycles per year. At 0.51 kWh and 45 litres per cycle, that is roughly 106 kWh and 9.4 m³ of water annually. At €0.30/kWh and €2.20/m³, the combined variable running cost is about €52 per year. This excludes detergent, maintenance, standing utility charges, and program differences.
Use comparable programs
Published values depend on the program, load, temperature, test method, and appliance settings. Compare current and replacement machines using compatible consumption figures—such as the same labelled Eco program basis—and treat those values as an estimate of real use rather than a guarantee.
Use your marginal utility prices
For a decision about one appliance, use the price that changes when you consume another unit of electricity or water. A fixed monthly network or service charge usually remains even if the washer changes, so assigning the whole bill to the machine can overstate savings. If wastewater is charged per cubic metre, include it in the effective water rate.
Frequency matters more than tiny label differences
A busy household can realize efficiency differences more quickly than someone running one cycle per week. Before replacing a working or repairable machine solely for efficiency, convert the per-cycle difference into your own annual euros and compare that saving with purchase, delivery, installation, and disposal costs.
Why it matters to repair decisions
A more efficient replacement may save money each year, but those savings need time to offset the purchase price. Keepvero includes only the configured comparison-period saving in the repair threshold and keeps replacement consumption clearly marked when it is an illustrative assumption rather than a selected product fact.