LG WT4970C
Filed with DOE as WT4970C*. An asterisk in a model number stands for any character: this one filing covers several variants.
644 kWh a year DOE CCD (opens in a new tab) (the U.S. Department of Energy’s Compliance Certification Database) · 2026-10-25with an electric water heater and an electric dryer
IMEF 2.06 filed efficiency; the yearly figure is computed from it
A top-loading washer of standard size (1.6 cubic feet or more). Drum: 4.5 cubic feet.
Label numbers this filing covers (1)
The model number on your rating plate may be any of these; each is filed under this one listing.
- WT4970C*
Checking the LG WT4970C*: this site calculates 644 kWh of electricity a year at DOE's test use. That assumes an electric water heater and an electric dryer. Water use at that test use is 5,708 gallons a year. Its IMEF, the cubic feet of laundry washed per kilowatt-hour, dryer included, is 2.06, above the class median of 1.57.
Energy and water per year
644 kWh a year with an electric water heater and an electric dryer
Computed by this site from the registry's IMEF and drum capacity at DOE's test use of 295 cycles a year. IMEF counts the washer, heating its water electrically, and the electric dryer's work on what the spin leaves wet — so this is the total for that kind of home. How it is calculated
Not published: The washer's own share, without the dryer
DOE's database files IMEF, which folds the dryer in; only ENERGY STAR splits the machine out, and it lists this model under no matching rating.
The total above, and the IMEF it comes from, stand as filed.
Not published: A home with a gas water heater, a gas dryer or line drying
DOE's rating assumes electric water heating and an electric dryer and files no split between the machine, the water heating and the drying.
Such a home uses less electricity than the total above; how much less, no registry says for this model.
5,708 gallons of water a year
Computed from the registry's IWF and drum capacity at the same 295 cycles a year.
Not published: What the water costs
water and sewer rates are set by thousands of local utilities and no free national source publishes them.
The gallons above are the figure to multiply by your own water and sewer rate.
This model is rated above the federal minimum IMEF for its class.
DOE CCD (opens in a new tab) · 2026-10-25What it costs to run where you live
See what the middle washer of each product class costs to run on your rate.
What the registry files
From DOE CCD · 2026-10-25
- IMEF (Integrated Modified Energy Factor) how many cubic feet of drum a washer cleans for each kilowatt-hour, counting the machine, heating the water and drying what the spin leaves wet
- 2.06 Compared only with other top-loading, standard size washers.
- IWF (Integrated Water Factor) how many gallons of water a washer uses per cycle for each cubic foot of drum
- 4.3
- Clothes container capacity the volume of the drum in cubic feet, as DOE's test measures it
- 4.5 ft³
- Federal minimum IMEF for this class
- 1.57
Installed cost and service life
Not published: Installed cost range
NLR REMDB's cost model needs the washer's own yearly energy use, which only ENERGY STAR files — and it lists no matching rating for this model.
Ask retailers or installers for a written quote that names this model number. The yearly energy, water and running cost on this page do not depend on it.
Service life: DOE’s cost database assumes 11 years for top-loading washers. That is a class assumption, not this model’s rating or a warranty — no registry publishes either.
NLR REMDB v4.0.0 · 2026-09-29Safety record
No CPSC recall names this model.
Checked against the CPSC recall database. CPSC does not publish a model-level match for this product category, so this list is curated by hand from the manufacturer's recall filings.
CPSC · 2026-09-29What these figures mean
Where the hot water in this figure comes from
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Water heaters
The other big user of hot water in a home, with every model on file.
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What a water heater costs to run
Prices a water heater’s efficiency against your own utility’s tariff.
Closest in its class
- Kenmore V19zCG50(3B) 759 kWh a year
- Kenmore V19zCG51(3B) 759 kWh a year
- LG WT7010C 644 kWh a year
- LG WT7050C 644 kWh a year
Keep going
How every figure on this page is calculated
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Top-load washers ranked by filed efficiency (IMEF)
Ranked by filed IMEF inside each class, recalled models left out.
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Most energy-efficient clothes washers
Ranked by filed IMEF inside each class, recalled models left out.
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Top load vs front load washing machine
The filed IMEF, yearly energy, water, drum size and installed-cost range of every standard-size top-loading and front-loading washer, side by side from the DOE registry.
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How much water and electricity does a washing machine use?
The yearly gallons and kWh of every residential washer on file, by product class with the full spread, plus the exact per-cycle figures, and the watts no registry files declared as a gap.
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Every LG washer on file
What the brand files, by product class.
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Every clothes washer on file
All four product classes, from the DOE registry.
The 644 kWh figure is not a registry value. This site computes it from the model's IMEF of 2.06 and its capacity, the drum's volume in cubic feet, of 4.5 cubic feet, at DOE's test use. Because IMEF folds the dryer in, the total covers the washer, the electric water heater and the electric dryer together. The washer's own share is not available. DOE's database files only IMEF, and only ENERGY STAR splits the machine out. ENERGY STAR lists no matching rating for the WT4970C*. For the same reason, no installed price range is published here, because the cost database needs that machine-only figure. The registry inputs come from the DOE CCD, retrieved 2026-10-25. The method behind the yearly energy and water figures sets out each step.
Read the rest
The 5,708 gallons a year is computed by this site from the model's IWF, the gallons of water used per cycle for each cubic foot of drum, of 4.3. That IWF is applied to the 4.5 cubic feet of capacity at DOE's test use. The result describes that test use, not the loads of a particular household. Its cost is not stated. No free national source publishes local water and sewer rates, so this page gives the volume only. The running cost of the 644 kWh is also left out of the text. It depends on the reader's own utility electricity tariff, so the page computes it from the reader's ZIP instead.
The comparison group is the 870 models registered as top-loading, standard size. Within that group, the WT4970C* holds the 37th highest IMEF of 870. A higher IMEF means more laundry washed per kilowatt-hour, dryer included. Its IMEF of 2.06 sits above the class median of 1.57. In the same class, 652 of the 870 models are rated at the federal minimum IMEF, and this model is rated above that minimum. The value of the federal minimum itself is not in this page's data. The rank uses IMEF only; this data gives no class rank for the IWF of 4.3. The same figures for the other registered clothes washers are listed model by model.