Whirlpool H21bA850(3B)
481 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 2.76 filed efficiency; the yearly figure is computed from it
A front-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.
- WFC682CL**
If you are verifying the Whirlpool H21bA850(3B), sold as WFC682CL**, these figures come from DOE's registry. At DOE's test use with an electric water heater and an electric dryer, it uses 481 kWh a year and 4,248 gallons of water. Its IMEF, the cubic feet of laundry washed per kilowatt-hour, dryer included, is 2.76, equal to its class median.
Energy and water per year
481 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.
4,248 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
- 2.76 Compared only with other front-loading, standard size washers.
- IWF (Integrated Water Factor) how many gallons of water a washer uses per cycle for each cubic foot of drum
- 3.2
- 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
- 1.84
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 front-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
- Whirlpool H18vA864(3B) 481 kWh a year
- Whirlpool H18vA865(3B) 481 kWh a year
- Whirlpool H21bA851(3B) 481 kWh a year
- Whirlpool H22gA850(3B) 481 kWh a year
Keep going
How every figure on this page is calculated
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Front-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 Whirlpool 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 481 kWh figure is not a value the registry files for the H21bA850(3B). This site computes it from the registry's IMEF of 2.76 and a capacity, the drum's volume in cubic feet, of 4.5. The calculation assumes DOE's yearly test use and was run on registry data retrieved 2026-10-25. Because IMEF folds in the energy to dry the load, that yearly total includes the dryer's share as well as the washer's. A machine-only figure for this model is not available, because DOE's database publishes only IMEF. ENERGY STAR is the one source that splits the machine out, and it lists this model under no matching rating. For the same reason, no installed price range is published, since the cost database needs that machine-only figure. The method behind the yearly energy and water figures shows each step of the calculation.
Read the rest
The 4,248 gallons yearly total starts from the registry's IWF, the gallons of water used per cycle for each cubic foot of drum. For this model the IWF is 3.2, which this site multiplies by the 4.5 cubic-foot drum and DOE's yearly test cycles. The figure applies only at DOE's test use, and the registry gives no total for any other number of loads. The cost of that water is not stated here, and it is not estimated. No free national source publishes local water and sewer rates, so any charge for the 4,248 gallons depends on the reader's own utility.
Among the 360 models registered as front-loading and standard size, the H21bA850(3B) ranks 101st highest by IMEF. Its IMEF of 2.76 is equal to the class median of 2.76, and it is rated above the federal minimum IMEF for its class. In the same class, 37 of the 360 models are rated at that federal minimum rather than above it. The rank compares registered IMEF ratings only, measured at DOE's test use. The running cost of the 481 kWh is not stated in this text, because it depends on the reader's own electricity tariff. The page computes that cost from the reader's ZIP code instead of naming a figure. Other models in this class are listed on the index of all clothes washer pages.