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Honest numbers, yours not ours

Will a freeze dryer pay for itself in your house?

Short answer: It depends on your numbers: savings per batch times batches per month have to cover the machine price. This calculator counts electricity, food and supplies, leaves out repairs, pump replacement and your time, and many owners may never break even on savings alone.

An honest calculator using your own numbers, not a sales pitch. Many "worth it" answers skip the electricity and bags. This one counts them, but it leaves out repairs, pump replacement and your time.

Updated: Oct 18, 2026

Basket of fresh strawberries on grass

Your numbers

Example values; replace with yours

Example: about $0.18, near the US residential average (EIA Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A (opens in a new tab)). Check your bill.

Example: 25 kWh. Estimate roughly 13 to 60 kWh per batch, based on Harvest Right's own figures, depending on size and cycle length (Harvest Right (opens in a new tab) lists ~1.0 to 1.2 kW average draw for Small/Medium, 1.5 kW Large, 1.7 kW X-Large, and 13 to 35 hr batches). Other makers don't publish kWh per batch; Blue Alpine lists 1,080 to 1,440 W average draw. Measure yours with a plug-in meter.

Made-up example; replace with yours.

Use $0 to $5 for garden or surplus food that would otherwise be wasted. $25 is a made-up example; replace with yours.

Made-up example, not a sourced price; replace with what you'd actually buy.

Your result shows here

Replace the example values with your own, then press Calculate.

Estimates only, based on the numbers you entered. The starting values are examples, not typical results. Your savings depend on your machine, power rate, food costs, how often you run it, and how much you actually use. Many owners may never break even on savings alone. The math leaves out repairs, pump replacement, financing, resale and your time (pump oil goes in the supplies field), and the 5-year figure assumes the machine runs 5 years with no repairs. Model prices are examples from each maker's own site, seen October 2026. Prices change; check the maker's site and type in the current price. Fully Dry is independent and not affiliated with or endorsed by Harvest Right, Blue Alpine, Stay Fresh or any other freeze-dryer maker.