Gas Dryers vs Electric Dryers?

[revvinkevin]

I prefer gas dryers.....

 

I've had a Frigidaire 220V dryer (along with it's FL washer mate) for the last 13 years or so drying the 4 to 5 weekly loads we'd produce.   Two years ago next month,  I helped a friend run two 220V lines and a gas line into my garage for dryers.   I only have room for three dryers, but can hook up any combo of gas & 220V.   When I first got a couple gas dryers connected, I was surprised how much FASTER they are compared to the 220V dryer in the house.

 

To echo what many others have said here: I have NEVER had any issues with odd smells or odors in the clothes OR any discoloring or yellowing OR scorching from drying in a gas dryer!  

 

I would suspect tho that using a commercial dryer, like in a laundromat, all bets may be off.   They are SO heavily used and may or may bt be well maintained AND they run SO HOT that I would think any of those issues could be possible.... IMHO.

 

For me gas dryers are definately quicker and less expensive to operate the a 220V dryer.

 

If your water heater is right there, it should be fairly inexpensive to have someone add a "T" and another valve to the gas line.

 

Go for gas!

 

Kevin

 

[ozzie908]

Gas or electric...?

Like we get a choice.!

There was a gas dryer manufacturer but they have not made many the most likely

source for gas drying is in Launderettes or commercial premises they are extremely

rare in the home, If I had a choice it would be gas as its by far more efficient

but will stick with my WP US electric dryer as its ace... I may retract that

one day when I can afford a heat pump dryer.

Austin

 

[maytagbear]

Ozzie-

White Knight sell a gas heated dryer.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[launderess]

Yellowing Of Textiles During Laundering Process

Has been known for ages and the main cause is heat applied to textiles improperly rinsed free of alkaline substances, usually sodium bicarbonate. The application of heat be it from an iron, dryer or whatever will cause items to turn brown or yellow.

This is one of the reasons for rinsing laundry properly and using chemical sours, to remove the by products of sodium carbonate and other base chemicals used in the wash such as pure soaps.

There are also a list of stains/soils that often appear to have been removed during the wash only to reappear once heat is applied. Sugars, fats, oils, etc fall into this category.

Of course using a dryer that is too hot and or leaving items in the machine long after they have dried will probably lead to damage as well.

 

[neptunebob]

Gas may be more environmentally responsible.

That is, next to drying clothes on a line.  When gas is burned directly in a gas dryer 100% of the heat energy created by the gas is used to dry the clothes.  Thus, much less fuel (gas) is used than would be if the energy had to be converted to electricity. 

 

The best combined-cycle gas-fired power stations can send at least 50% of the energy created by the fuel up their chimney/into a river (second law of thermodynamics, I believe).  Thus, an electric dryer actually uses more than twice as much gas!  50% of the electric power in the US comes from coal and the efficiency there is even worse - it would take twice to 3 times as much coal to create the electric power needed by an electric dryer.  Even with nuclear power, there might not be emissions but to think that 2/3 of the heat from nuclear fuel goes in the river/up the cooling tower is a terrible waste just to dry clothes.  It makes me think of the Ziploc bag commercial where the woman says "oh, just wrap half of the ham, it will go bad anyway".

 

Gas dryers can smell if they take in air from a room that might have fumes in it, as if you were painting with an oil-based paint.  So its best to wait until everything is dry before using any dryer.

 

Since the best way to combat global warming is to burn less fuel in the first place, go with the gas dryer.  Really, even if you get a plumber, it should not cost that much.

 

By the way, is gas low priced in Canada?  And do they really call the electric meter the "hydro meter"?  Then what do they call the water meter?

 

[sudsmaster]

Since cooking was mentioned, I recall seeing an old advertisement that claimed that broiling with gas resulted in less cooking odors/wall grease than with an electric broiler. The claim was the the gas broiler would incinerate the splatters and fumes, while the electric broiler would just send most of the junk into the kitchen air/walls unaltered.

It does make some sense, but I don't think Consumer Reports weighed in on this difference.

 

[akronman]

Go with gas

In different homes with a wide variety of gas and electric models through the year, I will always choose gas. Only in electric have I ever burned clothes. With or without dryer sheets, gas dried clothes smell fine to me, electric dried smell like my oven burning up a spill. I have never noticed yellowing on anything.

 

And almost all manufacturers offer the exact same models in either gas or electric, so you can go middle or high-end and get 3 or 4 temps instead of just Hi-Lo or single temp, reserved for more economically priced or BOL models.

 

Even at $300 for a plumber, you'll more than save that in energy costs during the life of the appliance. Locally, northeast Ohio, it's generically considered $0.20 per load for gas drying, but $0.40 per load electric.

 

And---I've lived in lots of homes with gas furnaces, dryers, stoves, hot water tanks, etc, but old sparking electric connections have caused more problems than any gas appliances.

 

[qualin]

Thanks everyone.

I think my mind is made up then.

Calling electricity "Hydro" is purely an Eastern Canadian thing.. and only because the majority of power over there is done through Hydroelectric dams.

Here in Alberta, the majority of our power comes from Natural Gas Plants.

Natural gas used to be so cheap here that during the Calgary Stampede, they'd have a 80 foot tall flame burning. They stopped doing that a long time ago.

Natural gas is considerably cheaper than electric, but it's not dirt cheap. We measure gas by the Gigajoule. Here's something to wrap your head around. 1 Gigajoule is equivalent to 26.8 Cubic Meters of natural gas. 26.8 Cubic Meters is equivalent to 946.43 cubic feet. We pay $3.67 per Gigajoule.

Has your mind melted yet?

Oh, and yes, we still call the water meters water meters. We measure water in cubic meters, which is pretty neat because 1 cubic meter of water is equivalent to exactly 1000 liters of water and it also weighs 1000 kilograms. Gotta love the metric system!

 

[qualin]

Oh yeah, strangely enough, the gas model is only $40 more than the electric model and it weighs 10 lbs less than the electric model!

 

[neptunebob]

Your are right Rich

When my parents bought an "All Gas House of Savings" In 1962 with the pink Caloric built ins, it was advertised as having a "smokeless broiler".  There is some truth to it, the problem is when you bring out the broiler pan to clean it you let smoke out bringing the pan from the broiler to the sink and release a lot of smoke.  Calorics tended to burn everything, so you used the smokeless broiler if you wanted the meat well done.

 

[Jsneaker]

Gas Dryers are the BEST!

We've had four gas dryers in the house since we moved-in in 1962. None of them ever(even the 1954 Caloric)burned or yellowed the laundry. Electricity is so damn expensive here in suburban NYC, that you can dry 3 loads using gas, for the cost of just one electrically dried. Also, the dryer is not "gas-powered", it is gas heated! The main reasons any dryer would yellow laundry is if a cheapo detergent is used(A&H, Dynamo, Fab, Xtra, Sun, etc.), too much is used, or not enough is used. The gas dryers also dry faster!

 

[Jsneaker]

Has anyone ever noticed...

If anyone has ever been out looking to purchase a brand-new house, what I have noticed for years is weird! My sister's house in an Atlanta suburb, for example, had been set to have every appliance/heat/water heat with gas, EXCEPT the dryer! it cost them 200.00 to add the gas line from the garage to the laundry room when building the house. My family never regretted the slight extra expense! Several of my friends' and family's new houses away from NYC area have the same, stupid arrangement!

 

[yogitunes]

before we bought new....we looked at several homes.......and the areas that offered gas, did have strange arrangements.......

one had 2 water heaters....one gas and one electric

2. a gas dryer, but an electric stove

3. gas water heater, oil fired heating, electric stove and dryer

in the home we got, gas water heat, gas furnace, gas fireplace, both hookups gas and electric for the stove and dryer....your choice for what was preferred......oddly enough, a dual-fuel stove was installed, top burners and broiler are gas, oven is electric/convection

you do wonder what are they thinking when building these homes....

 

[launderess]

Oil Heating & Gas Water Heater

Actually with some variations is becoming common for multi and single family homes. It depends upon how one wishes to have hot water during the warmer months of the year when the boilers aren't required for producing heat.

Depending upon several variables it may work out cheaper to shut down the boilers and just have hot water supplied by a stand alone heater.

 

[foraloysius]

"oddly enough, a dual-fuel stove was installed"

That is the most common stove overhere. Full gas stoves and full electric ones are not as common as the dual fuel ones.

 

[launderess]

Yes, Dual Fuel Ranges Are Very Common

Many prefer the ease of use and quick control of flame that comes with using gas burners, but also like electric ovens especially when combined with convection. The result? Dual fuel ranges.

In many homes on this side of the pond the above isn't much of an issue as ovens and burners are separate units thus solves the problem. Well provided the kitchen has the proper electrical connections.

 

[fordtech]

Been using gas since the 70s. Used electric before that. I hated having to change out those electric coils every so often. The gas dryers have been completely maintenance free for me (all Maytags) and only replaced to match new washers.

Im thinking most of those folks who had gas smelling clothes either had natural gas with a leak in the gas valve or clogged venting (lucky they didnt blow up) or they were using stinky propane.

We have loved our gas dryers for the gentle drying action all these years and the economy which pays for the machine itself in a relative few years.

Down here in Oklahoma our electricity is made with natural gas fired power generation so you pay for gas no matter how you cut it.

 

[qualin]

Gas it is!

OK, you guys and gals have sold me.

I'm considering gas then. Apparently, the lead time on the dryer is six weeks! Guess I better order it now so that I can get it in January.

At least that gives a pipefitter lots of time to come in to put in the hook up.

Thanks for the input everyone, I highly appreciate it.

I'm a little perplexed as to why, since there is a gas line practically running right above the washer and dryer, the builder never put in a hookup, but they did put in an electrical outlet. :-/

Oh well.. Now, converting our electric stove to a gas one will be a huge uphill battle, but that's for another thread. (FYI, Our house wasn't designed for it and it would be illegal to put one in.)

 

[iheartmaytag]

It's a preference.

We have electric.  Not to say we have always been electric.  Way back when my Mom had a Norge gas dryer.  She complained of the gas smell, the browning of the clothes, and --long drying times.

 

Though she has admitted in her later years that that dryer may have been inproperly, or ineffectively vented; she will not allow a gas dryer (period)  I do think an electric dryer is more forgiving with stupid things like piling clothes around the machine and irregular duct maintenance.

 

As for burning with electric, I feel it comes more to design than the fuel.  With our former GE dryer with the heater built into the back of the drum you had to be careful that items had room to tumble, and never use dryer sheets.  With the Whirlpool sourced and Maytag machines the electric heater is below the drum and ducted to the back so there is less chance of direct contact with the elements in back and less scorching.

 

 

[norgeway]

Propane!

My Mom had a propane dryer for many years after our 52 Westinghouse bit the dust.It was a Whirlpool, and it certainly did NOT yellow anything, or make anything smell burned, we loved it!