Old Westy Gas Dryer
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Why does he think it's gas? Was it a 120 volt model or wired for that? The first Westinghouse gas dryer I ever saw was a straight front model paired with the Easy-made top loader. They were coin-op machines at a motel in Florida in the Summer of 1963.
syndets2000
Well-known member
there were ....
...no gas dryers that I know of from this era , or this design- period- not until the 60's the sellers are mistaken....
...no gas dryers that I know of from this era , or this design- period- not until the 60's the sellers are mistaken....
I have seen old magazine ads for a 120 volt WH "plug in" model in the early 50s for homes without any 220 volt circuits or to be able to have a dryer without having the expense of putting in a circuit for it. That must be what this is.
Never mind that in that case, there were probably two lighting circuits in the house and the dryer would blow a fuse anyway if the refrigerator came on or someone turned on the TV.
Gas, my ass.
Never mind that in that case, there were probably two lighting circuits in the house and the dryer would blow a fuse anyway if the refrigerator came on or someone turned on the TV.
Gas, my ass.
3beltwesty
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The electrical code changed roughly about 1947 so it required new houses to have two hots; ie what was called then 220 or 230 volt service; before WW2 many houses only had 110 volt service.
The Westy 1947 dryer my dad bought new was for 110 volt service only, its total heat output was like a hair dryer. We had this thing the whole time we grew up. Many an expert repair guy would say they all were both 110/220 volts; then they would pop the hood on ours and eat crow. My dad bought this dryer in early 1947 when a sibling was born, maybe it really was a 1946 model. The apartment he lived in only had 110 volts. Maybe westinghouse just made ready to go 120 volt models a tad cheaper in selling price? Going to a laundromat with a gas dryer was like star trek compared to using a 120 volt dryer that is in the 1300 to 1400 watt range.
MOST westys were made for both 240 and 120 volt inputs. The ac motor and timer is 120 volts; the coil was for 240 volts. One just wired it up at the lugs if one wanted to use it one 120 volts. My 1976 westy dryer is like this too.
As a crude data point; I think westinghouse gas dryers started in the mid 1960's or earlier, a neighbor already had one at a town where we moved to in 1965.
The Westy 1947 dryer my dad bought new was for 110 volt service only, its total heat output was like a hair dryer. We had this thing the whole time we grew up. Many an expert repair guy would say they all were both 110/220 volts; then they would pop the hood on ours and eat crow. My dad bought this dryer in early 1947 when a sibling was born, maybe it really was a 1946 model. The apartment he lived in only had 110 volts. Maybe westinghouse just made ready to go 120 volt models a tad cheaper in selling price? Going to a laundromat with a gas dryer was like star trek compared to using a 120 volt dryer that is in the 1300 to 1400 watt range.
MOST westys were made for both 240 and 120 volt inputs. The ac motor and timer is 120 volts; the coil was for 240 volts. One just wired it up at the lugs if one wanted to use it one 120 volts. My 1976 westy dryer is like this too.
As a crude data point; I think westinghouse gas dryers started in the mid 1960's or earlier, a neighbor already had one at a town where we moved to in 1965.
3beltwesty
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1952 GAS DRYER
HAMILTON
HAMILTON
GAS DRYERS
WH introduced thier first gas models with the move to 27" wide laundry machines across the line in 1964. GE introduced gas dryers in 1965 and called them Premier instead GE but they looked like GEs and matched the GE washers, Frigidare had a full line of gas dryers with the 1961 models.
I believe that these three laundry manufacturers were the last to add gas dryers to thier full line up, does anyone else know of any I forgot?.
WH introduced thier first gas models with the move to 27" wide laundry machines across the line in 1964. GE introduced gas dryers in 1965 and called them Premier instead GE but they looked like GEs and matched the GE washers, Frigidare had a full line of gas dryers with the 1961 models.
I believe that these three laundry manufacturers were the last to add gas dryers to thier full line up, does anyone else know of any I forgot?.
John, when did Hotpoint introduce gas dryers?
syndets2000
Well-known member
I meant to say...
...that there were no WESTINGHOUSE gas dryers of that design till the 60's ...golly, my plate is full of crow sorry
...that there were no WESTINGHOUSE gas dryers of that design till the 60's ...golly, my plate is full of crow sorry
HP GAS DRYERS
Good question Bob and I am not entirely sure. I know that they had them in the older 1960s wide cabinet models before the went the the GE style 27" dryers across the board. And they both had the 8 cubic foot models in the 1970s.
Good question Bob and I am not entirely sure. I know that they had them in the older 1960s wide cabinet models before the went the the GE style 27" dryers across the board. And they both had the 8 cubic foot models in the 1970s.
jeb
Well-known member
Westinghouse Dryers
According to my Westinghouse literature " In 1948 Westinghouse introduced its first electric dryer, model D-1". also " In 1950 Westinghouse-Mansfield developed a gas dryer. It was the first with electronic ignition and flame control. This dryer was never produced for sale." JEB
According to my Westinghouse literature " In 1948 Westinghouse introduced its first electric dryer, model D-1". also " In 1950 Westinghouse-Mansfield developed a gas dryer. It was the first with electronic ignition and flame control. This dryer was never produced for sale." JEB
syndets2000
Well-known member
never produced...
...I am wondering what the design of it looked like- would the heat get blown in through the dryer, or would it get sucked out
( Am I making sense? )
...I am wondering what the design of it looked like- would the heat get blown in through the dryer, or would it get sucked out
GAS DRYERS WITH ELECTRIC IGNATION
Both the 1949 WP & KM gas dryers came only with electric ignition on thier gas dryers.
Both the 1949 WP & KM gas dryers came only with electric ignition on thier gas dryers.
neptunebob
Well-known member
You would think Westinghouse would have come out with a gas dryer because Equitable Gas was a company started by George Westinghouse himself.
Appnut
according to the Book a Walk Through the Park the first Hotpoint Gas Dryer was produced in 1964...PAT COFFEY
according to the Book a Walk Through the Park the first Hotpoint Gas Dryer was produced in 1964...PAT COFFEY
cornutt
Well-known member
"Maybe westinghouse just made ready to go 120 volt models a tad cheaper in selling price? "
I can't imagine that it was much cheaper to manufacture. The only thing I can think of is that there was some code reason; such as, there may have been cities that would not permit dual-voltage dryers to be installed in older apartment buildings lest they overload the building wiring.
I can't imagine that it was much cheaper to manufacture. The only thing I can think of is that there was some code reason; such as, there may have been cities that would not permit dual-voltage dryers to be installed in older apartment buildings lest they overload the building wiring.
arbilab
Well-known member
You have to think like Westinghouse back then, and earlier. The only reason they made appliances in the first place was to spread consumption of electricity. Their REAL business, and the last of theirs to die when they lost control of themselves in the 90s, was generation and distribution apparatus. Think of it as building vacation destinations because you owned an airline. OK, skewed analogy. But the more stuff they could make electricity do, the more generation and distribution machinery they could sell. That was the REALLY expensive stuff. It still is today. The electric supply is the most heavily capitalized industry in the world.
3beltwesty
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RE "I can't imagine that it was much cheaper to manufacture. The only thing I can think of is that there was some code reason; such as, there may have been cities that would not permit dual-voltage dryers to be installed in older apartment buildings lest they overload the building wiring. "
My dad lived in Decatur AL when he bought our families first Westy dryer in 1947; a 120 volt only version. He lived in a pre WW2 apartment that was I think something like 20 years old. My take is that some folks just wanted a dryer that was ready to go and already with a prewired 120 volt cord. It *might* be too that our Westinghouse was just a New Old Stock 1946/45 dryer that was sold to clear the pipeline of older designs. Here our first house that had an actual 240 volt service was one we built in 1952.
A mid 1920 electrical book on designing house and farm wiring has one with THREE 110 Volt circuits; one is for the kitchen. Electrical cost was 10 cents per KWHR then; about 10 to 20 plus times compared to today considering inflation. Bulbs for lights were a massive 40 watt single bulb in the dining room to impress friends; with a 25 watt bulb in the kitchen and 15 bulbs in the bedrooms; and 7 1/2 watt bulb for a porch light to great folks.
240 volts was not the norm in houses until well after WW2. It was not even required in new construction until 1947. It was not until another 10 years that the average house had 240 volts. A dinky tiny house I once rented in the late 1970's one summer was built in the 1940's and had no 240 volt entrance/service. It had a single 120 volt leg, 120 volt meter, fuses. Its dryer was a 240 volt unit wired for 120 volts.
Most apartments and houses in early 1947 when my dad bought his first dryer were not 240 volt service; they had 120 volts service only.
The topic is like pondering why somebody bought just a 14,400 modem, they lived 4 miles from the central office and just bought a 14400 unit. If they paid 200 extra for a 28.8 k unit; they BBS speed would not be any faster. Here my first USR 28.8 modem cost 280 dollars at Tiger Direct and it was no faster than the 14.4 unit due to line conditions. Today one might ask why did you not buy the upward compatible model
My dad lived in Decatur AL when he bought our families first Westy dryer in 1947; a 120 volt only version. He lived in a pre WW2 apartment that was I think something like 20 years old. My take is that some folks just wanted a dryer that was ready to go and already with a prewired 120 volt cord. It *might* be too that our Westinghouse was just a New Old Stock 1946/45 dryer that was sold to clear the pipeline of older designs. Here our first house that had an actual 240 volt service was one we built in 1952.
A mid 1920 electrical book on designing house and farm wiring has one with THREE 110 Volt circuits; one is for the kitchen. Electrical cost was 10 cents per KWHR then; about 10 to 20 plus times compared to today considering inflation. Bulbs for lights were a massive 40 watt single bulb in the dining room to impress friends; with a 25 watt bulb in the kitchen and 15 bulbs in the bedrooms; and 7 1/2 watt bulb for a porch light to great folks.
240 volts was not the norm in houses until well after WW2. It was not even required in new construction until 1947. It was not until another 10 years that the average house had 240 volts. A dinky tiny house I once rented in the late 1970's one summer was built in the 1940's and had no 240 volt entrance/service. It had a single 120 volt leg, 120 volt meter, fuses. Its dryer was a 240 volt unit wired for 120 volts.
Most apartments and houses in early 1947 when my dad bought his first dryer were not 240 volt service; they had 120 volts service only.
The topic is like pondering why somebody bought just a 14,400 modem, they lived 4 miles from the central office and just bought a 14400 unit. If they paid 200 extra for a 28.8 k unit; they BBS speed would not be any faster. Here my first USR 28.8 modem cost 280 dollars at Tiger Direct and it was no faster than the 14.4 unit due to line conditions. Today one might ask why did you not buy the upward compatible model
3beltwesty
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RE "... dual-voltage dryers to be installed in older apartment buildings lest they overload the building wiring. "
A dual voltage dryer cannot overload a circuit. A dual voltage dryer has a 240 volt coil and 120 volt motor and timer. *IF* one has 240 volt service; the unit has the coil run on the full 240 volts. If one has just 120 yolts; the coil runs on 120 volts and only puts out 1/4 the heat.
An apartment that has a 240 volt dryer socket for a dryer HAS to be sized for a 240 volt dryer's wattage. If it is not it is a code problem; ie Goober paid off the code guys.
The problem is today most all folks have 240 volts, high speed internet thus one thinks that in prior times a consumer device should have been built in 19XX year and made too be usable 10 years later once one lives in a different house with upgraded utilities. The current house we built in 1971 has a 200 amp 240 volt service; all the other houses around us just got the bare minimums ie 100 amp.
A dual voltage dryer cannot overload a circuit. A dual voltage dryer has a 240 volt coil and 120 volt motor and timer. *IF* one has 240 volt service; the unit has the coil run on the full 240 volts. If one has just 120 yolts; the coil runs on 120 volts and only puts out 1/4 the heat.
An apartment that has a 240 volt dryer socket for a dryer HAS to be sized for a 240 volt dryer's wattage. If it is not it is a code problem; ie Goober paid off the code guys.
The problem is today most all folks have 240 volts, high speed internet thus one thinks that in prior times a consumer device should have been built in 19XX year and made too be usable 10 years later once one lives in a different house with upgraded utilities. The current house we built in 1971 has a 200 amp 240 volt service; all the other houses around us just got the bare minimums ie 100 amp.
