Whirlpool 27 Inch Dryers

[Chetlaham]

How well do Whirlpool's 27 inch front filter dryers work compared to their 29 inch top filter models? Do they dry faster, slower, or about the same?

 

How well are they built compared to their 29 inch counter parts? Are their 27 inch commercial models built different than their 27 inch residential models?

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.pcrichard.com/whirlpool...MIhZTK-8CniwMVZjQIBR1aRCrhEAQYAiABEgJuc_D_BwE

 

[maytag85]

Since I have experience with the Maytag SOH dryers which this particular design is a copy of, they are slower with smaller loads since the air stream has a tendency to go right through. The Whirlpool 29” design is fast with smaller loads since the counter clockwise rotation forces items towards the exhaust outlet while the suction of the exhaust outlet pulls items towards it.

 

[qsd-dan]

I'd look for a 1995 and older Whirlpool/Kenmore/Kitchenaid dryer if you want one. Their newer dryers are NOT holding up well!

 

[Chetlaham]

Sean, I've noticed that when I curiously ran the dryer with the door open. Items are tumbled toward the exhaust and even briefly sucked over the opening before being pulled away. The 29 inch design seems to outperform every dryer ever made. Which is a huge victory considering how simple the 29 in design is.

 

 

Dan, is that just the 27 inch or the 29 inch also giving rise to trouble? The 29 inch is Whirlpool's bread and butter.

 

[qsd-dan]

From repairmen on other sites, it's the 29" units that are failing, sometimes right out of the box. The newest ones are having strange heating element failures in just a year which was uncharacteristic of these machines in the past. This is probably a supplier issue more than a design issue. Cheap plastic timer stalks have been breaking for quite sometimes now. Whirlpool is cheapening the hell out of these machines and it's showing. Get an older one and be on the lookout for an NOS timer on Ebay.

https://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?75906

 

[Chetlaham]

The 27 inch machines appear to have metal timer stalks and rugged heaters- but thats just going by parts stock pictures which may not reflect recent changes. I hope the current 27 inch commercial lineup is that of the Kenmores of the 90s.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

Whirlpool dryers

I think their 29 inch dryers sound more powerful compared to their 27 DOTT dryers. As a side note, I made a call to Speed Queen and suggested that they'd start branching out into dishwashers for the kitchen.[this post was last edited: 2/3/2025-21:28]

 

[maytag85]

Since I’ve been using Maytag HOH’s exclusively since 2019/2020 (have brief experience with my Whirlpool Imperial dryer, but is currently out of service at the moment), no real complaints about them since everything comes out to the dryness selected. Loads of laundry regardless of size in a Maytag HOH are always in the air stream.

 

[ddfan92]

Does anyone know...

If they made 27 inch dryers circa 2006? Would like to find one to match my new machine.

 

[Chetlaham]

They did, I know Kenmore had 27 inch front filter dryers in the 90s. Possibly the second best dryers ever built.

 

[maytag85]

I remember trying to put the belt back on a Whirlpool 27” dryer years ago, was a royal pain from what I remember.

While the Whirlpool 27” dryers have their advantages, don’t dry things in filtered incoming air like some of the Maytag HOH’s. Recently added this air intake filter to mine, things do smell cleaner since items are dried in filtered air.

 

[ddfan92]

chetlaham & Sean

The one we have now is a 27" Lady Kenmore from 1988. My parents are wanting to find a matching dryer to this 2006 Whirlpool direct drive we just put in. I know I've seen some 27 inchers in the slightly older silver panel models from circa 04-05.

Sean, you said that filter goes in the intake? Is that a fire promoter? (not fire hazard, that would be a hazard to the fire, har har--for those who know where that line is from)

 

[mark_wpduet]

I'm trying to remember exactly when I bought my 29" Whirlpool dryer. I'm thinking it was summer of 2019... MAYBE summer of 2018... it was definitely one or the other...Either way, it's over 5 years old and hasn't given me a bit of trouble. KNOCK on wood. I do notice when I turn the dial I'm CAREFUL...not that that helps... I will say this, although they are the same design for decades, it does feel cheaper... but I was expecting that because everything is cheaper.. but it doesn't feel like it's gonna fall apart .. not that kinda cheap.

 

[combo52]

Whirlpool designed and built 27 inch wide dryers

These were introduced around 1988, whirlpool's of course still supplying all the laundry appliances for Sears and seers ask whirlpool to come up with a dryer that was narrower so that they didn't lose sales to GE Frigidaire and other makers that had smaller dryers, the other design concern is they wanted to dryer that could be vented in all four directions down back right or left both gas and electric Nobody else had that at the time.

Whirlpool has produced many variations of this dryer when they started selling front loading machines they matched the 27 inch dryer to the front loading machines.

This has been an excellent dryer mechanically and performance wise since the beginning, another important criteria of the trier was to get the heating element further from The clothing for greater safety, these 27 inch dryers have four rollers under the drum to support it as a result. You almost never see a bad roller on a 27 inch dryer because of the even support. The 27 inch dryer was not copied from anyone else, some people think it looks similar to a May type, but Maytag uses poor quality slides at the front ride directly on a painted drum. They use plastic blower, housings, and plastic in our doors, it's not the same dryer at all.

GE usually still puts their heating element behind the drum a much more dangerous design. They also use a cheap little plastic bearing in the center of the heating element, great design and a plastic support at the front of the drum, which is the biggest service issue on GE dryers to this day.

As far as durability of the new 29 inch dryers yes the timer that has a plastic shaft has had some problems generally in life some things get better some things get worse, note the plastic shaft is not breaking. It's just a different time or design and they generally suffer contact problems inside the timer has nothing to do with turning the timer too fast or hard.

I have seen no reports of heating element problems being any more frequent on 29 inch dryers or any other problems for that matter. It's still one of the simplest and best performing dryers for the money.

John L

 

[Chetlaham]

Best Performing Dryer

I'll go on a limb and say they best performing dryer ever is Whirlpool's 29 inch top filter design. I don't think anything drys faster or better.

 

[maytag85]

Reply #11

The filter is on the rear panel, not fire prone since the heating element is located at the very front of the machine. The older ‘58 to ‘64 Maytag HOH’s came with an intake filter. Here’s one from the archives.

 

[combo52]

Putting a filter over the rear intake air

Is something that would never be done today because it could certainly present a fire hazard if it wasn't kept clean and the fact that they put it inside the rear panel that you couldn't even see it made it a particularly bad idea where you have to remove 14 screws to even see it.

It's easy to see why this idea did not last long, if they had wanted to do such a thing it should've been on the outside of the machine where it could've been at least easily observed and cleaned even then because it's on the back, it was not an idea that was ever going to last.

John L

 

[gelaundry4ever]

whirlpool 27 inch dryers

I think the closest would be the Maytag 575 series in the lineup.

 

[lorainfurniture]

The 27” dott dryers on paper are the better dryer in my opinion. When I’m out doing service calls I love the 27” model because I don’t have to move the dryer at all for service. Everything is front access. It also always fits on delivery. Overall I think it’s a better built dryer.

The 29” is renowned for its simplicity. Like John said, the timer shafts are plastic, but they rarely break. It’s the contacts that give the trouble.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

Whirlpool DOTT Dryers

Are they still being made?

 

[DADoES]

 
Jerome, yes, every day that the factories are running.

 

[Chetlaham]

What does DOTT stand for?

 

[lorainfurniture]

Dryer of tomorrow today I believe

 

[panasonicvac]

Having used both before, it appears from my experience that the 29" models dry better. Can't say reliability wise between the two but I have a Estate dryer that was bought back in 2014 I believe and it's been holding up really well so far without any problems. In my opinion it's the second best dryer I've ever used by far, Speed Queen being the first by a slight edge due to the lint trap design. But for the money, I'd rather buy a Whirlpool over a SQ as their dryers are pricey. I do have a quick question, what would the matching dryer pair with my Kenmore 90 Series 110.20922990 washer? When my grandparents were around, they had the matching dryer (at least I believe it was a 90 Series) but I can't remember if it was a 27" or a 29". It got replaced a long time ago with a Frigidaire that had a yellow panel and then it got replaced with that Estate I've later inherited. My sister had a Kenmore 70 Series and it was a 29".

 

[Chetlaham]

Dryer Of Tomorrow Today

I have to admit, it was a unique thing for Whirlpool to pull off when they already had a good dryer. Any idea on the capacity of the 27 inch dryer vs 29? I am torn between trying on out a 27 vs staying with my 29 inch Maytag. 

 

 

Personally I think the 29 inch top filter dryer and the Whirlpool Power Clean filter module are not only Whirlpool's ultimate magnum opuses, but one the greatest contributions ever seen in the appliance industry if not electrotechnoloy. Remarkably simple in compared to any platform, yet outperform anything built before or after by leaps and bounds.   

 

[maytag85]

Reply #23

Most of the Kenmore 80 and 90 series machines were paired up with the 29” top filter dryers, though some were paired up with the 27” models. Never liked the location of lint filter with the hamper door on the 27” models, kind of awkward and tricky to clean.

While the 27” models are easier to service, still aren’t all that good to the 29” design which has proved itself many times over since 1966.

 

[qsd-dan]

"Any idea on the capacity of the 27"

27" capacity seems to vary between 6.7, 7.0, and 7.4 cubic feet, I guess it depends on the model. Even the 29 inchers have slightly different capacities.

If you think the 29 inchers are the bees knees, stick with it. If you want a new toy to play with, get a used 27" and experiment away. Determine which machine you want to keep and sell the other.

 

[neptunebob]

Dryer of Tomorrow, Today...

Sounds like it should be on the Disney Carousel of Progress, if Chet does his GE transplant with the control panel.

 

[henene4]

Weren't there even the extra large TL matching dryers with 8+ cuft by Maytag and/or Whirlpool?

Those certainly were front filter, but I can't say if these were 27" or 29" wide.

I imagine one of the main reason the top filter dryers were kept 29" even when machines went to 27" is drying performance.
With the airflow being back to back, you want the 2 openings to be a decent bit apart.
With a 27" design, you'd have a much deeper drum for the same volume.

Of course it allows for stuff like at will stacking etc.

I also think there is much more to take into account.
Many WP dryers only have one heater so one heating power and just cycle that.
Others have 2 heater sections allowing for 3 heating powers plus temp selection which adds a lot of laundry care options.

 

[DADoES]

 
The models with a capillary thermostat, I believe in most instances had a cam on the control that was notched at the marked positions of high, medium, low, and ex low for discrete temperatures .... it otherwise would be fully variable between the minimum and maximum, like a refrigerator or window air conditioner.

There was a revision for a short time, probably during the DD era, that had a thermistor instead of a capillary thermostat.  I've never used one of those.  Melvin has one I saw when visiting.