Ok, I’ve always used an electric dryer and while it gets the job done, it takes over twice as long to dry a load as it takes to wash one.
I’m buying a new washer / dryer pair, and I’m now faced with the decision of whether to go with a gas dryer. The gas dryer costs $50 more, plus it needs another $30 of connections and vent pipe. Also, it will cost me another $35 to have it hooked up.
Is it worth the additional hundred bucks? Please post advice this weekend as I’ll probably be making the purchase soon. Thanks in advance.
My dryer never gets the clothes dry as fast as the washer runs its cycle. I don’t think switching to gas will make a difference. My choice has always been to buy a gas dryer. I think they are cheaper to operate.
I opted for the gas dryer and have never looked back.
Here in Las Vegas where the electric bill has shot up 300% (seriously!) in the last few years, I am REAL glad I have a gas dryer.
However, I don’t believe I have ever read anything that said one version is better than the other, although I never researched much except the price of running the machine.
I’ve always heard that you will recoup the extra expense of the gas hook-ups in a couple of months.
Check the energy ratings on the machines, then check the prices you’re being charged per cubic foot of gas or kilowatt hour of electricity. Look on your electric bill and see whether you are currently getting a discount for having a dryer. If you are, your electric rate will go up for all your other appliances and lights after your usage drops and they figure out you no longer have an electric dryer. On the other hand, it is likely that the dryer “discount” is more than offset by the amount of juice the dryer soaks up. You might want to see whether there is a consumer advocacy group near you that has already worked out the cost-benefit ratio for utilities in your area.
Here is a typical pro-gas site that does not appear to be connected to the gas business.
I like my gas dryer. It doesn’t dry a load in less time than a washer load, though. I like my clothesline, too. But yeah, a gas dryer does save us some cash.
This sounds way low. You know that it has to vented outside. Like a furnace. You need a flue. A six-eight inch hole through the wall, or possiby the roof.
Every house in the US has 220 or close to it available while a gas connection from the street in not always available and some areas have no natural gas lines at all.
While it is more likely that you would have the appropriate 220 electrical outlet, it’s not an absolute. Sorry, “or close to it” is not satisfactory. If you happen to move to a house without natural gas service, you could add an LP tank and still make your gas dryer operational.
That’s right. My gas dryer only has the exhaust, and we used the same one that it used when we had an electric dryer. I prefer gas, only because it’s so much cheaper to run than electric. YMMV, of course.
