How long does your dryer take?

[Kitty 34]

.....to dry a normal load of clothes?? Mine seems to be taking forever lately so that's why I'm wondering!

 

[Poohbear123]

Heating Element might need replacing. Mine takes about 30 min for about 5-10 items.

 

[Sonya]

I load my washer full, my dryer takes forever, about 80 minutes. It's old.

 

[SuiteDisney]

Mine has always taken about 90 minutes for an extra-large load.

 

[helenabear]

It usually takes about 45-60 minutes for a larger load. It just depends on the type of clothing. I do also use a lower heat so it takes longer.

 

[cgcw]

I was just wondering about this myself. It seems lately it's taking longer and longer for a load of clothes to dry - especially jeans. I just did a load of them last night and it took a good hour to dry. And, I turned the setting up to cotton so I thought it would speed things up a bit.

How often does a heating element need to be changed? Does anyone know? Maybe this is my problem. Our dryer just turned 8 (same age as my oldest DS -- we bought it when he was a baby to keep up with all that extra laundry!!).

 

[doxdogy]

We had the same problem with our dryer about a month ago. After taken off the exhaust that leads to outside and making sure that was clean, DH accidentally figured out the problem. The slab that the dryer sits on in the garage is higher then the floor in the garage. Well, when he pulled it off of the slab and set it on the floor, that was a bunch of lint on the floor underneath the dryer. He cleaned it up and cleaned the bottom of the dryer off too. Ever since, it has been working great.

 

[Boots]

About 90 minutes, but my dryer is at least 25 years old. It is a Maytag and the only one I have ever had that was brand new.

 

[Bunchkin]

The vent hosing may need to be replaced as it may be filled with lint.
Just recently ours was drying slowly and my DH replaced the flex hosing as it was packed with lint. And our dryer is just a little over 4 yrs old.

I'd check that out first as it costs little to replace.

 

[ltldeb]

About an hour for a hefty load of laundry.

 

[catsrule]

Just got a new dryer a couple of weeks ago. It takes 60 minutes for a full load. Our old one took 70 minutes for a full load.

 

[Kitty 34]

I just timed mine and it took 1 hr, 20 minutes!! Compared to a lot of your times you posted......mine seems a bit long!!!

My DH just changed that hose in the back today but that obviously didn't help. How do you change a heating element??


Gosh Boots.......that's a pretty old dryer you have there. This is our 3rd dryer in that amount of time!

 

[dandave]

I timed it, too. All in the name of Dis scientific research, of course.

It took exactly 47 minutes on LOW heat for a super load- 16 various adult shirts and shorts.

A dryer works much better and faster if it is directly against an exterior wall with a straight metal tube for ventillation.
At our old house, we had an interior laundry closet. It took absolutely forever to dry clothes. The vent tubing had to travel underneath the entire family room before it reached the exterior wall. Clothes just did not want to get dry.

 

[Kitty 34]

DanDave, you just described exactly where my dryer is!! In the interior closet in the center of our house!!! That could explain part of it, I'm sure!!!

Hey, tho, it's NO fair you are washing and drying shorts.......here in Michigan it's still jeans and sweaters!!!!

 

[dandave]

It is hot here, Kitty. I got sunburned this weekend. I guess what I'm saving in dryer bills is going to pay for the AC.

The dryer on the exterior wall really does make a huge difference. We're building a house now, and that was one of my priorities. The realtor kind of thought I was nuts, but I don't ever want an interior dryer again.

 

[Pebblszzz]

Ok, I got so excited about my reply that I didn't read what everybody posted - so forgive me if somebody already said this.

A few years ago, my granny bought a new dryer, because she figured the old one was taking too long to dry clothes. She bought the exact same model I had just purchased. Her clothes still took too long (way longer than mine), so we knew it wasn't the dryer. We were befuddled.

Come to find out, her dryer vent is in the middle of her house, going straight up out the roof. It had been built 20 years prior, and had never been cleaned out professionally.

Now that she's had it cleaned out professionally, we wonder how long that old dryer would have lasted????

in other words, her house vent was her problem. Not her dryer. I'd check the vent hose in the back, too....

 

[Wishing on a star]

I agree, it could be a venting problem! (If your dryer is getting hot, it is probably not a heat element problem.) Our dryer is interior, with the vent pipe traveling maybe 12 feet under the house to the exterior. Our dryer does take longer! Also, with this type of venting, remember, replacing that vent hose behind the dryer does nothing to clear out the rest of the venting that leads outside.... DH has to crawl under the house for ours. Uggghhh!!!

 

[emmagata]

Originally posted by Kitty 34
I just timed mine and it took 1 hr, 20 minutes!! Compared to a lot of your times you posted......mine seems a bit long!!!

My DH just changed that hose in the back today but that obviously didn't help. How do you change a heating element??


Gosh Boots.......that's a pretty old dryer you have there. This is our 3rd dryer in that amount of time!

Electric dryers have two heating elements. One is used for low heat settings and both are used together for high heat settings.

Most likely one the one that is used for high heat settings is burned out and the dyer is basically drying on the low heat setting.

I replaced the one on our previous dryer.

If you're husband is not comfortable working on electrical appliances, by all means call a professional.

The job is not hard for someone with moderate mechanical skills and knows to disconnect an appliance from the outlet before working on it.