Clothes dryer recommendations

[Terabith]

Our wonderful 22 year old dryer is currently not working. We’re going to try replacing the heating element, but if that’s not the issue, we are probably in the market for a new dryer.  Any recommendations for solid dryers that will last a long time?

[Indigo Blue]

Speed Queen 

[Terabith]

On 5/10/2024 at 2:28 PM, Indigo Blue said:

Speed Queen 

What makes them awesome?

[ScoutTN]

Nothing with electronic controls. Just a straight up, mechanical dial. Nothing much to break! YT has loads of how to fix your dryer videos! 
 

We have an ancient one we got off Craig’s List for $35, 14 years ago. Works fine. 

[Indigo Blue]

1 hour ago, Terabith said:

What makes them awesome?

What ScoutTN said. 😁

Nothing stellar about them. They just work. Commercial heavy duty. 

[Pawz4me]

Speed Queen claims their electronic controls are more reliable than their mechanical ones.

Quote

If you’re in the market for a new Speed Queen washer and dryer to tackle those laundry loads, the type of controls you choose—either electronic or mechanical—is important. If push-button technology raises your concerns that more can go wrong than with mechanical controls, don’t worry.  Our electronic controls are even more reliable than our mechanical controls and just as durable- that’s tough to beat.

But in what seems to me to be a bit of a bizarre contradiction, they offer a longer warranty on their washers/dryers with electronic controls.

Quote

You get a longer warranty. We’re so confident in our electronic control washers and dryers, we back them with an industry-leading 5 year warranty on parts and in-home labor. That’s 5 times longer than the industry average. Our mechanical timer models are backed with a 3 year warranty on parts and in-home labor, which is 3 times longer than industry average.

So . . who knows?

Late last year my dryer died. I decided to go with a basic model Whirlpool that was on sale at Lowes. The only feature I definitely wanted was the wrinkle shield/keep tumbling for a good while after the clothes are dry thing. It's got knobs, but I really don't know if it's truly mechanical or if there's a circuit board involved. I've had good luck with dryer longevity, so I didn't see any point in spending so much more for a SQ (but when my washer died a few months later I did get a SQ). 

[Frances]

On 5/10/2024 at 11:28 AM, Indigo Blue said:

Speed Queen 

I have one and would absolutely not recommend it. There is absolutely no drying sensor despite it saying it has one. I have to set the dryer for 30 minutes or regularly check it or it just runs for a full cycle, much much longer than needed. The lint trap is very poorly designed and you get lint build up in small spaces that needs to be cleaned out with a sharp object. I’m no engineer, but it seems like any tester using it even once should have seen that problem. Also, there’s no medium setting, just regular, permanent press, and delicate. 

I bought it sight unseen during the pandemic after thorough online research and have regretted it ever since.
 

Edited May 12 by Frances

[Indigo Blue]

On 5/10/2024 at 2:24 PM, Terabith said:

solid dryers that will last a long time?

Terabith, I hope you can repair your old one and get more use from it. If not, Speed Queen is what you want if you just want a solid dryer that lasts a long time, IMO. 
 

We live 30 minutes from town and Dh got tired of having to take laundry into town to be washed because our three year old machine was broken yet again. Then you have to decide to buy new or repair, and many times it’s not worth it to repair. Dealing with getting the delivery to actually happen when it’s supposed to and hoping to find something in stock… so annoying. As soon as we replace that, then the practically new refrigerator goes out. This has been us for years. Nothing lasts.
 

Some of the negatives about them may be true, but they are the most reliable out there right now. You can always use timed dry if auto sensing isn’t working. I’ve had no problems with the lint filter. There is no piece you have to pull out in order to remove lint. I just scrape one finger along the permanently attached screen, and lift the lint out in one scoop and discard. (Or save for fire starter, lol). 
 

Our old dryer had a very thin screen that ripped off the plastic frame and came apart, leaving a gap that created a fire hazard. The SQ lint screen is super thick and sturdy. It’s not going to get a hole or separate from the frame. 
 

After being so exasperated with everything else, I just wanted something reliable that washed and dried our clothes. 

Edited May 12 by Indigo Blue
Typo

[Elizabeth86]

15 hours ago, ScoutTN said:

Nothing with electronic controls. Just a straight up, mechanical dial. Nothing much to break! YT has loads of how to fix your dryer videos! 
 

We have an ancient one we got off Craig’s List for $35, 14 years ago. Works fine. 

This

[Carol in Cal.]

You know, dryers are fixable and tend to stay fixed, at least the older ones that are mechanical rather than electronic.  Sounds like you have one of those, so I would say, look online and see if you can find YouTube’s describing how to fix it, and then either DIY or hire a repair guy.

I do like my SQ dryer at the cabin.  But I also like our very old workhorse Whirlpool at home, which was used when we got it in the early to mid 1990s.  

What I hated was the new dryer we got in 2014, the one that didn’t actually tumble the clothes so much as roll them into a ball with the wettest part in the middle.  I did not think that they could mess up a dryer so bad.  That stupid dryer set permanent wrinkles into my cotton placemats that were so persistent that I couldn’t even soak and iron them out.  It was unbelievable.  The only thing that dryer dried well was towels, and it would take 3 or more cycles to finish them.  I still have it stuck in the cabin basement.  I hope to someday donate it to a school or daycare that only washes towels.  Really glad I wised up and bit the bullet and bought the Speed Queen even though the new dryer was not broken down or aged, something I have never done before.  

Edited May 12 by Carol in Cal.

[kathyl]

(The following is for electric dryers only.)

Our old one just broke Friday and dh said he couldn't fix it again.  I think he'd already replaced the heating element (?) in it several times over the past several years.  I'm guessing the element is defective and they just keep selling the same (defective) part to fix it, so it keeps failing over and over again.

We needed one immediately, so I looked on Consumer Reports and the first 3 lines were almost all LG dryers.  Dh took pics of the list and drove down to Home Depot to get one.  They didn't have the exact things, so he drove over to Lowes and they had a higher rated one from the list.  It was a display model so they gave him a good discount and he brought it home in our car and hooked it up.  He also switched the door so it opens on the right instead of the left because we have a tiny laundry room.  It took him longer to switch the door than to hook up the dryer.  

So far it seems OK.  I had kind of wanted a SQ dryer, but when I looked at the cost vs the one he got we decided not to get a SQ this time.  Maybe next time ...  or maybe not.  I just checked the ratings for the SQ dryers.  Two are 74, one is a 73, one is a 70, and one is a 57.  The highest rated dryers were in the upper 80s.  And the SQ cost a good bit more even though it's a much lower rating. 

The one rated 57 also said this:

 Lows

fair in drying.
Automatic dryness control failed to recognize already-dry loads and turn off dryer within 40 minutes.
Delicate temps higher than most.

Which kinda screams defective parts, IMO.

  

Edited May 12 by kathyl

[MercyA]

Love my Speed Queen dryer. *Hate* my Fisher-Paykel washer and can't wait for it to die so I can get an SQ washer too. 🙂 

[Terabith]

Well, my husband is pretty sure he can fix our old dryer.  The store was out of heating elements, so he has to wait for Monday for it to come in, and if that works, hopefully we can put this purchase off for a few years.  But this is helpful information.  I'm a bit puzzled that Consumer Reports disagrees with the hive on Speed Queens, but generally I trust the hive over other resources.

[Pawz4me]

8 hours ago, Terabith said:

Well, my husband is pretty sure he can fix our old dryer.  The store was out of heating elements, so he has to wait for Monday for it to come in, and if that works, hopefully we can put this purchase off for a few years.  But this is helpful information.  I'm a bit puzzled that Consumer Reports disagrees with the hive on Speed Queens, but generally I trust the hive over other resources.

I felt the same way when I was shopping for a new washer. The Hive loves SQ but I couldn't find any review site that recommended them. But I decided to go with the Hive. My take is that both are partially right. The Hive was right that they do seem to be very sturdy machines. I've only had mine for about six months, but I don't doubt that it will last a long time. It washes a load very quickly. But the review sites were also right--the SQ doesn't clean as well as the other washers I've had (and at my age I've been through several; maybe I've been stupendously lucky that they all cleaned very well). Now I can overcome that by using more stain removing products and washing items multiple times when needed. There are only three of us here and we don't have really dirty clothes, so it's not a huge deal for me. But . . they're both right, IMO and IME.

[MercyA]

On 5/12/2024 at 2:32 AM, Frances said:

I have one and would absolutely not recommend it. There is absolutely no drying sensor despite it saying it has one. I have to set the dryer for 30 minutes or regularly check it or it just runs for a full cycle, much much longer than needed. The lint trap is very poorly designed and you get lint build up in small spaces that needs to be cleaned out with a sharp object. I’m no engineer, but it seems like any tester using it even once should have seen that problem. Also, there’s no medium setting, just regular, permanent press, and delicate. 

I bought it sight unseen during the pandemic after thorough online research and have regretted it ever since.
 

I'm sorry, Frances! I do have a newer model. Maybe they've improved it.

I found that my SQ drying sensor does not work sometimes when I have mixed fabrics in a load. If I have cotton things and nylon things, and the nylon things dry faster, the sensor will act as if the load is all dry. 

[Carol in Cal.]

15 hours ago, Terabith said:

Well, my husband is pretty sure he can fix our old dryer.  The store was out of heating elements, so he has to wait for Monday for it to come in, and if that works, hopefully we can put this purchase off for a few years.  But this is helpful information.  I'm a bit puzzled that Consumer Reports disagrees with the hive on Speed Queens, but generally I trust the hive over other resources.

Consumer Reports has underestimated SQ forever.  I don’t know why, but it’s definitely a thing.

[TechWife]

23 hours ago, kathyl said:

(The following is for electric dryers only.)

Our old one just broke Friday and dh said he couldn't fix it again.  I think he'd already replaced the heating element (?) in it several times over the past several years.  I'm guessing the element is defective and they just keep selling the same (defective) part to fix it, so it keeps failing over and over again.

We needed one immediately, so I looked on Consumer Reports and the first 3 lines were almost all LG dryers.  Dh took pics of the list and drove down to Home Depot to get one.  They didn't have the exact things, so he drove over to Lowes and they had a higher rated one from the list.  It was a display model so they gave him a good discount and he brought it home in our car and hooked it up.  He also switched the door so it opens on the right instead of the left because we have a tiny laundry room.  It took him longer to switch the door than to hook up the dryer.  

So far it seems OK.  I had kind of wanted a SQ dryer, but when I looked at the cost vs the one he got we decided not to get a SQ this time.  Maybe next time ...  or maybe not.  I just checked the ratings for the SQ dryers.  Two are 74, one is a 73, one is a 70, and one is a 57.  The highest rated dryers were in the upper 80s.  And the SQ cost a good bit more even though it's a much lower rating. 

The one rated 57 also said this:

 Lows

fair in drying.
Automatic dryness control failed to recognize already-dry loads and turn off dryer within 40 minutes.
Delicate temps higher than most.

Which kinda screams defective parts, IMO.

  

Does it have it's own heat pump? My dh is convinced that's the way to go the next time we need a dryer. We replaced the washing machine last year. Our current dryer only dries on "timed drying," which is high. I don't know why, but we haven't cared to look into it. I'd like one that actually dried things on a medium heat, though.

 

[kathyl]

6 hours ago, TechWife said:

Does it have it's own heat pump? My dh is convinced that's the way to go the next time we need a dryer. We replaced the washing machine last year. Our current dryer only dries on "timed drying," which is high. I don't know why, but we haven't cared to look into it. I'd like one that actually dried things on a medium heat, though.

 

Not this one.  Dh was talking about getting one with the heat pump until he read up on them.  I also read some things about them and they didn't sound so great.