Looks like a new dryer is in our future

I've always had an electric dryer. The one that just wore out is a 20 year old Kenmore. It is still going strong, but they no longer make the timer which controls the heater element. Otherwise I'd fix it. I've replaced the heater element a number of times but overall it has been a great dryer.

Now I'm considering a gas dryer, primarily because we have fee gas. Have any of you used gas dryers and could fill me in on pluses and mius of that choice for heating?

I'm also looking for recommendations for which brand and why. I do want a large capcity (7cu or bigger). Soo far I found that the Maytag Neptune and a GE model have that feature and appear to have decent consumer ratings.

What do you all think?

If you have free gas, then that is the way to go. Get the largest one that you can find and make sure that it has a "dryness" setting. The better models will dry till they are just slightly damp and can also be set for total drying. This is a nice feature since partial drying doesn't shrink the clothes. Can't comment on the brands, since they are all about the same to me. Besides ours is about 15 years old without any repairs, so I have no idea about what is out there now..... Junk.....

We have the Maytag Neptune washer and dryer...
Almost four years old, and they're great so far. All of the buttons and digital readout looked intimidating, but they're really easy to use.

(Just commenting on the brands, because our dryer is electric.)

AndyM said:

We have the Maytag Neptune washer and dryer...
Almost four years old,

Click to expand...

Me too.. but my set is 6 years old.. the washer cuts out between cycles and you have to push the start button to resume.. no problems w/ the dryer.

Digital read outs are fine when new, but with age they do get weak. Our microwave is 20+ years old and still works as well today as it did when new. The read out is faded on the numbers that are constantly used. The telephone has a digital read out for the caller ID. It is two years old and no longer readable, but the phone still works the same as new. The old dishwasher failed when the digital read out panel failed and the cost of repair was prohibitive. The new dishwasher doesn't have digital read out, but lights instead. Not all progress is progress in the long run. GM learned this when they had digital read out dash panels.... Now, I know of no auto manufacturer that has total digital read out dash panels. Most are analog and a little digital supplement