Dryer Not Heating

Checks you can do safely before you call

If you smell gas, stop: don't light or start the appliance or work any switch or plug, leave the home and call your gas utility or 911 from outside.

1. Pick a heated cycle. No-heat settings such as Air Fluff or Air Dry run without heat, so choose a timed cycle on high before you decide the heat is gone.
2. Reset the dryer's breaker. An electric dryer sits on a double breaker. Swing open the panel door but keep the screwed-on metal cover behind it in place, then switch the dryer's breaker fully off and back on, touching only its handle. If it trips again, leave it off. Don't touch a panel that is wet, warm or smells burnt.
3. Clear the lint screen and look behind the dryer. Pull the plug or turn off the dryer's breaker first; a gas dryer has a plug too. Clean the screen, then check the duct behind the machine for a crush or kink. On a gas model, don't pull it so far out that the flexible gas connector is pulled tight or kinked, and slide it back in without crushing the duct.
4. Feel the exhaust. Restore power and start a timed high-heat cycle with a few damp towels. After several minutes, go outside and feel the air leaving the exhaust hood, but only where you can reach it standing on the ground. Clearly warm air means the dryer heats and the problem is drying time.
5. Leave the panels on. On a gas dryer, don't remove the burner access panel or touch the valve, the line or the connector. On an electric dryer, don't open the terminal block cover or the back panel, because both carry 240 volts. Testing past this point is technician work.

When to call a technician

• The breaker is on, the cycle calls for heat, and the air stays cold.
• The breaker trips once the heat comes on.
• A gas dryer heats briefly and then goes cold, load after load.
• The plug or cord shows scorch marks or feels hot.
• A heating error code returns after you clear it.

What happens at the diagnostic visit

With a meter, the technician traces the heat circuit: supply voltage at the terminal block, the element or igniter, the thermal cut-off, the high-limit and cycling thermostats, the thermal fuse, the thermistor on electronic models and, on gas models, the gas supply to the dryer, the flame sensor and the valve coils. Airflow gets checked as well, because a fuse that opened from overheating opens again if the duct stays blocked.

The diagnostic visit is $89 for a standard residential appliance and $129 for a built-in unit or commercial equipment; a premium brand on its own doesn't make an appliance built-in. You hear what failed and the price before any part is replaced. Our dryer repair page covers the gas and electric models we work on in homes around Los Angeles, and if the dryer heats but slowly, see dryer takes too long to dry.

Brand and model notes

• Whirlpool, Maytag and Amana: on Whirlpool-built electric dryers, which include current Maytag and Amana models, a thermal cut-off and a high-limit thermostat share the heater housing. If the cut-off opens, the drum keeps turning with no heat. The two parts are sold as a kit and tested together. See Whirlpool, Maytag and Amana.
• Samsung: on electric models the thermal fuse sits on the heater duct, so a blown one leaves the drum turning cold, and the display can show a heating error code. See Samsung.
• Kenmore: the model number's opening three digits name the maker: 110 for Whirlpool, 417 for Frigidaire or Electrolux, 796 for LG. That decides where the element, fuses and sensor sit. See Kenmore.
• GE: gas GE dryers use a glow-bar igniter, a flame sensor and coils on the gas valve, so how the igniter behaves tells the technician which part to check first. See GE.