Comments on: Gas versus Electric dryers

By: Jedd Sullivan

Jedd Sullivan — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 19:07:49 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to run the numbers and share this highly accessible analysis. By far the clearest and most useful I’ve seen on this question. Will try your spreadsheet with current local figures. So far it looks like we’re going with gas (house we’re moving into has both hook ups, would that all builders were thoughtful enough to provide both). Go well.

By: Deb from Colorado

Deb from Colorado — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:11:14 +0000

Thanks so much for the awesome info. ;o)
Glad you did all the work, I couldn’t think of what math operation I would/could use!!

By: bob

bob — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:11:21 +0000

sears sells electric because some houses dont have gas. some have gas, but not in the laundry room. some people rent to own appliances and lease their cars.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:50:24 +0000

In addition you can’t use a diverter with a gas dryer, it’s not safe.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:49:25 +0000

Cost depends a LOT on how difficult it is to run the line and local labor rates. Typically it’s not worth doing unless you are having other work done.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 00:47:10 +0000

The burner is closer to 95%, the “flue gas” is used to heat the clothes. Think of efficiency being closer to an unvented space heater. Also consider the 22k bTU gas burner produces more heat than the 5,600W heating element 5,600w x 3.41BTU per watt = 19,096 BTU.

By: Leo

Leo — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 02:28:55 +0000

Your calculations are misleading, a 5000 watt electric heating element does not put out 22,000 btu of heat. A gas dryer generates more heat, and will dry faster, and dry clothes quicker.

By: Darlene

Darlene — Thu, 19 May 2011 17:13:19 +0000

I have had my gas dryer 16 years and the dial finally went on it. Motor still goes. So I am sticking with gas. Great info!

By: Hepcat

Hepcat — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:24:30 +0000

Thanks for that. I’ve had my gas dryer for 10 years, so I guess it’s paid for itself plus some.

By: Travis Malek

Travis Malek — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 03:08:42 +0000

Thanks for the great spread sheet and site. I modified it a little to work with the random charges i get. I wish i would have found the spread sheet before i bought a washer/dryer- I bought a washer and electric dryer. However, since i did buy used units, i am planning on getting a gas dryer now that i see it’s cheaper. I never knew how much energy content was in a therm of gas or how to do the calcs.

I used a foolish line of reasoning- since all the appliances in my new house used nat. gas, a gas dryer would put me way over my baseline allowance(or tier 1 as you call it). I got my first partial gas bill(2 separate utilities here) and i did go over my baseline without a dryer. But the numbers don’t lie and the cost per load is still cheaper @ the higher tier on the spreadsheet; about half!

I think there is one thing you could add to the spread sheet and that is- what if your dryer dries in 1/2 hour or 45mins. I know how to figure this on my own but others might not know or think about it. just times the heating element kw rating by .5 or .75 etc. Same for therms.

By: David Filler

David Filler — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:42:43 +0000

Continuing this line of reasoning it seems that home owners always choose a gas furnace and hot water heater unless they are unable. For instance, many homes in rural areas have to run all electric appliances or have a liquid propane tank. So if it makes sense to heat or homes and our water with gas would it not follow that we should heat or clothes with gas. I think we would need to look at the entire value stream, that is, how much energy is expended in getting the natural gas to our homes versus the electricity. Does it make sense for the local power plant to use natural gas to generate electricy (with significant heat losses) then trasmit that to your home (also with significant losses) and then reconvert that back into heat in your dryer? There are energy losses associated with transmitting natural gas as well but it seems like it should be more efficient since there is not a conversion to and back from electricity that has to take place.

By: jim

jim — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 03:06:52 +0000

The dryer lifespan was taken from Consumer Reports’“repair or replace” articles that appear periodically.

You do make an excellent point about high-efficiency washers. Since going to one of these early last year, I’ve observed the drying time is significantly reduced because the washer has a high-speed spin. (This helps us get through laundry a lot faster!)

I have not reworked any of the numbers to account for this.

By: Karl

Karl — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 04:27:29 +0000

Excellent article. Just a few comments. You assume the lifespan of a dryer to be about 5 years regardless of usage. Granted it may die early, but if rather the lifespan is usage based not time based, it could still be beneficial for someone single to own. For those who have had to install a gas line and vent, what is the cost of that, and the time to recoup those costs? The other thing one should consider is the use of a high efficiency washer. Some of these now have spin cycles of up to 1400rpm almost twice the speed of older dryers. This will get the clothes very close to dry and further reduce the time in the dryer. This would further close the cost gaps in the time usage of the two dryers .

By: jim

jim — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 04:57:01 +0000

Thanks for letting me know the link to the spreadsheet was broken. It's fixed.Hope your situation works out for you.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 18:08:55 +0000

I cannot access your update or spreadsheet. We recently decided to go with electric because the sales guy STRONGLY recommended it because of the price of gas. I wanted to compare for myself. I wish I had found this before we took his advice so we could’ve made a fact-based decision.

By: Lurker

Lurker — Sun, 31 Oct 2010 18:51:45 +0000

What a very informative breakdown. My neighbor was looking at his electric meter (the one the power companies install) His 220V dryer was pulling 5.5kwh while on – He ended up installing a gas dryer to save a few dollars.
Go with gas, just make sure it’s exhausted outside.

J. Mann December 2nd, 2009 at 11:29 – the exhaust (CNG, burns clean) goes directly into your clothes and then out the vent. Take one apart, it’s nothing like a Forced air furnace.

By: Nick H

Nick H — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 18:04:38 +0000

Its the same rule of thumb as every other economic relationship.

If there was an obvious advantage, then everyone would be doing it one way.

If owning a car was always cheaper than leasing, nobody would lease.

If gas was always cheaper than electric, Sears would never sell and electric dryer.

But yet they do, so it just comes down to personal needs/preferences.

By: Nick

Nick — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 23:48:16 +0000

Jim, that is absolutely the only article I have ever read that actually shows me the difference between gas and electric for a clothes dryer in Seattle. Thank you so much! I can sleep now. After I have a gas line installed of course.

By: Heath

Heath — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:21:30 +0000

I live in northern Ohio and am currently trying to decide if I want to use either an electric or gas dryer. Your analysis has actually convinced me to use electric. There are several filters that can be used to divert the (partial, or whole)heat and humidity back into the home. It is my guess that with even a 25% redirect of this otherwise lost heat, the dryers would break even. Being single, my gas dryer pay off, with the diverter use, would likely be 10+ years. Even if the dryer did last that long, it would be substantially longer before the savings would amount to anything. Thank you for the time you put into this.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Fri, 07 May 2010 17:53:45 +0000

I have a gas dryer that I love so much that I took it with me when we moved out of our old house. The energy savings were great(I lived in Las Vegas so in the summer we need every break on our electric bill we can muster) plus it dries clothes twice as fast & as a new mom every second counts. Alas, now I’m moving into a new house and there is only hook-ups for an electric dryer. The house has a gas water heater so I know there is gas in the house. Does anyone know how much it will cost to run a gas line for my dryer?

By: SHEDERE

SHEDERE — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:09:49 +0000

I am looking into buying a new dryer. How much propane does it take to run a load of laundry. I would say 80% of my laundry is dried on delicate 10% on perm press and 10% heat.

By: j mann

j mann — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:29:09 +0000

Keep in mind that a gas dryer’s transfer of heat from combustion to dryer is probably around 80% efficient (like a modern non-condensing furnace). (I have not, however, ever seen this listed) Resistive heat (electric), while more expensive, always transfers energy with 100% efficiency (because there is no exhaust). So in a 22,000 BTU gas dryer, probably 4400 BTU goes out the exhaust.

By: Mela

Mela — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 21:31:48 +0000

I have a gas dryer and I am moving to an apartment complex where they do not use gas appliances. Can I convert my dryer? If so would it be worth it? My dryer is about 3 yrs old.

By: jim

jim — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:55:40 +0000

@Mary – in theory you can if you have the old components. Generally it’s not cost effective to convert it back. (You also want to consider the condition of the dryer – will it last long enough to offset the costs?)

By: jim

jim — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:54:24 +0000

Dave, I would figure on about $1/foot for the gas line (that may be low), installed by a plumber, typically. Next, figure out your savings over the estimated lifetime of the dryer. It becomes more expensive if you have to increase the size of the gas line from the street to accommodate multiple items (hot water heater, dryer, oven, house heater).