New Clothes Dryer Shopping Tips, Features, & Things You Should Know
(A Service Technician's Guide to Buying a New Clothes Dryer)
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Dryer Features (What the heck is that for?)
Clothes Dryer Capacity
Don't get hung out to dry on dryer capacity! Dryer capacity is not a huge issue. Most dryer capacities are described as extra large capacity, super capacity, or even super plus capacity, I guess "small" is not a sales friendly term. Any normal capacity dryer will be able to handle everything you can serve it from the largest capacity washer on the market. The only difference a large dryer capacity makes is a slight improvement in dying times. Because fabric releases the most moisture during it's fall time in the dryer drum... bigger dryer drum = more fall time = faster drying, realistically the difference is almost to small to measure.
To Steam or Not to Steam...
Steam is the new buzz word in dryers and appliances in general. In fact LG and Whirlpool have even grappled in court over steam dryer advertising terms. The sales pitch is this... Steam can be used in dryers to soften fabrics and reduce wrinkling and also because steam can reach much higher temperatures and have a sanitizing effect. (If Generated in a boiler) When it comes to dryers lets think about this for a moment... Water evaporating = steam... So what dryer is not a steam dryer? Honestly it seems like a waist of money to me but if you want the newest and best go for it. If you have a steam dryer and have noticed a real difference beyond perceived benefits please let me know.
Electronic vs. Mechanical Dryer Controls
Electronic dryer controls are necessary for the use of high end moisture and temperature sensors. These controls also commonly have built in self diagnostic modes that can be helpful for dryer troubleshooting and repair. However, dryer control boards tend to be very expensive to replace should they fail. Mechanical dryer cycle timers are also costly to replace but are slightly less likely to fail and in some cases can be opened and repaired. While there are some efficiency and fabric care benefits to highly accurate moisture and temperature sensitivity, I generally advise people to stick with the mechanical style of dryer timer if possible.
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Automatic vs. Electronic Moisture Sensors
Dryer moisture sensing options have real benefits and significant functional differences. Most dryers have a "more dry" "less dry" option but there are two main ways that dryers sense moisture levels and use this information, "automatic dry" and "electronic dry". An automatic dryer sensor uses the normal cycling of the dryer's heat source to advance the dryer's cycle time. When the dryer is actively heating the drum the timer advances and when the heat source is cycled off to cool down thecycle time stalls. Because the presence of moisture in the dryer will slow the dryer's cycling process this effect is used to approximately control the proper cycle time for fabrics in the dryer to reach a desired dryness level. As you might imagine the accuracy and results are average. The other method is "electronic dry" which is sold under a few different names. Electronic dry uses two long strips of metal located somewhere inside the dryer drum to detect moisture in the fabric being dried. Heres how it works... Depending on your desired moisture setting the control has a number in it's little computer brain, and the control will try to count down from that number to zero, for example "more dry" might be 80 while "less dry" is 30. Water is a pretty good conductor of electricity, so whenever clothing containing moisture bridges the gap between the dryer's two sensing strips the count down is reset. (very low voltages) If the clothing contains little or no moisture then it can bridge the gap of the strips as it passes but the counter is not reset. When zero is reached the cycle ends. This is a very accurate form of automatic cycle adjustment and is usually well worth the money in fabric care and drying efficiency.
Finish Guard
The finish guard dryer feature has been marketed under many different names, like "extended tumble" and "press saver". Basically if your like me you don't run to the dryer the moment the cycle is finished so wrinkles tend to set into the clothing. This feature will tumble the fabric in the dryer every few minutes after the cycle is over to move them around in the dryer drum and save you some ironing time. I highly recommend this feature! It comes standard on most all dryers but if the one your looking at does not have something like this you should strongly consider this inexpensive dryer option.
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