Electric Dryers versus Gas Dryers :The Comparison

Okay, I’ve gotten some reader feedback about what appliances you want me to review and write guides for. So, by popular demand here is a guide to Gas and Electric dryers.

Gas and Electric Dryer Myths1: I’ve heard that _________ dryers work better than _________ dryers because _________ dryers can ___________ and __________ dryers can’t. Is this true?

I don’t know what you filled the blanks with, but I’m fairly confident the answer is no. You may have friends who prefer one type over the other because they say they’ve had both and one dried their clothes faster, kept their clothes softer, or any number of other things. They’re probably right. But, the reason isn’t because of the power source their dryer got its energy from; it was due to the quality of the brand and model. Perhaps they bought a really good gas dryer and then bought an electric dryer a few years later of lesser quality. This factor easily accounts for the differences between performances of one type of dryer over another.

2: Gas Dryers are more expensive than electric dryers.

This one is absolutely true. To buy a gas dryer comparable to a similar electric dryer model you’re going to spend $50 to $100 more depending on the brand, and initial price point of the gas dryer.

3: Electric dryers cost more to run than Gas Dryers.

Once again, the myths are true. Electric dryers do cost slightly more to operate than gas dryers. The typical family washing 8 to 15 loads of laundry per week will spend approximately $100 to $250 more per year washing the same amount of laundry in an electric dryer compared to using a gas dryer.

Gas and Electric Dryer Comparison

Remember, gas and electric dryers provide the same performance. It all comes down to unit price, installation, and operation costs. As I mentioned earlier, you’re going to be paying a little bit more for gas dryers than for electric dryers. What I didn’t say, and probably more important, is that you’re going to pay between $100 and $200 dollars to install your gas dryer if you’re home isn’t already set up to run one.

However, for the time being, gas dryers can still save you money in the long run. (I say that because energy prices these days are more volatile now than they have been in the recent past, shifts in natural gas or energy demand, as well as energy supply disruptions can skew my assessment.) A typical family of 4 will easily save enough on their energy bill to cover higher costs associated with buying and installing gas dryers, however, at an estimated average savings of $10 to $15 a month, this won’t happen for a year and a half to two years.

Ahh, electric dryers are starting to look a little better now despite their price huh? There is one other factor to consider besides cost, gas itself. Gas is a very explosive substance, and though very rare, homes have exploded or caught on fire due to sometimes hard to detect gas leaks. You’ll need to take a little more care and precaution with a gas dryer than an electric dryer.

Final Analysis
There isn’t much of a difference between gas and electric dryers, when considered over the long term Gas dryers will save you some money, unless you’re an investor, in which case I suggest you buy an electric dryer, put the $50 - $100 in a large cap, low risk stock and take a 10% average yearly return on your money. (Even at $50 bucks for 40 years that’s still $2200 bucks!)

The best way to decide if a gas or an electric dryer is right for you is to do the following:

1: Check your home for gas line hookups; if your laundry room is already set up to work with gas dryers, you’ll probably want to buy a gas dryer.
2: Read my reviews, if you don’t find a gas dryer with features you need and want at a price you can live with start searching through electric dryers. Remember, the difference in cost between gas and electric dryers over the course of two years is $0.