When you’re moving out and found out that your new home only has a gas line connection, you might want to convert your electric dryer to gas. Naturally, you will have this question: can you convert an electric dryer to gas? Or when the experiment goes awry, can you convert it back.
The answer is yes, you can.
But the details are below, along with the pros and cons of each type and whether it is recommended. You’ll know what’s more effective and efficient for you, whether to convert it or not.
How Gas Dryers Work
Before discussing the conversion of the dryer, you should know how these two types of dryer work. We’ll talk about gas dryers first.
Just like the name, a gas dryer works with gas energy to generate heat. This statement doesn’t mean that you don’t need electricity at all to run gas dryers. The gas dryer still needs electricity to run generally, such as turning on the lights and turning the drum. The difference from an electric dryer is gas dryer uses a gas burner to do the actual drying, be it natural gas or propane.
Both gas and electric ones need to vent outside to expel the hot and moist air. The air is filled with lint and mildew, which also generates lots of dust particles. This condition could form mold in your laundry room and make it difficult for you to breathe.
To use gas dryers, you need help from a technician to do the installation. You can do self-installation for a cheaper option and saving costs. But if you wish to do the building yourself, make sure that you use the right tools and follow the exact directions.
Gas dryers pros
Gas dryers generally run on 110 volts, making them have a lower need for electricity than electric ones. With this narrative in mind, using a gas dryer is more cost-effective. Especially for the long run, as you’re saving more in the dryer’s operation. The price of natural gas is typically also lower than that of electricity. Depending on your rate, you can expect to pay about 32-41 cents per load dried in an electric dryer.
This observation can also be a factor to decide if your household doesn’t have high electricity. You can allocate the electricity for other electronic devices in your home. But the cost and electricity may differ on the area you’re living. In general, the cents per load is lower for gas, especially natural gas.
And if you’re using propane gas, it costs higher than natural gas. Dryers fueled by propane usually dry clothes faster than electric dryers. This means they will use less fuel and cost less in the long run. You can also convert your gas or oil-fueled dryer to propane if you prefer that type of fuel. In some products, propane’s cost may not be that different than an electric dryer. To lower the price, you can fill a large tank when using propane gas.
Gas dryers are generally drying better than electric ones, as they’re running hotter. This trait will reduce your drying time and the overall cost in the long run. Because if you’re drying faster, you save the usage age of the dryer along with the electricity.
Gas dryers cons
Aside from the pros, the gas dryer also has some cons. First, gas dryers are more expensive to buy. You need to spend about $50 to $100 more on buying gas dryers. The cost will get higher if you’re spending on installation costs.
So you’ll spend more money upfront for using a gas dryer. But you can make up for this in the long run, which we mentioned before. You’re saving more in operation, as a makeup for the high-cost upfront.
In terms of safety, a gas dryer has a higher risk of fire as it contains monoxide. To avoid it, you need to install the gas dryer properly and get help from experts. It may cost you higher, but it’s better for the sake of your family’s safety for the risk of gas leaks.
You also need to maintain the dryer well and make sure that you’re cleaning everything. Gas dryers also need to be vented outside your home. Breathing in toxic particles from a gas dryer can cause some severe health problems.
A gas leak can end up causing a big explosion if not found and stopped. Carbon monoxide is a deadly gas that is odorless and colorless. Be sure to install a CO detector in your home, office, etc.
Using gas dryers with natural gas may give your white clothes a yellow or even brown shading. This inconvenience might be a concern if you have many white garments. You may want to keep your whites away from the dryer and dry them with your washing machine. Or maybe under the sunrays.
How Electric Dryers Work
If gas dryers use a gas burner, electric dryers use a heating coil for forming heat. It needs the fuel to heat the coils, which electricity generates. Electric dryer runs on 240 volts, but you can use the portable or compact ones for lower electricity. The portable and compact electric dryers run on 110 volts only.
In electric dryers, the power of electricity causes a build-up of electron particles which causes the air within the dryer to become scorching hot. This heated air is then propelled into the dryer drum by a fan or blower.
Just like gas dryers, electric dryers also need to be vented outside. But the electric dryer has a ventless type, which means that you don’t need to vent it out. And as you may already guess, this type comes with a higher price.
Electric dryers pros
As mentioned above, the gas dryer is more expensive to buy. It means that electric models are cheaper to buy. This fact can decide if you need to replace a gas dryer with an electric dryer. Or if your new home didn’t have a gas line and you’re too bothered to do a conversion, so you choose to buy a new electric dryer instead.
Moreover, electric dryers have more variants, such as ventless type and portable type. This variety will give you more choices to fit your house condition. Especially if you’re living in an apartment, the ventless electric dryers could be a good option.
An electric dryer is also easier to install than a gas dryer. You need to plug it into 240 volts power outlet, and you’re ready to go. The installation is much more straightforward than gas, and you don’t need many tools to do so.
And if you go for a clean result, an electric dryer is the answer. Electric dryers work cleaner that won’t make your white clothes yellow. This dryer may also be a safer option for your family as the fire risk is lower than a gas dryer.
People are using gas dryers in both residential and commercial settings. They expel waste products from the burnt gas, but in an apartment setting, electric models are preferable.
Electric dryers cons
The 240 volts electricity is a high-power supply, which is twice the strength of the usual household. This property could be a downvote factor to use electric dryers because it’ll relate to the overall operation power. This means you’ll spend more cost on this.
Another downside is electric dryer has more computerized controls that are difficult to repair, which translates to when you break the part, you need to buy a brand new component. Moreover, the circuits of the electric dryer are challenging to repair and might be expensive to replace.
Converting Gas to Electric
While converting your gas dryer from natural gas to propane can be done with the support of available kits, converting gas dryer to electric is different. It could be tricky for you to convert your gas dryer to electricity. If you want your clothes dryer to work more efficiently, transforming it from natural gas to propane is a significant first step.
Converting a dryer from gas to electricity requires a 240-volt circuit, which is a single phase. From there, you can change the controls, heating elements, and other parts that vary with each conversion.
Getting a kit for converting LP gas to natural gas can be done through your Authorized Parts Distributor. It is essential to get the correct equipment for your gas dryer model, or you may end up with some serious issues.
As explained above, a gas dryer works differently from an electric one. They’re also powered by different energy, which makes them complicated to convert. Moreover, there are no available kits on the market to make the conversion easy.
But it can be done if you’re asking.
What you need
To convert a gas dryer, you need a higher power supply at first. It runs on 240 volts, so we need the electricity that can cover them.
Then you need to replace all components of the natural gas dryer to replace them with electric elements. Change the controls, heating assembly, sensors, and other components required. And the most important thing, you need an expert to do that properly.
Is it recommended?
Well, no.
Aside from how complicated the conversion is, it is also not cost-effective. You need more cost to convert your dryer than buy a brand new one. You need to buy all of the elements to make your gas dryer electric, and they’re not cheap.
Moreover, you also need to spend money on conversion costs. Yes, you can convert it by yourself. But you might need more time, and the result is not well guaranteed. Trial and error may even cost you more in the future.
Converting Electric to Gas
How you need to convert gas dryer to electric, you may need to convert your electric dryer to gas, especially when you’re moving to a house that didn’t have a high power supply, as we know that electric one needs higher volts. Or the house only has a gas line that will support your dryer, so an electric dryer is not an option.
But like converting into electricity, transforming into a gas dryer is also pretty tricky and complicated. Underlying systems are different, anyway. Well, you can still do it too if you want.
What do you need?
First, you need to buy the relevant parts. Such as heating elements, drive motor, timer, control board, drum lamp, and many others. Then you need to connect the dryer to a gas line, as it’ll change the energy source.
To do this, please get help from experts. Call the plumber to connect your dryer to a gas line and a technician to do the installation. Mainly you’re dealing with a gas line here, so there’s a high risk of fire.
Is it recommended?
Same as above, it’s not recommended, even by the experts.
From the cost efficiency and safety view, it’ll be better for you to buy a new gas dryer instead. Replacing your dryer is considered a better option than converting it. You can sell your electric dryer and get a gas dryer. Or maybe you can do a good deed by donating it as a charity.
I suppose this may be just a way for the manufacturer to cut costs and use the same parts for gas & electric models. But if that were the case, then the price would be much higher than just buying an electric dryer in the first place.
