A dryer that tumbles but stays cold is the most common laundry call we get. It’s usually telling you one of two things. Either a part that makes heat has failed, or the dryer shut its own heat off because it was getting too hot. Figuring out which one saves you money, because fixing the part without fixing the reason it failed just means calling us again.
Check these first
The setting. Make sure it isn’t on air fluff or a no heat cycle. It sounds obvious, but it happens.
The breaker. Electric dryers run on a 240 volt circuit, which uses a double breaker. If one half of it trips, the drum can keep spinning while the heat stays off. Flip the dryer’s breaker fully off and back on. After a storm, check this before anything else. If we come out and the breaker turns out to be the problem, you don’t pay labor.
The lint screen and the vent. Clean the lint screen, then go outside while the dryer runs and feel the vent hood. You should feel strong, warm air. If it’s weak or nothing is coming out, the vent is clogged somewhere along the way.
The gas supply, for gas dryers. Make sure the gas valve behind the dryer is open. Past that, leave gas parts to a technician. The U.S. Fire Administration also recommends having a gas dryer inspected by a professional once a year.
Always unplug the dryer before you pull it out or reach behind it.
Why the vent matters so much
A clogged vent does more than slow drying. The hot, damp air has nowhere to go, the dryer overheats, and a safety part called the thermal fuse blows to shut the heat off. So the vent often causes the “no heat” problem even though the vent itself looks fine from inside the laundry room.
If that’s what happened, replacing the fuse alone won’t last. It will blow again until the vent is cleared. That’s why our technician checks the vent on every no heat call, instead of swapping the fuse and leaving.
We see this a lot in two story homes in places like Spring and Magnolia, where the laundry room is upstairs and the vent has a long way to run before it gets outside. The longer the run, the more places lint can collect.
There’s a safety side to this too. Lint is highly combustible. The U.S. Fire Administration estimates about 2,900 clothes dryer fires in homes every year, and the leading cause is failure to clean, behind 34 percent of them. It recommends replacing foil or plastic vent hose with rigid metal duct. If your vent run is damaged, crushed or made from the wrong material, we also install new dryer air ducts.
What it usually is
The heating element, on electric dryers. This is the coil that actually makes the heat, and it’s one of the parts we replace most often. Elements burn out with age, and they fail sooner when the dryer has been running hot because of a restricted vent.
The thermal fuse. As above, this is a safety part that blows when the dryer overheats. It’s cheap, but it’s a symptom. Something made the dryer overheat.
The thermostats. Dryers use thermostats to cycle the heat on and off and to cut it if things get too hot. When one fails, the heat can stop completely.
The igniter, flame sensor or gas valve coils, on gas dryers. These light and control the burner. If you hear the dryer try to light and then nothing, or it lights briefly and goes out, one of these is the likely reason.
The timer or control board. Less often, the part that tells the heat to come on is the one that failed.
Getting it fixed
If the checks above didn’t bring the heat back, a technician needs to test the parts. Most repairs are finished in a single visit. We run a full diagnostic, and if you go ahead with the repair, the service call fee is waived. Our current prices, including dryer air duct installation, are on the pricing page. When we replace or repair a part and complete the repair, parts are covered for 90 days and labor for 30 days.
Call (713) 333-0343 and tell us what the dryer is doing, and whether it’s electric or gas.
