Dryer Parts

Demystifying the dryer

Most dryers are constructed with three simple parts—a tumbler, an air heater, and a vent—that aid your clothes and linens on their way from soggy to soft and fluffy. To save you the trouble—and probably a call to the repair shop—we'll take a basic dryer apart here to show how it works.

Functional fact: The first manually powered dryer was invented by a Frenchman in 1799.

Warming up

The first key player in your dryer's operation is its air heater. Air is sucked into the dryer through openings in the machine, then through the heater, which is composed of nichrome wire, at the back of the dryer tumbler. An alloy of chromium and nickel, nichrome wire is highly resistant and impervious to rust.

Functional fact: Your toaster uses the same type of nichrome wire heater found in dryers.

Rolling along

Once air has been sucked into and heated by the dryer, it's moved into the "workhorse" areas of the dryer: the tumbler. The tumbler is one of the two motor-driven parts of a dryer; actually just a gear itself, the tumbler works on a pulley system. The tumbler is wrapped with a belt; this belt is looped through two small pulleys below the tumbler that create tension—and, thus, movement. Meanwhile, the tumbler is supported by a flange at the back and pads at the front.

Functional fact: The U.S. government does not monitor the energy efficiency in dryers because nearly all dryers use the same amount of energy.

Heading out

The other motorized part in your dryer is its fan, which provides air in the dryer an escape route. After air has passed through the tumbler (and your clothes), it moves through holes in the dryer door, the lint screen at the base of the door, and a duct at the bottom front of the dryer to the fan. There, air is centrifugally forced out of the dryer through the exhaust vent.

Functional fact: Most dryers will automatically turn off if overheated.

Different types of dryers are generally different in terms of their heating mechanisms. We’ve looked at a typical electric dryer here, but there are a few variations.

Gas dryers. Gas dryers, as it would seem, heat air with a gas-fueled flame.

Condenser dryers. Condenser dryers are electric but lack vents; rather, a heat pump inside dries clothes by dehumidifying them.

Spin dryers. Neither gas nor electric, spin dryers move with centrifugal force alone, thus making them the most energy efficient dryer.

More information on dryers