Replace Dryer Heating Element

Even though laundry may be your least favorite thing to do, being able to wash a load of clothes--or several loads of clothes and dry them in the comfort of your own home is a blessing and luxury like few others. In this article I will show you how to replace your dryer heating element.

Several months ago I started to notice that when I washed clothes and put them in the dryer they were not getting dry as quickly as they used to. Everything else about the dryer was the same. The only difference was that it was only blowing out cold air so a load of clothes was taking a long time to dry and had to be ran through the dryer several times to get results.

Since I was a little strapped for cash I could not immediately call a dryer repair person to come out to fix my dryer so I began to do some dryer troubleshooting. Surprisingly, I found my answer on a Facebook discussion board. I posted a question about my dryer and someone suggested that the dryer heating element probably needed to be replaced. They told me that this should be a simple appliance repair.

Since I was low on cash and the repair was something simple, I decided to do it myself. I continued to research information on dryer repair and everything kept pointing to my heating element being the problem. Feeling more confident now I made up my mind to try the repair on my own. A clothes dryer is so essential to a family of any size I knew I had to try.

Everything I read and everyone I talked to estimated that the part for my dryer would be around $50. At that time even $50 seemed like a lot but eventually I was able to get the money together and I was happy to find a place to purchase the dryer heating element I needed. I went to an appliance parts website and it instructed me to type in the serial number for my dryer. This site even instructed me on the exact place I needed to look to find the number. After locating the number I typed it into the website's database and found the one I needed. The cost was reasonable, less than $50 including shipping and handling.

Placing my order was easy and the part arrived to my home within 2 days. This worked out perfectly and the entire repair took me less than an hour to complete. Complete the following steps to replace your dryer heating element.

1. Purchase the correct heating element for the make and model of your dryer. My cost was less than $50 including shipping and handling.

2. Set aside some time to complete the repair without feeling rushed or getting interrupted several times. I did my dryer repair on my day off and got up early so I did not feel rushed. The whole process took less than an hour.

3. Unplug the dryer and pull it out so you can get to the back. Remove the back panel and be sure to collect all the screws so you can replace them correctly. Set the panel to the side.

4. Locate the heating element. Mine was in a silver casing in the back of my dryer. Look for something that looks like the appliance part you just purchased.

5. Remove the old heating element. Be sure to examine it closely and pay attention to the way it is hooked up. You will want to hook the new part up in the exact same way.

6. Once you have removed the old heating element, hook up the new one in the exact same way.

7. Put everything back in its place and screw the back panel back on. Put the dryer back in its place and you are done. Plug the dryer back in and you should be back in business, ready to dry several loads of clothes! If your dryer did not work after this repair then something else is wrong.

Do it yourself home appliance repair is possible and it can give you a great sense of accomplishment as well as save you money. I estimate that I saved myself around $100 doing this simple repair on my own.