Residential Clothes Dryers

Figure 5-32.—Door switch and override circuit. RESIDENTIAL CLOTHES DRYERS Automatic clothes dryers (fig. 5-34) have two primary advantages over the old clothesline process. First, the laundry drying job is much faster with the automatic dryer. The user does not spend as much time setting up the process and the actual drying operation takes less time. The other advantage of an automatic drying scheme is that it can be used at any time of the day, in any season of the year, and under any sort of weather conditions. Depending on the type of heat energy used, clothes dryers may be divided into two general classes—electric dryers and gas dryers. The source of heat in the electric dryer is obtained electrically by a heating element mounted in the dryer. A centrally located thermostat and timer control the heating Figure 5-34.—A typical residential dryer. element. In a gas dryer, the source of heat is derived from ignited gas, which is obtained by turning on the gas flow; however, a pilot light must first be burning in the combustion chamber. This pilot ignition is automatic; lighting takes place when a spark is created by turning a knob usually on the dryer control panel. All dryers, irrespective of heating methods used, are equipped with a forced-air blower to draw in fresh air, force it through a heating assembly, and then Figure 5-33.—Automatic washer installation. 5-30