The part that gets replaced is rarely the part that failed: on this fault the vent line and the heating element cost the same to fix, and the vent is the cause far more often. Most of the bill on a dryer is access labour rather than parts — the diagnostic alone runs $80–$130 [S1], and the cheapest common job on the list is no part needed [S1]. the clothes come out damp after a full cycle narrows to a handful of causes, and whether the machine has to come apart separates them. The complaint arrives as clothes come out damp after a full cycle, everything takes two or three cycles now, the dryer shuts off early with the load still wet, only the heavy items stay damp or the drum is warm but nothing dries. Start with blocked vent run, packed with lint — $350 installed, about 90 minutes [S1].
What a technician actually does
blocked vent run, packed with lint [S1]
high likelihood moderate $350 installed about 90 min
everything takes two or three cycles now clothes come out damp after a full cycle the drum is warm but nothing dries
The source's headline finding, and the reason this page exists: the vent is the cause far more often than the part that gets blamed for it. A dryer dries by moving heated air through the load, picking up the moisture and carrying that air out of the house, so a duct narrowed by months of lint removes nothing and the drum still gets hot. The free test takes five minutes and no tools: run the dryer, then go outside and hold a hand at the vent hood. Weak airflow, or a hood flap that is stuck shut with lint, answers the question before anyone arrives. Vents do not block overnight; drying time creeps up until people run a second cycle and stop registering it as a fault.
S1 publishes medians of completed jobs rather than part-only prices: clearing a blocked vent ran a $350 median across 43 jobs, and the source's point is that the visit and the labour dominate the price, not the part
failed heating element [S2]
medium likelihood advanced $220–$362 installed about 60 min
the drum is warm but nothing dries the dryer shuts off early with the load still wet
The part everybody suspects first, and the one the source's arithmetic is aimed at: clearing the blocked vent costs almost exactly what the element does, so a household that replaces the element without checking the duct pays the same money and keeps the fault. On an electric machine the tell is a drum that gets warm but never hot, or no heat at all; the element itself is inexpensive and the labour is what makes the job $220-360. Time basis: no published duration, book estimate.
S2 prices the element as an installed job at $220-360 with parts at $60-150; S1 puts the same repair at $362, which it uses as the comparison for a vent clearing at $350
failed thermal fuse or cycling thermostat [S2]
medium likelihood advanced $130–$240 installed about 45 min
the drum is warm but not hot clothes come out damp after a full cycle
The cheapest part on this page and the one that most often means something else is wrong. A thermal fuse is one-way: it opens once the machine has overheated, and it overheats because the airflow is restricted. Replacing a blown fuse without finding out why it blew is the most common way to pay twice for this symptom, so the source's rule applies here more than anywhere: read the fuse as a message about the vent, not as the fault.
S2 prices fuse and thermostat jobs as installed work at $130-240; it does not publish a part-only figure
gas igniter or valve coils not lighting the burner [S2]
medium likelihood pro $150–$350 installed about 60 min
the drum is warm but not hot clothes come out damp after a full cycle
Gas models fail differently from electric ones, and this is the piece that only exists on a gas machine: an igniter that glows without lighting the burner, or valve coils that quit once they are warm. It belongs in the professional column regardless of price, because the work is inside a gas appliance. The useful symptom split is the one the source uses: a drum that is warm but not hot can be either this or an electric element, and a drum that never warms at all is the element or the fuse.
S2 prices the repair at $150-350 installed and lists it under the gas-specific failures; no part-only figure is published
lint-packed or failed blower wheel [S1]
medium likelihood advanced $368 installed about 90 min
only the heavy items stay damp everything takes two or three cycles now
The blower is what actually moves the air, and a wheel whose fins are matted with lint moves less of it while sounding completely normal. A wheel that has lost fins does the same thing loudly. On the source's numbers this is the second airflow repair after the vent line itself, at a $368 median across 22 jobs, and it is invisible from the outside: the machine heats, the drum turns, and the load stays damp.
S1 prices a blower wheel replacement as a completed job at a $368 median across 22 jobs; no part-only figure is published
Repair or replace?
Do the free airflow checks first, in this order: the five-minute hood test, then the duct behind the machine, then the drum and the sensor behaviour. If the vent is clear and the fault stays, a part is worth replacing on any dryer under ten years old, because the airflow work and the element work cost about the same and the machine has years left. Past thirteen years, with a blower or a motor behind the failed part, replace it: the repair approaches the price of a new machine and the next fault is already queued. [S1]
- Typical completed repair: $350–$368 [S1]
- Comparable new unit: $550–$1,400 [S1]
- Planning life used for the decision: 13 years
- The comparison is not the part against the machine, it is the visit against the machine: a $350 airflow clearing and a $368 blower are both labour-dominated, and S2 prices new machines from $550 for a basic top-loader, so on an old dryer two visits decide it. That is why the free checks are worth an hour of your own time rather than a booking.
S1's replacement line works from a 10-13 year dryer life, and the source's professional judgement is that a machine at the top of that range with a second fault behind the first is where repair stops paying
Run your own quote through the calculator — the same half-of-new-price rule with your numbers.
Do this first (free)
crushed or kinked transition duct [S1]
high likelihood easy no part needed about 20 min
clothes come out damp after a full cycle the dryer shuts off early with the load still wet
The foil flex duct behind the machine is the part of the run people move and crush when the dryer is pushed back against the wall. A duct flattened at one point does what a lint-packed one does: it throttles the airflow while every part in the machine tests good. Straightening or shortening the run, and keeping the machine an inch further from the wall, costs nothing and is the one airflow fix a household can complete without pulling the duct out. Free.
moisture sensor reading a dry load, or an overloaded drum [S1]
medium likelihood easy no part needed about 15 min
the dryer shuts off early with the load still wet only the heavy items stay damp
The free cause behind a machine that stops with the load still wet: on sensor cycles the drum's metal strips read the moisture in what touches them, and a sheet wrapped around the sensor reads dry while the towels behind it are soaked. The source's own split is exactly this: everything taking two or three cycles is a vent closing down over months, while shutting off early on the first cycle with wet clothes is the sensor being fooled or the load packed too tightly to move. Redistribute the load and run it again before pricing anything.