A completely dead dryer is a two-answer fault: a fifteen-dollar thermal fuse showing the same symptom as a $478 control board, with the diagnosis rather than the part deciding which number arrives on the invoice. Most of the bill on a dryer is access labour rather than parts — the diagnostic alone runs $80–$130 [S1], and the cheapest item on the list sits at $273–$368 installed [S2]. The complaint — the dryer will not turn on at all — narrows to a handful of causes, and whether the machine has to come apart separates them. It arrives in these words: the dryer will not turn on at all, the drum does not move and there are no lights, it clicks once and then nothing happens, the start button does nothing or it worked yesterday and now it is dead. Start with blown thermal fuse — $273–$368 installed, about 45 minutes [S2].
What a technician actually does
blown thermal fuse [S2]
high likelihood moderate $273–$368 installed about 45 minn=29 completed jobs [S1]
the dryer will not turn on at all it worked yesterday and now it is dead
The classic cause of a dryer that is completely dead, and the clearest example on this site of why a part price is not a repair price: the fuse is a $15-45 part, and the invoice is $327 because the cabinet has to be opened to reach it. The source states the principle in one line - most dryer components sit behind the front or rear panel, so a $20 fuse requires the same disassembly time as an expensive part. A fuse that has blown is also a symptom rather than a fault in itself, which is why the vent run and the airflow behind it are worth checking before the new fuse goes in.
the second source gives the fuse-and-thermostat pair as a $130-240 installed band and states that the parts cost $15-45 with almost all of the price being access labour; the first source's completed jobs put a thermal fuse at a $327 typical invoice with the middle half of jobs between $273 and $368, so the band claimed here is the one with the larger sample behind it rather than the lower published figure
failed door switch [S1]
high likelihood moderate $276–$369 installed about 45 minn=40 completed jobs [S1]
the start button does nothing the drum does not move and there are no lights
The machine refuses to start because it cannot confirm that the door is shut, and the switch is the part that says so. This is the dryer's equivalent of the lid switch on a top-load washer: the controls behave, the light comes on, and pressing start does nothing at all. It is worth separating from the fuse before any part is ordered, because both produce a machine that will not run and they cost about the same to have replaced - a $321 door switch against a $327 thermal fuse in the same records.
no part-only price is published by either source; the $276-369 band is the middle half of the first source's completed door-switch jobs, with a $321 typical invoice across 40 repairs
failed cycling thermostat or temperature sensor [S1]
medium likelihood moderate $305–$404 installed about 45 minn=169 completed jobs [S1]
it clicks once and then nothing happens the dryer will not turn on at all
The second of the two safety components on the heat path, and the one with the larger sample behind it in the first source's records: 169 completed jobs at a $350 median. A thermostat that has failed open stops the machine starting a cycle at all on some models, while one that fails closed is the overheating case rather than the dead case. Because the fuse and the thermostat sit next to each other and are tested the same way, they are usually replaced as a pair once the cabinet is open.
the first source's completed thermostat jobs give a $350 typical invoice with the middle half between $305 and $404 across 169 repairs; the second source groups the thermostat with the thermal fuse in its $130-240 band, and the gap is the sample and the access rather than the part
failed control board [S1]
medium likelihood pro $300–$614 installed about 90 minn=71 completed jobs [S1]
the drum does not move and there are no lights the start button does nothing
The board decides whether anything runs, so a dead board and a blown fuse look identical from the front of the machine - and the board is the dearest routine repair in the first source's whole dryer dataset, at a $478 typical invoice across 71 jobs against $327 for the fuse that produces the same symptom. This is the point on the page where the diagnosis has to be made with a meter rather than from the symptom, because the two answers differ by about $150 and one of them is a fifteen-dollar part.
no part-only price is published; the $300-614 band is the middle half of the first source's completed control-board jobs, with a $478 typical invoice across 71 repairs, and the second source's own bracket for a motor or board job is $300-650 installed
failed drive motor [S1]
medium likelihood pro $334–$505 installed about 150 minn=55 completed jobs [S1]
the drum does not move and there are no lights it clicks once and then nothing happens
The last cause on the list and the one that is usually told apart from the belt by the same test the drum page uses: a motor that has failed electrically does not turn the drum with the belt removed. A click and then silence can be a motor that is trying to start and cannot, and a motor that is trying to start and cannot is a machine that should not be started again - the section on the drum page covers what a jam does to the parts around it. At a $394 typical invoice across 55 jobs this is the second-dearest item here, and the one where the age of the machine starts to matter.
the second source prices drive motors at $120-250 in parts landing around $320-520 installed; the first source's completed motor jobs give a $394 typical invoice with the middle half between $334 and $505 across 55 repairs
Repair or replace?
A dryer that will not turn on is one of the few faults where the diagnosis genuinely decides the price, because two of the causes cost about $320 and one costs $478. Rule out the cheap end first: the thermal fuse at $327 across 29 completed jobs and the door switch at $321 across 40 produce the identical symptom, and both are parts worth having replaced if either is confirmed. Only a meter separates them from a control board at $478, which is the dearest routine repair in the dataset and the point where a machine past its ten-year line starts to lose the argument. Against a basic new dryer at $550-800, every one of these repairs is inside half the replacement price on a machine with years left, so an older machine and a confirmed board rather than a confirmed fuse is where replacement wins. [S1]
- Typical completed repair: $343 [S1] — n=251 completed jobs
- Comparable new unit: $550–$1,400 [S1]
- Planning life used for the decision: 13 years
The arithmetic here is decided by which part the meter names, not by the size of the invoice. At the cheap end a $321 door switch and a $327 thermal fuse are comfortably inside half of the $550 a basic new dryer starts at, and on a machine under six years old the source's own advice is that nearly every repair on its list is worth doing. At the top of the list a $478 control board is still cheaper than a replacement, but it is the first figure on this page that gets close to it on a machine already past ten years - and the second source's line is that a repair above roughly $400 is hard to justify at that age. The one thing worth saying twice: the panel has to come off for a $20 fuse exactly as it does for a $478 board, so the diagnostic visit is what converts a guess into either number.
the second source's 2026 replacement prices are $550-800 for a basic electric dryer and $900-1,400 for a feature-rich one, and its own decision line is that on a machine past ten years a repair above roughly $400 is hard to justify; the 10-13 year planning range used across this site's dryer pages comes from the same publisher.
Run your own quote through the calculator — the same half-of-new-price rule with your numbers.
Quick answers
How much does it cost to fix a dryer with this problem?
Completed repairs run $343 according to the sources cited on this page, after a diagnostic fee of $80–$130.
How long does a dryer last?
The decision rule used on this page works from a planning life of 13 years.
Repair or replace?
A dryer that will not turn on is one of the few faults where the diagnosis genuinely decides the price, because two of the causes cost about $320 and one costs $478. Rule out the cheap end first: the thermal fuse at $327 across 29 completed jobs and the door switch at $321 across 40 produce the identical symptom, and both are parts worth having replaced if either is confirmed. Only a meter separates them from a control board at $478, which is the dearest routine repair in the dataset and the point where a machine past its ten-year line starts to lose the argument. Against a basic new dryer at $550-800, every one of these repairs is inside half the replacement price on a machine with years left, so an older machine and a confirmed board rather than a confirmed fuse is where replacement wins.