Thread Number: 7954
Which Dryer has the BEST Airflow? 		[Down to Last]

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Post# 152971   9/7/2006 at 09:32 (6,434 days old) by mrb627 (Buford, GA)        

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In looking at different dryer manufacturers, it appears the the range of airflow from one to the other can be quite large. So, which dryer has the highest airflow?

MRB




Post# 153006 , Reply# 1   9/7/2006 at 12:05 (6,433 days old) by coldspot66 (Plymouth, Mass)        

Don't know the cfm's of a Whirlpool style 29" dryer, but the horseshoe shaped airflow pattern dries clothes quickly nonetheless. Of all conventional US made dryers, Whirlpool 29" is the best IMHO, assuming good clean venting.

Post# 153008 , Reply# 2   9/7/2006 at 12:13 (6,433 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Airflow amount in domestic dryers without perforated drums is limited by the strength of the suction the dryer can have without sucking & holding fabrics against the exhaust perforations located on either the front or back bulkhead of the drum. Airflow pattern is what makes a dryer fast and efficient and for most loads, the WP 29 inch dryer design with the heated air inlet high on the left side of the rear bulkhead, the clothes tumbling counter clockwise into the stream of hot air, and the exhaust perforations located lower on the right side of the rear bulkhead, puts more items in a small or medium size load in both the incoming and exhaust air streams than a direct axial rear to front air pattern because small loads or lightweight items tend to tend to ride close to the drum walls instead of falling down through a central back to front axial airflow. Larger loads can benefit from an axial airflow pattern because the central stream is diffused more by all of the items and it can be better about drying items at the front of the drum that are sometimes left damp when a super large load is dried in a dryer with the inlet and exhaust on the rear bulkhead like the WP 29 inch dryer. Another benefit of this design is that the clothes are lifted to the exhaust grill in such a way that things like grains of sand are lifted to the grill and sucked out of the drum. If grains of sand stay in a dryer drum where the edge of the drum that meets the felt seals is the same diameter as the drum, the grains of sand wear out the seals faster. WP drums have a raised lip where the drum meets the seal to avoid this problem.

Maytag's modified axial airflow in the post HOH dryers is not bad because it has the benefits of both types, but in the flat bulkhead, items stuck at the back of the drum in a large load can be scorched or damaged by the hot metal at the heated air inlet. That is why the WP design has the bulge in the back bulkhead just before the air inlet. It helps keep the items back there from coming in contact with the hot metal of the inlet grill as they tumble past. To further protect items that might get stuck at the back of a large load, even though the clothes repeatedly get exposed to the hot incoming air, they are also passing the exhaust perforations and having cooler, moister air pulled through them. Maytag modified their lint filter to have holes in the top by the handle as well as the perforations in the front bulkhead for the exhaust grill. If something lightweight tumbled past the grill and was sucked against it, the airflow was not severely diminished because air was also pulled into the filter through the holes under the handle. It weakened the suction enough that other items could tumble past and move the stuck item from the perforations on the front bulkhead.

Post# 153091 , Reply# 3   9/7/2006 at 19:17 (6,433 days old) by nmaineman36 ()        
Dryer airflow

 I do agree that the 29 inch Whirlpool is the best. It uses energy and airflow very efficently. It is my fastest dryer by far. That horseshoe Equaflow pattern moves air at 150 cfms. The smaller inlet hole drives the air to the front of the dryer. The clothes tumble into it and then the air is moved thru the entire drum to the exhaust intake where the clothes once again get exposed to the airflow. This design pulls the moisture out very well. Have you ever opened a Maytag dryer and get a burst of steam...dont get that in a Whirlpool.
The Maytag it seems to me has a tight airflow and the clothes have to ride into the air stream. I find that it more like hit or miss type of drying. And its not fast. you would think that with 220 cfms moving thru the Maytag that it would be fast.
The GE dryer that I have is a 7.0 cu ft dryer and I love the drum vanes in it. They are I would say cup shaped and never have a tangled load or balled up load of sheets in that dryer. The back of the drum if you look at it is a ring pattern...more holes on the outside than on the inside of the circle. So the air moves thru the clothes at the edges and pulled to the small lint filter that clogs quickly.
The Frigidaire dryer that I have is a Kenmore with the stainless steel drum. This is a good dryer but kinda anemic when it comes to drying plus the smaller drum is noticable. At 5.7 cu ft its not good for shirts and jeans tend to tangle . When I had my Frigidaire dryer in Omaha that dryer had the reversing drying. The heating element stayed on while the drum stopped and the motor reversed. Not much air was pulled thru so when the dryer stopped again to resume its normal direction the clothes got what I call a blast of hot air thru them. The back and top of that dryer would get extremely hot and the back of the dryer discolored from the heat. My ex was whining about how the dryer scorches the clothes now. I told him buy a new dryer.
But overall I think you would be very happy with a Whirlpool dryer with the Accudry sensor. I love mine.

Post# 153124 , Reply# 4   9/7/2006 at 21:02 (6,433 days old) by cehalstead (Charleston, WV)        
Maytag dryer airflow

 I have found that in my new Maytag dryer, clothes dried on timed dry dry much faster than on auto....I can dry a load of towels for 55 minutes and they are bone dry...on auto-dry, it takes over an hour and a half for the machine to sense that the clothes are dry. My old Maytag didn't have timed dry, and took just as long to dry the same load as the new one does on auto-dry. Mine is the one model that is supposed to be equivalent to a Dependable Care of a few years ago, and has the increased air flow

Post# 153140 , Reply# 5   9/7/2006 at 21:57 (6,433 days old) by alr2903 (TN)        
whirly/KA/kenmore

 Our Mid 90S kitchenaid has served us very well and it drys faster than the poor magic chef it replaced years ago, I also like the down swing hamper door, but thats another issue you either love it or hate it. I do not know about the newer models but the kenmore version at the time had that plastic door handle attached to the lint screen and I never liked that, the kitchen aid and whirlpool had the little door on top to open, but the screen has its own handle, just a personal preference, but the whirlpool 29"and its KA cousin as coldspot66 and nmaineman36 mentioned are hard to beat IMHO alr2903 p.s. it's about 10 years old and never a service call so far.

Post# 153204 , Reply# 6   9/8/2006 at 09:43 (6,433 days old) by tomturbomatic (Beltsville, MD)        

Chuck, have you ever set the dryer on Auto-Dry and then checked after 55 minutes to see if the clothes were dry? I guess you are talking about the electronic dry sensing system and not the more common time/temp auto-dry?


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