Overview
Dryer Basics
A dryer removes the moisture from clothes by mixing the fabrics with hot air. The air enters and exits the dryer from an opening in the front of the dryer through which air in the house is drawn inside. This air passes by the heating element, which adds heat to the air before it enters the dryer's tumbler, where the clothes are cycled. Air is also being constantly drawn out of the tumbler, sucked through a filter that catches the lint and then sent to another fan, that blows the air through a vent outside of the house.
Heating Elements
The heating element section contains both the element itself and several thermostats. The heating element is usually located in the back of the dryer, behind the back panel. The coil-shaped element greatly resembles the heating elements used in both ovens and hot water heaters. Typically, dryer heating elements are powered in two different ways: gas and electric (with electric being the most common).
Gas-powered elements depend on the pilot light, which ignites the gas, creating a large amount of heat. This heat is very carefully contained and channeled by metal plates designed to transfer the heat into the air. Heat also moves from warmer areas to colder areas, trying to reach an equilibrium with its surroundings, and it moves very easily through many metals. Once the metal is heated, the cool air is passed over the plates; some of the heat moves into the air, heating it for exposure to the clothes.
The electric heating element works the same way, but instead of igniting gas, the dryer sends an electrical current through the heating coil. The coil has a certain resistance to the current, which means that it fights against the progression of the current, waylaying the electrons on their journey. This buildup of electrons means a build-up of energy (heat). The metal soon becomes red-hot with heat from this current resistance; that heat is passed on into the air and through the dryer. Like other heating elements, the dryer's heating coil is made out of a very durable metal alloy with a coating made of a heat-resistant ceramic to protect it.
Thermostats
The thermostats (there are usually two or three of them) carefully monitor this process. They are equipped with small electrode sensors that allow to detect the temperature of the air and the element. Data is fed to these thermostats based on the dryer setting. Their job is twofold: first they make sure the air does not become too hot and burn clothes or too cold and fail to do its job. Second, they turn the heating element on and off again to make sure that the air reaches an even more specific temperature for the setting the dryer is on--a lower temperature for just a wrinkle-smoothing setting, for instance, but a high temperature for a full load of wet clothes.
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