Dryers work harder near the coast
Coastal winters are damp, and plenty of washing ends up in the dryer instead of on the line. Plenty of houses also run the dryer in a garage or a small laundry with no window. Damp air with nowhere to go makes a dryer slower, and over time salt and lint together get at the element and the drum bearings.
Three types, different faults
Vented dryers are the simple ones and the most common in older laundries around Warilla and Barrack Heights. The faults are mechanical: a drive belt that snaps, rollers and bearings that squeal, an element that burns out, or a thermal cut-out that keeps tripping.
Condenser dryers collect the water in a tank or send it down a drain hose. Add to the vented list a blocked condenser and a pump that stops emptying the tank.
Heat pump dryers are now standard in new builds at Shell Cove and Tullimbar. They are the most efficient and the most sensitive. Blocked filters account for most slow drying. Faults in the sealed heat pump circuit are rarer and dearer.
Lint is the root of most of it
Empty the lint screen after every load. On a vented dryer, check the duct or the vent outlet a couple of times a year. On a heat pump dryer, wash the second filter, usually behind a flap at the bottom front. Overheating from lint is what blows thermal fuses and burns out elements, and it is also a fire risk.
Before you book
Write down the brand and model number from the label inside the door. Note whether the drum turns, whether it gets warm at all, and any noise or code. If the dryer is wall-mounted above the washer, say so, because it changes what we bring.