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A crushed silver foil dryer duct pinched between the back of a dryer and a painted drywall in a US home laundry room, lint caught at the fold.

Dryer
Overheating

The cabinet, the door or the clothes come out far hotter than normal, sometimes before the dryer shuts itself off.

(844) 314-5837

Mon–Sat, 8am–8pm

  • Fire or gas risk
  • 5 questions that narrow it
  • 5 causes, cheapest first

Book a visit

Three short steps, about a minute.

or call (844) 314-5837

Switch it off before anything else

Overheating is a fire risk. Stop the dryer, unplug it or turn off its breaker, and do not run another load until the cause is found. Clear lint only once everything is cool. If there is smoke or a flame, leave the house and call emergency services from outside.

What it
usually means.

A dryer is built to run hot air through the drum and straight out the vent. When it overheats, the air is either not leaving fast enough or the heat is not being switched off when it should be. A restricted vent is the usual reason: the cycling thermostat keeps turning the heat on and off, the high-limit thermostat trips, and in the worst case the thermal fuse blows. A cycling thermostat stuck closed does the same thing with a clear vent. Either way, heat builds where lint collects, which is why overheating counts as a fire risk rather than a nuisance.

A coiled dryer heating element in its metal housing lies on a towel beside an open electric dryer in a US home laundry room. The 5 causes, cheapest first

Answer these first

01

Is the top of the cabinet too hot to keep a hand on?
02

Do clothes come out hot enough to feel scorched, or smell singed?
03

Does the dryer shut off by itself partway through, then restart after it cools?
04

Is the airflow at the outside vent hood weak, or does the flap barely move?
05

Is the laundry room itself noticeably warmer or more humid than usual during a load?

Check these
before you book.

Dryer overheating: 5 checks, and none of them costs anything.

01

Stop the dryer, unplug it or switch off its breaker, and let it cool fully before checking anything.

02

With the dryer cool, clean the lint screen and wash it with warm soapy water if it holds water instead of letting it pass.

03

Pull the dryer out and look for a crushed, kinked or foil duct; the run should be smooth rigid or semi-rigid metal.

Also worth checking

  • Go outside and make sure the vent hood flap opens and is not blocked by lint, a nest or a screen.
  • Run one small load on low heat later and feel the outside airflow; weak flow means the vent is still the problem.

The causes,
cheapest first.

5 things dryer overheating turns out to be, from restricted vent or crushed duct to gas valve staying open.

The cost guide
  1. 01 low

    Restricted vent or crushed duct

    A long run, a crushed transition duct behind the dryer or a clogged hood outside keeps the hot air inside the dryer. Nearly every overheating dryer is checked here first.

    Fixed by vent cleaning and inspection See dryer vent clogged
  2. 02 low

    Cycling thermostat stuck closed

    This thermostat switches the heat off once the exhaust reaches its set point. Stuck closed, it leaves the heater on and hands the job to the safety devices.

    Fixed by thermal fuse and thermostat repair
  3. 03 low to moderate

    Heating element shorted to the cabinet

    A broken coil touching its housing can keep heating even when the controls say off. It usually shows up as heat on an air-only setting.

    Fixed by heating element repair On an electric dryer
  4. 04 low to moderate

    Blower wheel clogged or loose

    The blower pulls air through the drum. A wheel packed with lint or slipping on its shaft moves less air, and the heat stays in the cabinet.

    Fixed by motor and blower repair
  5. 05 moderate

    Gas valve staying open

    On a gas dryer, a valve that does not close when the thermostat opens keeps the burner lit. It is rare and needs a technician.

    Fixed by gas burner and igniter repair On a gas dryer
  6. What it costs

    Every repair on the site's cost scale, side by side

    Open the cost guide

The makes
it happens on.

14 makes on this site; dryer overheating can show up on any of them. Each mark opens that make's own page.

All 14 brands

Dryer Overheating,
where we come out.

9 metros, each with its own page.

All service areas

Tampa BayFL · 31 areas

OrlandoFL · 30 areas

Miami / South FloridaFL · 47 areas

New York MetroNY · 75 areas

HoustonTX · 36 areas

ChicagoIL · 50 areas

Los AngelesCA · 95 areas

San DiegoCA · 31 areas

San Francisco Bay AreaCA · 74 areas

A parent and a child folding warm towels together on top of a front-load dryer in a bright laundry room
For the heart of your home.

Questions about
dryer overheating.

The dryer stopped heating after it overheated. Why?
That is usually the thermal fuse doing its job. It is a one-time device that blows when the cabinet gets too hot, and a new fuse will blow again unless the reason for the heat, usually the vent, is fixed first.
How long should a dryer vent be?
Shorter is better. Most installation guides allow a limited length of rigid metal duct and subtract distance for every elbow. A run that snakes through a basement or up through an attic often exceeds what the dryer can push against.
Is foil duct really a problem?
Yes. Thin foil and vinyl ducts crush easily behind the dryer, and their ridges catch lint. Most building codes and dryer manuals call for smooth metal duct for this reason.
Can I bypass the thermal fuse to keep using the dryer?
No. Bypassing it removes the one device that stops a dryer from overheating into a fire. Replace it only after the cause of the heat is found.

Back to your everyday

Still seeing dryer overheating?

Book with what you checked above — 5 answers save the technician the first part of the visit.

Schedule a repair Call (844) 314-5837
(844) 314-5837 Schedule a repair