Thread: clothes dryer gas line required?

Somewhere I got the notion that a gas line is required to be installed for clothes dryers, assuming there is gas service to the house.
Yesterday I inspected a re-habbed older home with a completely new laundry, and the house has gas service, but for some reason they provided a 240 volt receptacle, but no gas connection.
I should know this, but I can't remember ever running into it before.

Similar Threads:

• Copper Gas Line -
• dryer vent
• Exterior Installation of Gas Flex Line
• black flex gas line
• New overhead line securing technique

Run into it all the time down here, where gas service is spotty.

So, no, not required.

Not required here either.

Most houses over 20 years old have gas service, but very very few have gas for the dryer.

Originally Posted by Rick Cantrell

Most houses over 20 years old have gas service, but very very few have gas for the dryer.

In my experience the majority of houses in the Philadelphia area over 20 years old have gas dryers.

I've never understood it but I've seen the same thing as well John. Gas in the house but an electric dryer. Not sure why but I also see houses that have both oil and gas too. Oil for the furnace or boiler and gas for everything else.

I'm not aware of any requirement for the dryer to be gas if gas is in the house. Not sure what the rationale would be behind that either.

Originally Posted by Nick Ostrowski

...
I'm not aware of any requirement for the dryer to be gas if gas is in the house. Not sure what the rationale would be behind that either.

Nick - My lousy memory tells me I saw it as an energy savings thing, possibly in California? Probably imagining things.

Originally Posted by John Arnold

In my experience the majority of houses in the Philadelphia area over 20 years old have gas dryers.

I should has stated; in my area.

I have both a gas and 240v line in my laundry. When we moved into our house, we had a gas dryer and I added the gas line for it. Gas dryers are much more economical to use, but more expensive to buy.

While a ICC Certified Residential Inspector, I also work for a large homebuilder in Houston, TX. It has been my experience that almost all new homes in this area have gas service (gas water heaters and furnaces), but most builders do not automatically include gas connections to the dryer. One of the major reasons is that they get all hung up on the need for louvered doors or other enhanced ventilation means when a gas dryer is in place, due to the requirements for combustion air, >200 cfm exhaust air, etc. They would simply rather not deal with it and don't include gas connections in order to avoid the headaches and possible liabilities. Laundry rooms create enough problems as it is with the limitation of dryer duct length, etc.

We are building a home in CA (which I do not recommend). We had a gas line for the dryer. We did a plan change moving the laundry from the basement to the guest closet upstairs. As a result, we had to abandon the gas line and put in electric for the dryer or 1) build an additional wall in the bedroom 2) put in a separate hallway 3) buy a hermatically sealed steel door that would have been about $2,000. It was easier to just go with an electric dryer than comply with the planning dept's suggestions for approval.

I understand Toni. The problem with placing a gas dryer (or other gas appliance) in what is otherwise "habitable" space is that you are not allowed to take combustion air from sleeping rooms. Therefore, Code requires that you isolate and seal the space and install ducting from the exterior to insure that all combustion air is taken from the attic or another exterior source. Also prevents the accumulation of Carbon Monoxide in a sleeping area.