Can You Hook a Dryer Up to 110V?

Full-Sized Dryers

• Generating heat with electricity is very efficient compared with natural gas. Virtually 100 percent of the electric power goes to heat, but the downside is that it uses a great deal of electricity in the process. For this reason a standard, full-sized electric clothes dryer is attached to a dedicated 220V circuit that is within 6 feet of the dryer. No other appliance is supposed to be on that circuit, according to the National Electrical Code

Gas Dryers

• The National Electrical Code has several sections devoted specifically to areas such as laundry rooms where there is a lot of electricity needed in close proximity to water. As a safety precaution the code recommends that no other appliance be hooked into the same 110V circuit with the washing machine. An exception is made for a gas clothes dryer that also uses a 110V outlet. The electricity needed to maintain the internal programming for the gas dryer is so slight that there is no chance that it will deny the washer the power that it also needs.

Portable 110V Dryers

• Most major manufacturers of full-sized clothes dryers also make smaller, portable electric versions that are designed for apartments and homes without laundry rooms. These smaller units offer everything their larger siblings do except the load size is smaller. An advantage they have is that they work off of a standard 110V electrical outlet. Because they are not considered a "fixed appliance" by the code they do not have to remain within 6 feet of an electrical outlet.

Circuit Tripping

• A smaller 110V dryer still pulls a great amount of electricity to power itself. If you have other high-energy users such as a microwave oven, toaster, waffle iron or electric frying pan in use on the same circuit it may overload the system and cause the circuit breaker to trip. Avoid this by using the dryer on a circuit where nothing else is turned on while the dryer is working.