Dryers

Gas dryers on a propane cylinder, and electric ones on their own circuit:

the two full-size kinds differ only in where the heat comes from. An electric dryer heats with an element and needs a dedicated high-voltage circuit with a large plug, which many older houses lack. A gas dryer heats with a burner, so its plug only runs the motor and controls and goes into an ordinary socket. In Guatemala that gas comes from a propane cylinder with a regulator and hose, because almost no homes are on a piped supply. That is where buyers get caught. Many gas dryers built for the North American market leave the factory set for natural gas, and some sold new here are too. The rating plate inside the door opening says which, and a natural-gas burner needs an LP conversion kit, fitted by a gas technician, before it goes anywhere near a cylinder. Condensation and heat-pump dryers, dearer, suit an apartment with no outside wall because they keep the water in a tank instead of venting hot air. Stacked towers and washer-dryer combos sit with washing machines.

Drum size for the rainy-season load:

months of rain bring the heaviest loads of the year: jeans, towels and blankets that never got a sunny afternoon. Choose a drum noticeably larger than the washer’s, so a full wash has room to tumble instead of coming out hot on the surface and damp in the seams. A moisture sensor, the pair of metal bars just inside the door on most mid-range models, ends the cycle when the clothes are dry; a timer-only dryer runs as long as you set it and shrinks cotton that was already done. A short, rigid vent duct to the outside dries faster and gathers less lint than a long, crushed foil hose. Shirts taken out slightly damp are far easier work for the irons and steamers.

Why a used dryer is a safer buy than most:

it holds no water, and the parts that wear out are cheap ones: rollers, the belt, the idler pulley, the thermal fuse. A full-size dryer that heats and turns quietly changes hands for around Q2,000 to Q3,000. One sold as not heating is worth far less until you know whether the fault is a fuse or the control board, the dearest repair on a sensor model. For a single room, a folding heated rack or a mini drum dryer costs around Q600 to Q1,000 new, and dries a few shirts at a time rather than a family’s wash.

A dryer drum you can judge by ear:

run it empty for a few minutes and listen. A squeal that rises and falls with the drum points to worn rollers or the idler pulley; a steady thump is a flat spot on a roller, and a slap once per turn is a belt about to go. All three are cheap fixes, but they belong in the price. On a gas dryer, watch the burner through the sight hole: the igniter should glow orange and the flame catch within about a minute. A glow that goes out with no flame usually means the gas valve coils; no glow at all, the igniter or the thermal fuse. Run a hand around the drum for chipped enamel or rust spots, which mark light clothes. On an electric dryer, look at the plug, because a cord fitted abroad may not match your outlet.

A dryer up for sale as the rains start:

finds a buyer faster than one listed in the dry months, when nobody’s washing is stuck on the line. Say in the title whether it is gas or electric and, for gas, whether it is set up for propane or still for natural gas, and who did the conversion. Photograph the rating plate, the plug or gas inlet and the empty drum, and say whether it has a moisture sensor. Include the vent duct and, if they go with it, the gas hose and regulator. A buyer coming up from Santa Lucía Cotzumalguapa will want to see it light, so have it connected to a gas cylinder and tumbling on heat when they arrive.