Fenney Dryer hookup - Gas/Electric
 

Sorry for posting this here but having a hard time getting a straight answer from TV and did not look at this the last time I had access to the home I'm buying. We were told we would have hookups for either gas or electric dryer. What is not clear is how "ready" those hookups are. We will have an electric dryer delivered. Is there going to be an outlet ready to accept a dryer plug or will I need to find an electrician to put one in? The company delivering the dryer will wire the dryer plug cord to the dryer but I'm sure they don't wire up an outlet.

I'll be looking from responses from people in Fenney as I realize not every area even offers gas and/or things may be done differently than what one's experience may have been when they moved into another village.

Call your sales rep right now. They should have answers, if not they can send someone to the house.

Posted this after doing just that. Nothing against the rep but another rep actually helped is out in his absence the day we purchased and we were told one thing and are now hearing something different. Will go back in the house if necessary but I would imagine there is someone here that will know the answer to this based on first hand experience.

I would call the Sales Office. Explain your problem. Insist that the BUILDER of your house call you. Your house has a project manager who works for the construction company which was responsible for everything installed.

We bought a house in Fenney last month. We are moving in the end of May.

What I noticed in our house was a gas connection in the laundry room and two 110 volt outlets; one for washer, and one for dryer. There is also a two outlet wide blank plate which I thought was for a 220 Volt dryer but again there is no outlet, just a blank outlet cover.

I took a picture of the electric panel and I do not see a 220 volt breaker labeled for a dryer. So, did the builder run the 220 volt cable from the electrical box to the back of the wall where the dryer would go and just not put in the outlet and the breaker?

So, you might need to get an electrician to run the electrical, install a breaker and then put the 220 volt outlet in.

If you need to get an electrician, I think the gas dryer would be cheaper. Gas dryers are typically $100 more. Electrician will be more than that. Also, I think gas is cheaper to run.

So not sure if all Fenney houses are like this.

Best of luck.

Tom

Call the warranty office. They have the details on all homes built.

Cost to operate electric dryer
 

While this may not matter to the OP it may help others who will read this.

A front load dryer uses 35 to 66 KWH of electricity per month. At SECO pricing that is 4 to 7 dollars a month making the dryer your fifth largest consumer of electricity in your home. The common rule of thumb is gas dryers operate at one third the cost. You can use this to calculate if a gas dryer is worth it.

Data based upon six months measured useage for six different couples who rented from me.

I live in Fenney and yes you will need an electrician to put in an outlet for the electric dryer...

Does anyone in Fenny know how the gas lines from the meter head are being ran ? Are they still using flexible pipe through the attics ?


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Thank you. Do you recall if it was pre-wired for 220 with a 220 breaker in the box and all the way to the plate behind where the dryer goes and all that was needed was an outlet? Or was a breaker needed in the box as well?

Personally ,when I was an electrical contractor,I would never pre-wire to any box and connect the wires to a breaker without them being connected to a device(receptacle)--lots of liability

IMHO--any qualified handyman --should be able to make the connections--not a big deal --as long as the wires are run

Yes there is !!!!
 

:ohdear: :ohdear:

We have a Designer in Fenney and yes, there is connectivity in the Laundry. There is one 110 AC for the washer with Hot/Cold Water lines. There is a 220 AC Rec for the Dryer mounted on the wall and there is also a Gas inlet recessed into the wall down low for the gas dryer. So, yes, there is plenty of connectivity and you should not need to do anything.

I don't know if I rank as qualified, but I have DIY'd this type of thing before and it's not rocket surgery (sorry any electricians out there, no offense intended). I can certainly do it this time as long as I know what I'll need. I already have a 4 wire 30a dryer outlet and face plate but I'll need to go get a breaker if one is needed. The key is making sure the main breaker is off before touching any wires.

This may be one of those things that just depends on the actual builder because I believe there is just a blank plate behind the dryer where the outlet would go, so my guess is there is no breaker in the box either, or at least not one that is connected to the wire. I just hope the wire itself is pulled already.

Install the wires in the breaker first then snap it into place, make sure the breaker is in the off position--DO NOT TURN THE MAIN BREAKER OFF, after the breaker is in place --tighten the screws holding the wire , (easier to this way)# 10 awg wire is still fairly easy to shape

My Designer in Fenney does not have a 220 volt outlet. So maybe all houses are not built the same. Mine has a blank plate and no 220 volt breaker in the panel.

Thanks. Any chance you check your breaker box and see if there is a 220 (double pole) breaker in there that is labeled dryer?

Off subject but just curious. We drove through Fenney recently and noticed boxes on the outside wall with both water pipes and gas pipes going to them. Are they using instantaneous hot water heaters instead of traditional hot water tank heaters now?

Yes that's what those are. Side benefit is that it leaves room in the utility closet for some storage since there is no water heater in there.

I took a picture and do not see a 220 breaker labeled dryer in my house. All the breakers are labeled.

Thank you. This makes sense if there is no outlet either. As a previous poster said - wiring a hot breaker when there are only bare wires on the other end is not a good practice and I would think would not pass an electrical inspection. Since there is a plate there, I'll go under the assumption that the wire is pulled from the box to the outlet but a breaker and outlet will need to be purchased and wired in to each end.

Chatbrat can check me on this but I would expect 4 wires - probably 1 red and 1 black (110v each hot wires), white (common), and a bare copper ground. Bare wire secures to the ground block inside the breaker box, white wire secures to the common wire block on the opposite side, and then the red and black wire to each pole on the breaker. Then on the other end, red and black go to the left and right vertical slot holes on the outlet, bare ground to the round hole, and white common to the L shaped hole on the outlet. Should be able to wire everything at both ends and then pop the breaker into the box and be good to go.

Red and Black go to the brass (colored) screws, white goes to the silver(colored) screw, bare goes to green -you can put the white and bare on a common buss bar as long as the load center has a main breaker in i it and is not a sub panel then the neutral and ground must be isolated

Hum
 

You say you were told you would have hookups for either gas or electric dryer. As you say later some homes in the Villages do no have gas. Your words could mean that a particular home would have EITHER a hook up for a gas dryer or a hook up for an electric dryer.
I do not live in Fenny. Gas service was not an option where we live so obviously we have an electric dryer and it is 220v. I think you can find 120v dryers but they will be small and less efficient. Used in homes with modest electrical service.
I would wonder it your home has a gas connection would you could you get a gas hot water heater. I know a gas hotwater heater is faster to recover and I expect less expensive to run. I also prefer, MISS, a gas stove which can produce more heat and instant response.
MY VIEW-it is far easier to do things slowly and avoid mistakes than to try to get out of mistakes. RE: Dryer
in our previous home we had a front loading dryer. They are easier to load and more energy efficient. It was old and we did not take it with us. BUT, here in our laundry section
having put shelves in there, there is no way a front loader would work.

I was referring the specific home I purchased. The rep said the home is set up to use gas or electric for either or both the stove and the dryer. I'm good with the gas stove but the wife doesn't care for a gas dryer. In reality, the home is prep'd for either at the dryer but either some plumbing work for gas or electrical work for an electric dryer will be required. That last part they left out. I don't hold that against because there are just some things that depend on who built a particular house. So they may not know from one to the next whether it's already wired for electric dryers or not. And I've heard that some homes include the keypad remotes for the garage openers but then you may find a very similarly built version of the same model that doesn't include them.

Fenney has the option for gas. The designer homes, at least, appear to all have gas stoves installed and tankless gas water heaters. But they don't include washers and dryers, so apparently, at least with some homes, there is still some work to be done to accommodate whichever option you choose - gas or electric.

Unbelievable that house built now days don't have 220v for dryer and water heater. What the extra cost 20 bucks. I would NOT but house that didn't have 220 service for water heater or dryer, especially NEW house. CHeap --- contractors.

2 pole breaker today is $20.00, 40' 4 conductor # 10--$35.00. , box device & cover $25.00--labor $50.00

Doesn't need 220v for water heater when it comes with a gas tankless water heater.

The latest from my rep is that there is a breaker already in the box and a wire plumbed to the dryer behind a blank plate. I will be surprised if the wires are connected to the breaker but a quick test with a voltmeter should tell the tale.

Wondering...in the new homes with the tankless gas water heaters...can you run two showers simultaneously, bath and shower?, dishwasher and shower?

No reason why you couldn't. It heats water as it passes through as opposed to just drawing from a tank of water that stays heated all the time. Generally, it would not be typical for us to be showering and running a dishwasher at the same time. We usually set the dishwasher to start after bed time, especially in an open concept home. There could be a time or two where the washing machine is going at the same time as a shower, but even that is fairly rare. I've never had a tankless water heater but everyone I have known that had one loved it.