3 Dryer Features Worth Paying For (And The Ones You Can Skip)

Among the many inescapable tasks of adulthood, doing laundry is one of those universal experiences that once you start, you never really stop. In 2026, a Poplin survey of 600 Americans revealed that 39.5% of them spent up to two hours on laundry a week, which is roughly about four days every year. Not very far behind, 35.67% of respondents also claimed their laundry tasks took them up to a whopping 4 hours a week. Because of this, it’s no wonder that many people search for more convenient ways to get it done. Aside from choosing a reputable washing machine brand, this also means selecting a dryer model that can hit all the right notes for their household needs.

In recent times, popular appliance manufacturers, such as Whirlpool and Samsung, have been leading the charge for customer satisfaction for dryers. These days, dryers from different brands come with all sorts of neat features. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re worth paying a huge premium for. In some cases, some fancy features can look good on paper, but they may not be a good fit for your or your family’s existing lifestyle.

If you have a big family, tend to work out a lot, or just like to host a lot of guests, large-capacity dryers can be a lifesaver when it comes to managing regular copious amounts of laundry. By having a large-capacity dryer, you can enjoy several key advantages, especially when it comes to improved air circulation. As long as it’s not overloaded, a large dryer will likely have more consistent drying capabilities because the heat can be spread out more evenly. When clothes aren’t packed from a dryer that’s full, you can also expect less wrinkling, even without any added wrinkling management technology.

If you plan your laundry days well, you might also be able to combine multiple washing loads together in a single dryer run. This can lead to both shorter periods of waiting for it to finish and potentially using less electricity usage. Although, this will still depend on if you have enough items to wash to make it worth it. In addition, large-capacity dryers set you up for the future in practical ways. Even if you’re currently a single or two-person household, dryers with large drums let you dry bulky items like bedding, towels, and curtains. With this, you don’t have to bring it to a professional laundry service, especially during the colder times of the year when the weather isn’t ideal for outdoor drying.

While old-school dryers would simply operate on a set time and heat level, many modern dryers offer moisture sensor features to help manage your loads. By detecting both moisture and temperature inside the drum, dryers with these sensors can optimize the best time to stop the drying process. Considering dryers use more energy than most people think, moisture sensors can be one way to help you save on your electricity bill by not letting it run longer than it should.

Secondly, by optimizing the drying time, moisture sensors also help prevent issues related to over-drying. When left to over dry, you risk ruining the sensitive fibers in your clothing, which can lead to shrinking. Although it can be possible to reverse some of the damage, some fabrics will not be able to bounce back from being shrunk. If you own a lot of clothes made of natural fiber, like cotton or wool, you’ll have a higher risk of them contracting. Knowing this, it may be well worth the extra dollars to get a dryer with moisture sensors, which may cost less than the price of replacing your clothes.

If you’re looking for some other bang-for-your-buck sensor solutions for your laundry room, there are also water leak sensors under $10 that can help alert you if there are any leaks. Not only can this save you a ton of money for water-related damage, but it can also prevent other issues, like possible electrocution.

Unless you have unlimited time, ironing or steaming clothes manually can be incredibly time-consuming. While one way to make sure you do less of it is purchasing clothes that don’t need to be ironed and using little tricks with damp towels or wool dryer balls, having a dryer with wrinkle-prevention functions can help ease the burden. For busy people, it may be a challenge to remove your clothes right when they’re finished drying, which can lead to wrinkles forming after an extended period. To avoid this, some dryer brands like Whirlpool have introduced wrinkle-preventing cycles which either add periodic tumbling after a normal cycle is done or add a steam cycle at the end. While both function slightly differently, they have the same goal of giving you more leeway for taking out a load.

For some dryer models with steam features, they might also offer steam refresh cycles which are great for a few, lightly used pieces that need wrinkle removal. GE claims its Steam Refresh Cycle can significantly reduce the wrinkles of up to 5 pieces of clothing. That said, dryer steam-dry functions don’t guarantee perfectly steamed clothing. Because of this, you can also get an even more pressed look with a highly rated handheld garment steamer. Although, if you have a little more budget, you may just want to add a Samsung AirDresser to your bedroom, which basically lets you dry clean clothes from the comfort of your home.

Unless you live in a household with several people who are willing to manually sort through their laundry, you won’t necessarily be able to take full advantage of so many dry speciality settings. So, before you pay extra for a dryer with multiple settings, it may actually be better to evaluate your existing washing loads and choose a dryer that has functions to support them.

While speciality cycles can reduce your overall mental load, it may also just take a few minutes to learn the best dryer settings for your clothes. Typically, you’ll need to consider the heat levels (air dry, low, medium, and high), which will vary depending on the kind of clothes you plan to dry. A good rule of thumb is delicate and heat-sensitive clothes, like the ones that tend to shrink, should be under low heat. On the other hand, sturdier fabrics or those that you want to disinfect, such as towels and bedsheets, benefit from high heat.

Instead of speciality cycles, there are more practical ways to make the most out of your dryer. For example, if you live alone and tend to have small loads, a quick dry function may fit what you need most of the time. Previously, we’ve mentioned how you can use your dryer at certain times to save money, if you’re under a time-of-use (TOU) energy plan.

These days, there are a lot of options to make your home smart with appliances that span your bedroom to your kitchen. However, your laundry room doesn’t always have to be one of them, especially if you have to pay a premium to experience it. If you’re a single person, who is tech savvy, a smart dryer might be worth it to help optimize your laundry schedule. However, smart dryers may not be as convenient if multiple people need access to the dryer throughout the week. While some companies, like Samsung, let you invite members to a group to manage devices, other brands may require you share log-in credentials. While this isn’t necessarily bad for families and close-knit roommates, it’s not ideal for more unfamiliar situations. In addition, this isn’t ideal if you have a lot of children or elderly people in your household, who may not fully be able to take advantage of app-based operation.

Alternatively, there are other ways you can have the smart home experience on a budget, which just entails being a little creative. We’ve mentioned before how you can use NFC tag automation to manage dryer use and schedules. And if you want a neat way to check how much energy your dryer is actually using, a smart plug is a practical way to upgrade it to give you more visibility on your consumption. With this, you can enjoy a connected home experience while decentralizing your data.