--- title: "Dryer runs but does not heat" description: "Whirlpool dryer not heating — whirlpool dryer runs but does not heat — a dryer that tumbles without heating has usually lost one of two things: the heat it" url: "https://whirlpoolmiami.support/symptoms/dryer-not-heating/" date_modified: "2026-09-06" Appliance type: "Dryers" --- # Whirlpool dryer runs but does not heat ### Check the breaker properly, not just visually An electric dryer uses a double breaker, and half of it can fail while the other half is still on. The handle usually looks completely normal. Switch the breaker fully off and then fully on again — not a nudge, all the way over — and try another cycle. Whirlpool's own wording on F4 E4 puts this at the house supply rather than at the dryer: low or no line voltage, so the heater cannot come on. If that changes nothing and the drum still turns cold, the heat source is next and that is a visit. ### What it usually means, by the kind of machine Whirlpool sells one appliance in several forms — a top-loader with an agitator and one without, a front-loader, a stacked pair, a laundry tower and an all-in-one; a vented dryer, a ventless one and a heat pump — and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A top-load washer has no drain pump filter to open and a front-loader does, which is the whole first hour of the same complaint on two machines. - **Electric** — Runs on two 120-volt legs. Lose one and the motor still runs on the other while the element gets nothing. That is why a dryer can look completely healthy and produce no heat at all. - **Gas** — The igniter glows, the valve opens, the flame lights. When the igniter weakens, the dryer tumbles a full cycle with no flame and no code on many models. - **Compact heat pump** — Makes heat with a refrigerant circuit rather than an element, so a cold load here points at the sealed system or a blocked condenser rather than at a heater. ### Two halves of one supply This catches people constantly and it is worth understanding, because it is the one cause where nothing inside the dryer is wrong. An electric dryer is fed by two live legs. The motor, the drum light and the control run on one. The heating element needs both. When a leg is lost — at the breaker, at a loose connection in the outlet, occasionally out at the meter — the dryer looks entirely healthy and dries nothing. Whirlpool’s own page for F4 E4 says as much, which is unusually direct for a maker’s code table and worth quoting when somebody has already been sold an element. ### The part that is easy on this badge Whirlpool is the volume brand of its own corporation, and the practical result on a no-heat dryer is that the element, the thermostats, the thermal cutoff and the gas igniter are ordinary stocked parts. That is the difference between a repair booked today and a repair waiting a week on a part from a specialist, and it is the honest advantage of owning the most common machine in the state. Half the supply is missing A tripped or failed leg of the double breaker. The drum turns, the panel lights, and there is no heat. Whirlpool codes it F4 E4 or L2. The heating element The ordinary end of an electric dryer's life. It either opens outright or grounds, and the machine reports F4 E1 on controls that can see it. A thermal cutoff that has done its job Almost always downstream of a restricted vent. Replacing it without clearing the duct means replacing it again. The igniter, on a gas dryer It glows and then has to hold long enough for the valve to open. A weak one gives a cycle with plenty of tumbling and no flame. The inlet thermistor F3 E3 is Whirlpool's inlet thermistor code — the sensor reading the air going into the drum. A control that cannot read temperature will not commit to heating. Cycle the breaker fully Off, pause, on. This is free and it settles the whole supply question in under a minute. Try a timed cycle rather than an automatic one An automatic cycle can end early when the sensor is confused. A timed cycle removes the sensor from the argument. Listen for the gas valve On a gas dryer you can hear the click of the valve and see the glow through the vent opening. No glow and no click is the diagnosis. Clean the vent before judging anything A restricted duct overheats the machine and opens a safety device, so the vent gets checked even on a no-heat call. The drum turns, the load comes out cold and wet What it usually means F4 E4 and L2 are Whirlpool's low or no line voltage report — that one starts at the panel F4 E1 is the heater or the heater relays, and that one is inside the machine An electric dryer on a tripped half-breaker tumbles perfectly and heats nothing Check the breaker properly, not just visually An electric dryer uses a double breaker, and half of it can fail while the other half is still on. The handle usually looks completely normal. Switch the breaker fully off and then fully on again — not a nudge, all the way over — and try another cycle. Whirlpool's own wording on F4 E4 puts this at the house supply rather than at the dryer: low or no line voltage, so the heater cannot come on. If that changes nothing and the drum still turns cold, the heat source is next and that is a visit. What it usually means, by the kind of machine Whirlpool sells one appliance in several forms — a top-loader with an agitator and one without, a front-loader, a stacked pair, a laundry tower and an all-in-one; a vented dryer, a ventless one and a heat pump — and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A top-load washer has no drain pump filter to open and a front-loader does, which is the whole first hour of the same complaint on two machines. Electric — Runs on two 120-volt legs. Lose one and the motor still runs on the other while the element gets nothing. That is why a dryer can look completely healthy and produce no heat at all. Gas — The igniter glows, the valve opens, the flame lights. When the igniter weakens, the dryer tumbles a full cycle with no flame and no code on many models. Compact heat pump — Makes heat with a refrigerant circuit rather than an element, so a cold load here points at the sealed system or a blocked condenser rather than at a heater. Two halves of one supply This catches people constantly and it is worth understanding, because it is the one cause where nothing inside the dryer is wrong. An electric dryer is fed by two live legs. The motor, the drum light and the control run on one. The heating element needs both. When a leg is lost — at the breaker, at a loose connection in the outlet, occasionally out at the meter — the dryer looks entirely healthy and dries nothing. Whirlpool’s own page for F4 E4 says as much, which is unusually direct for a maker’s code table and worth quoting when somebody has already been sold an element. The part that is easy on this badge Whirlpool is the volume brand of its own corporation, and the practical result on a no-heat dryer is that the element, the thermostats, the thermal cutoff and the gas igniter are ordinary stocked parts. That is the difference between a repair booked today and a repair waiting a week on a part from a specialist, and it is the honest advantage of owning the most common machine in the state. ### It heated yesterday and not today. Elements and igniters do fail exactly like that, with no warning at all. So does a breaker leg. Cycle the breaker first, because it is free, and then book if nothing changes. ### The dryer is hot to touch but the clothes are cold. That is heat being made and not moved, which is a vent problem rather than a heating problem. Different repair, and the vent is where we would start. --- **[Read full article: Dryer runs but does not heat](https://whirlpoolmiami.support/symptoms/dryer-not-heating/)**