Not LG, Not Maytag: Consumer Reports Says This Is The Most Reliable Gas Dryer Brand

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There are about a million and one things for consumers to consider when they are shopping for a new clothes dryer, and for many, brand name is pretty high on the list. If you haven't pledged allegiance to one brand or another, however, there may be more important factors to consider, such as add-on features, overall brand reliability, and whether you want a gas or electric model.

It's easy to argue that reliability is among the most important factors to consider when shopping for any new appliance, and particularly with clothes dryers. While user reviews can be helpful here, insight from consumer ratings organizations like Consumer Reports may prove more reliable. According to the results of a recent CR study, among gas dryers in the consumer sector, a lesser-known brand has risen to the top of the reliability rankings, with Speed Queen earning top marks from consumers.

Yes, Speed Queen was ranked the most reliable gas dryer brand on the market, beating out the likes of LG, Maytag, Whirlpool, and Samsung with a near-perfect reliability rating. These numbers were the result of a market study in which CR surveyed real consumers about their experiences with dryers purchased between 2015 and 2025. Gas dryers reportedly accounted for about 25% of the market in the study. While Speed Queen is a major player in the commercial dryer sector, it has historically been less so in the residential arena, making this CR win a bit of a coup for the brand.

With Speed Queen officially earning the top reliability rating from Consumer Reports, you might now be wondering where some of the more prominent brands in the market wound up in the ranking. If you are a fan of LG — which has gone by many names over the years – and were surprised it didn't take the top spot, don't feel too bad, as the brand's gas dryers placed a close second to those from Speed Queen.

Gas dryers from GE's smart-equipped Profile line took the third spot on the list, with Amana and Maytag closing out the top 5 in that order. As for the rest of the top 10, those five spots went to Whirlpool, GE, Hotpoint, Samsung, and Electrolux, respectively, with major brands Frigidaire and Kenmore slotting in at 11 and 12.

According to Consumer Reports, some 149 different clothes dryers were included in the survey. While Speed Queen showed well as a brand, CR notes its DR7004BG and DR7004WG as some of its better models, with each earning notably higher marks than the competition in reliability and the all-important customer satisfaction category, even as they placed well behind the competition in overall marks. On that note, the three LG models listed by CR all earned CR Recommended tags, while the Speed Queen models did not. That may be information worth considering as you drill down and try to decide which gas clothes dryer best suits your needs.

At this point, we should probably ask whether you knew gas clothes dryers even existed. Don't worry if you didn't, as they are less common than their electric counterparts. But if you're shopping for dryers, you'll want to be sure you know what you actually need, which means confirming what kind you currently have.

There's an easy way to tell if your dryer is gas or electric. In fact, you can probably discern your dryer's style by sight alone, as a gas dryer will, naturally, have a gas line piped into the back of the machine. Moreover, a gas dryer will likely be plugged into a standard electrical outlet, while electric dryers tend to require a larger high-voltage outlet.

For the record, if you have a gas line for your dryer, you don't necessarily have to install a gas model, though you will need a professional to safely disconnect and cap the gas line if you switch. You'll likely need that pro to install any new gas dryer too, by the way. Apart from that, gas dryers have some benefits, primarily that they tend to be more energy efficient. They also tend to heat up quicker and dry your clothes faster than electric models, though the latter dryers are basically plug-and-play appliances these days, and thus far easier to install. New electric models also tend to be cheaper than gas dryers at the point of purchase, with major brands offering consumers far more options in retail environments.