Whirlpool Dryer Heating Element (W11344457)

The heating element is the part inside your dryer that generates the heat needed to dry your clothes. It works by passing electrical current through a coiled resistance wire, which heats up and warms the air that flows through the drum during a drying cycle.

Heating elements commonly fail from normal wear over years of use, overheating caused by restricted airflow from a clogged lint trap or blocked vent, or physical damage to the coil from being overstressed. A broken coil will interrupt the electrical circuit and stop heat production entirely, leaving your dryer running but unable to dry clothes.

These symptoms may point to a failed heating element in your dryer:

- Dryer runs but produces no heat at all

- Clothes come out damp or wet after a full cycle

- Drying times are much longer than usual

- Dryer only blows cool or room-temperature air

- Dryer shuts off early or cycles on and off without reaching temperature

- Burning smell noticed at the start of a cycle

- Visible damage or a broken coil wire if the element has been inspected