- “Half a double breaker is the first thing to rule out and it costs nothing”
- “nP is LG's code for no current reaching the heater”
- “A thermal cutoff that has opened means the duct was blocked, and both need fixing”
Symptom
LG dryer not heating
A dryer that turns but never warms is one of the clearest symptoms in this trade, because the motor and the heat run on different things. On an electric machine the drum turns on 120 volts and the element needs the full 240, so half a tripped double breaker gives you exactly this — a machine that looks completely alive and heats nothing.
- From $95 diagnostic, credited to the repair
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- OEM parts available on order
- In writing the price, before anything is opened
Four ordinary causes
What this usually turns out to be
Cheapest and commonest first, which is also the order we check them in. They sit hundreds of dollars apart, and only the unit settles which one is yours.
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Half of the double breaker tripped
Free to check, common, and completely convincing while it lasts.
Diagnostic visit from $95 -
The thermal cutoff
A safety part that opens when the machine has overheated, and it does not reset. It opens because the air was restricted.
Dryer heating element replacement from $195 -
The heating element
A coil in a metal can at the back of the cabinet. It fails open and it is measured.
Dryer heating element replacement from $195 -
The gas igniter
On gas machines, far more often than the valve.
Gas dryer igniter replacement from $185
In five minutes
Before you call anybody
None of it needs tools, and all of it makes the visit shorter.
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01
Reset the double breaker properly
Fully off, pause, fully on. Both halves together.
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02
Check the lint screen and the duct anyway
A cutoff that has opened did so for a reason, and the reason is nearly always restricted air.
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03
On gas, watch the igniter through the lower vent
It should glow bright orange and bring the flame on within a minute.
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04
Note whether it ever gets warm at all
Slightly warm is a different diagnosis from stone cold.
How it shows up
What people describe when they call
A shortcut
Narrow it down before anybody arrives
A description of the behaviour leaves a few possible causes. A code names the subsystem before anybody opens anything, which is why it is worth photographing before it clears.
In more detail
About LG dryer not heating
Start at the breaker panel
Go to the panel and find the dryer's breaker — it is a double, two switches joined. Switch it fully OFF and then back ON. A half-tripped double breaker often looks perfectly normal, which is why this is worth doing rather than looking at. If the machine then heats, that was the whole problem and there is nothing to repair.
What it usually means, by the kind of LG appliance
LG sells one appliance in several forms — five shapes of washer, three kinds of dryer, four fuels of range — and the same behavior points at different things on each of them. A built-in side-by-side and an integrated column are not the same service situation, and a dual-fuel range and an induction range fail in different halves.
- Vented electric — Two legs of 240 volts. Losing one leaves a machine that tumbles cold.
- Vented gas — The igniter is the usual part. One that glows and never lights is weak; one that never glows has failed.
- Ventless heat pump — There is no element. The heat comes from a refrigerant loop, and a machine that will not warm is a sealed-system call rather than a heater one.
Why the drum turns and the heat does not
An electric dryer is fed by two 120-volt legs. The motor, the light and the controls run from one of them; the heating element needs both. So when one leg is lost — a half-tripped double breaker, a loose connection at the outlet, a worn cord — everything visible keeps working and the machine simply never gets hot. It is the most convincing failure in the laundry room and one of the cheapest to resolve.
The part that tells you something else went wrong
If the thermal cutoff has opened, replacing it is not the repair — it is half of it. A cutoff opens because the machine got hotter than it should have, and the reason is almost always a blocked duct. Fitting a new cutoff and leaving the duct packed means doing the same job again in a few months, with a hotter machine in between.
This article is based on:
- Official manufacturer documentation
- Internal repair procedures
- Technician repair history
- Company quality standards
Before you book
Questions about LG dryer not heating
It was working yesterday.
That fits the breaker or a supply connection far better than an element, which usually gives some warning. Reset the double breaker fully. If it heats, look at what else is on that circuit and whether the breaker is getting warm — a breaker that trips repeatedly is telling you something.
Is it worth repairing an older dryer?
Usually yes, and more often than people expect. An element, an igniter or a cutoff are inexpensive parts and the rest of a dryer is very simple. We will tell you plainly when the number stops making sense against a new machine, and that conversation belongs before the work rather than after it.
Where we do it
Across Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach
Same terms everywhere we go: an on-site diagnostic first, the price agreed in writing, and the exact figure confirmed once we have seen the unit.
Neighborhoods people ask for by name