The shorter the vent pipe the quicker your clothes will dry. Also, it also depends on how much water your washer spins out of the clothes. Just be careful and don't fry your fabrics. Super hot is not all it's cracked up to be.....

My Fisher & Paykel SmartLoad toploading dryer seems speedy. It has an auto-scraping lint filter that continuously peels the lint off into a collection bucket so the filter never gets clogged even when drying a linty load such as bath towels. As housefairy says, extraction capability of the washer and proper exhaust configuration of the dryer (short and straight/unobstructed as possible) are large factors. An otherwise speedy dryer is compromised if it can't breathe.

Dryers are very simple machines that look complex. There isn't very much real difference in their actual drying abilities, only the fancier things like how their automatic setting work. Most of them will dry a similar sized load from the same machine within minutes of each other. The biggest difference in drying performance is due to the washer, not the dryer. A front load dryer with a 1000+ RPM (vs a top loader's 400-600 RPM) spin speed drier clothes from the washer and thus will give you shorter drier cycles.

Thanks for your replies.

Wife knows two different people, who's front loading washers leaked. She is dead set against them, doesn't want to hear anymore about them.

Dryer vent sounds like the worst it can possibly be. It goes up 8' to ceiling joists, 90 degree bend, then 18' to outside wall. Wouldn't mind moving washer/ dryer closer to outside wall, but with the doors to the garage, family room, and a closet, I don't think it could be anywhere else, to deal with the waste water from the washer.

Would it be worth my effort to replace the 90 bend with two 45s?

Is there a brand/ model with a stronger blower than most, that would make the best of my bad situation?

That's a long run. You are wise to take that into consideration.

Different dryers do have different capabilities. Last I checked, the high-end GE was near the best in terms of handling long vent runs. Been a while....you'll have to check.

They also make booster-fans that can be placed further down the vent track and help with long runs. They can be wired to come on with the dryer fan.

Certainly do make sure that vent path is kept clear.

PS to previous.....

Couple other things....

1) Make sure that long vent run is tightly sealed throughout its length.

2) You didn't say where you live but if the vent run goes through an area where it's subjected to cool air, I would insulate it. Condensation of moisture passing through will greatly accelerate accumulation of lint.

For the 90 degree bend use a long-sweep elbow.

Billy

Here is a link that might be useful: Long Sweep Elbow

Your vent run sounds a lot like mine. You would be wise to have this vent cleaned out once a year to eliminate lint buildup. With mine, I am able to access the longest section of the run above the laundry room. I disconnect it at the elbow and slide the entire length out of the house through the opening in the exterior wall. Then I can use a garden hose and liquid soap to clean it up like new. Lean it against the house for an hour or two till dry. Then slide it back in and reinstall it. It takes about 90 minutes total for me to complete. YMMV.

MRB