Tumble Dryer Not Heating - How to Fix It in Arundel

Published September 2026 | Appliance Repair

Quick Cost Summary for Tumble Dryer Heating Repairs

Before we get into the detail, here's what you're likely to pay for the most common heating faults our engineers deal with. All prices include VAT and assume a single-visit repair.

Call-out fees of £40 to £65 may be charged on top of these figures. Many repairers in Arundel include the call-out within the overall labour charge if you go ahead with the job - but always ask before booking, as this varies considerably between businesses.

What Factors Affect the Price

The repair cost is rarely just about the part itself. Several things push the final bill up or down, and understanding them helps you assess whether a quote is fair before you commit to anything.

The type of fault

A tumble dryer that produces no heat at all is usually simpler to diagnose than one that heats intermittently or cuts out halfway through a cycle. No-heat faults are commonly caused by a blown thermal fuse or a failed heating element - both are relatively quick repairs once diagnosed. Intermittent faults can take longer to pin down because the engineer may need to run multiple test cycles to replicate the problem, which adds to the labour time and therefore the overall cost.

The brand and model

Parts availability varies considerably between manufacturers. For mainstream brands like Hotpoint, Beko, and Indesit, heating elements and thermostats are widely stocked and competitively priced. For premium brands such as Bosch, Miele, or Siemens, parts are often more expensive and sometimes require longer lead times. LG and Samsung tumble dryers tend to fall somewhere between the two - parts are generally available but cost more than the budget end of the market. If your machine is a less common brand, expect to pay more and potentially wait longer.

Vented, condenser, or heat pump

The type of dryer makes a significant difference to repair complexity and cost. Vented tumble dryers are the simplest mechanically and usually the cheapest to fix. Condenser models add a heat exchange unit that can become clogged over time, causing heating issues that look complicated but are sometimes resolved with a thorough clean. Heat pump dryers are the most involved - they use a refrigerant circuit rather than an exposed heating element, and if that circuit develops a fault, repair costs can approach or exceed the value of the machine. Our engineers will always tell you when a repair is unlikely to be worth pursuing.

Age of the appliance

Older machines can be harder and more expensive to source parts for. A five-year-old Hotpoint or Beko is generally fine - parts are still in active circulation. Once you're looking at a machine that's ten years old or more, you may find the heating element has been discontinued or is only available from specialist suppliers at a significant premium. This can push the parts cost up by 30 to 50 per cent compared to a newer equivalent, and that changes the economics of the repair entirely.

Access and installation complexity

Most tumble dryers are reasonably easy to work on. If yours is in a tight utility cupboard, or stacked on top of a washing machine without a proper stacking kit in place, there may be an additional access charge. Our engineers factor this in when quoting, so it's worth mentioning your setup when you book rather than having it come up on the day.

Regional Pricing - What Arundel and West Sussex Residents Typically Pay

Appliance repair costs in Arundel sit broadly in line with the wider West Sussex average, though they're generally a little lower than central London rates. Arundel is a smaller market than Worthing or Chichester, which means you'll typically be working with regional or independent engineers rather than large national chains - and that's usually a good thing for pricing and turnaround time.

Based on what our engineers see across Arundel and the surrounding villages, a typical tumble dryer heating repair lands between £90 and £160 for the most common faults. That covers the call-out, diagnosis, a single replacement part, and the labour to fit it. You're paying for the engineer's time and expertise, not a premium for the postcode.

Where Arundel homeowners sometimes pay more is on older or less common machines, particularly where parts need to be ordered in rather than carried on the van. Most engineers stock the consumables - thermal fuses, thermostats, common heating elements for Hotpoint, Beko, and LG - but if your machine is an unusual brand or an older model, you may be looking at a two-visit job: one for diagnosis, one for the repair once the part arrives. That second visit adds labour time and effectively increases the total cost.

Arundel's location between Chichester and Littlehampton means there's reasonable competition among local repair businesses, which tends to keep pricing sensible. You're unlikely to find the very cheapest rates you'd get in a large city, but you're also unlikely to be hit with the inflated "rural surcharge" call-out fees that apply in more remote parts of West Sussex.

If you use the Voltrade GoFIX diagnostic tool before calling anyone out, you can often narrow down the likely fault yourself. Knowing whether you're probably looking at a fuse or an element before the engineer arrives means faster diagnosis on the day and, in some cases, lower overall labour costs.

Labour Costs vs Parts Costs

On a tumble dryer heating repair, labour and parts are often fairly similar in cost - unlike a boiler repair, where the parts can represent a much larger share of the bill. Understanding this split helps you evaluate whether you're being quoted fairly.

What you're paying for in labour

A qualified appliance engineer in the South East of England typically charges between £55 and £85 per hour. Most tumble dryer heating repairs take between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours depending on the fault and how accessible the machine is. That puts the labour component of most repairs at £60 to £100.

Within that labour charge, you're paying for diagnosis time - which is often 15 to 20 minutes even on a relatively clear-cut fault - the actual repair, and a test run to confirm the machine is heating correctly before the engineer leaves. Don't let anyone skip that test run. It matters, and a good engineer won't rush it.

What parts actually cost

Heating elements for common machines like Hotpoint, Beko, or Indesit typically cost between £15 and £50 at retail. By the time an engineer has sourced, carried, and marked up the part to account for procurement and any warranty they're covering, you'll usually see it on the invoice at £25 to £80. That's a normal and reasonable margin.

Thermal fuses are cheap components - often £5 to £15 at trade - but they can be fiddly to access on some machines, so the labour to replace one can actually exceed the cost of the fuse itself. Don't assume a cheap part means a cheap repair.

Control boards and PCBs are where costs can really climb. The part itself might cost £80 to £200, and fitting one correctly takes longer because the engineer needs to make sure the new board is configured properly before the machine can be tested. If you're looking at a PCB replacement, get a clear quote and compare it against the cost of a new machine before you commit.

How to Avoid Getting Overcharged

Appliance repair is an area where a small number of operators take advantage of homeowners who don't know what they're dealing with. Most engineers are professional and fair - but it pays to go in prepared.

1. Get the quote in writing before any work starts. A reputable engineer will give you a fixed price for the repair once they've diagnosed the fault, not a vague estimate. If you're being told they won't know the cost until the machine is open, that's sometimes reasonable for complex faults - but they should still give you a maximum figure before you agree to proceed.
2. Ask whether the call-out fee is deducted from the repair cost. Many good engineers do this as standard. If the call-out is charged regardless and the repair is also quoted at full rate, you're effectively paying twice for the first visit.
3. Check what warranty comes with the repair. A decent engineer will guarantee parts and labour for at least 30 days, often 90 days. No warranty offered is a genuine concern worth raising.
4. Look up the part yourself. It only takes a couple of minutes on a parts supplier website to get a sense of what a heating element or thermostat costs for your specific model number. If the parts charge on the invoice is significantly higher than retail, ask for an explanation.
5. Use the Voltrade GoFIX diagnostic tool. Running through the GoFIX checklist before you book means you arrive at the conversation knowing roughly what the problem is likely to be. An engineer who tells you your thermal fuse has gone when you already know from GoFIX that it's more likely a condenser unit issue is someone worth questioning.
6. Get two quotes for anything over £150. On smaller jobs, the admin time isn't worth it. But if you're looking at a potential control board replacement or a heat pump circuit issue, a second opinion is worthwhile and will help you understand whether the first quote was fair.

Is It Worth Repairing or Should You Replace?

The standard rule in appliance repair is that a fix is worth doing if it costs less than half the price of a replacement machine and the appliance is under eight years old. That's a useful starting point, but there's more to consider than just the numbers.

When repair makes sense

If your dryer is under six years old and the fault is a thermal fuse, thermostat, or heating element, repair almost always makes financial sense. You're looking at a modest spend to restore a machine that has years of useful life ahead of it. A mid-range replacement tumble dryer from LG or Bosch will cost £300 to £600 new - spending £100 to fix your current one is not a difficult decision.

Arundel homeowners with families especially benefit from repairing rather than replacing, given how much tumble dryers get used through the winter months. A working dryer in October is well worth investing in, and the disruption of waiting for a new machine to be delivered and installed is real.

When replacement might be better value

If your machine is over ten years old and needs both a heating element and a control board, you could be looking at £200 to £250 in repair costs. At that point, you're close to the price of an entry-level new machine from Beko or Hotpoint, and the new machine comes with a manufacturer's warranty and is less likely to need attention again in the near term.

Heat pump dryers that develop refrigerant circuit faults are another case where replacement often makes more sense. The repair can run to £300 or more, and if the machine is more than five years old, that's hard to justify economically.

The energy efficiency angle

Older vented tumble dryers, particularly anything manufactured before 2015, typically carry a C or D energy rating. Modern heat pump dryers are A+ or A++ rated and can use 40 to 50 per cent less electricity over the course of a year. If energy bills are a concern, an unrepairable old machine might represent an opportunity to upgrade to something considerably cheaper to run.

Getting Quotes - What to Ask For

Whether you're booking through Voltrade or calling a local engineer directly in Arundel, these are the questions worth asking before you commit to anything. A professional engineer will have no problem answering all of them.

1. Do you charge for the call-out separately? And if so, is that fee credited against the repair cost if you go ahead?
2. Will you give me a fixed price once you've diagnosed the fault? The answer should be yes for the vast majority of jobs.
3. What warranty do you offer on parts and labour? Look for a minimum of 30 days - 90 days is better.
4. Do you carry common parts for my make and model? If they stock your brand on the van, the job can usually be completed in a single visit without waiting for parts to arrive.
5. Can you advise on whether repair is economic? A good engineer will tell you plainly if the repair doesn't stack up financially. If someone is pushing hard for a repair on a ten-year-old machine with a complex fault, that's worth noting.
6. Can I see the old part once it's replaced? A reputable engineer will have no objection to showing you the failed component. It's entirely reasonable to want to see what was wrong with your machine.

If you're in Arundel and trying to work out whether your fault is likely to be a quick fix or a bigger job before you book anyone, the Voltrade GoFIX diagnostic tool lets you work through common tumble dryer heating fault symptoms at home. It won't replace an engineer, but it means you go into the conversation better informed - and that's always worth doing.

Price-Related Questions

How much does it cost to replace a tumble dryer heating element in Arundel?

Replacing a heating element in Arundel typically costs between £90 and £160 all in. The element itself usually costs £25 to £80 depending on the brand - mainstream makes like Hotpoint and Beko are cheaper to source parts for than premium brands such as Bosch or Miele. Labour makes up the rest of the bill. Most engineers can complete the job in a single visit if they carry stock for your model, which keeps the overall cost at the lower end of that range.

Is there a call-out fee for tumble dryer repairs in West Sussex?

Call-out fees in West Sussex typically range from £40 to £65. Some engineers include this within their overall labour rate if you proceed with the repair, while others charge it regardless of outcome. Engineers covering Arundel from Chichester or Worthing may apply a small mileage charge on top, so it's worth asking about the total call-out cost upfront. Getting this confirmed in advance avoids any surprise on the invoice once the job is done.

Why is my tumble dryer running but producing no heat?

The most common reasons a tumble dryer runs but produces no heat are a blown thermal fuse, a failed heating element, or a faulty thermostat. In condenser models, a severely blocked condenser unit can cause the machine to cut heat as a protective measure. In gas dryers, a failed igniter or gas valve is the likely culprit. Running through the Voltrade GoFIX diagnostic checklist before you call an engineer can help you identify which category your fault falls into, which speeds up the on-site diagnosis.

How long does a tumble dryer heating repair take?

Most heating repairs take between 45 minutes and 1.5 hours once the engineer is on site. Simple fuse or thermostat replacements can often be done in under an hour. Heating element replacements on some models take longer because of how the drum casing needs to be removed and refitted. If a part needs to be ordered in rather than carried on the van, you're looking at a second visit, which typically happens within two to five working days depending on parts availability for your specific machine.

Can I fix a tumble dryer heating fault myself?

Some homeowners do replace thermal fuses or thermostats themselves, and parts are available from appliance suppliers online. However, working on tumble dryers carries a real risk if you're not confident with electrical work - these machines contain capacitors that can hold a charge even when unplugged. If you're unsure, it's safer and often not much more expensive to have a qualified engineer do the job. A botched DIY repair can also create a more complex fault and may affect any remaining warranty on your machine.

What's the average life expectancy of a tumble dryer?

Most tumble dryers are built to last between eight and twelve years with regular use. Budget vented models from Beko or Hotpoint tend to sit at the lower end of that range. Premium brands and heat pump dryers from Bosch or Miele typically last longer, particularly if the condenser is cleaned regularly. If your machine is under eight years old, repair is almost always worth considering. Once it's past ten, weigh the repair cost carefully against the price of a new machine before making a decision.