I agree with dadoes. Why chance a short-lived new appliance while the old one is still functional, especially dryers. Those old Maytags and Whirlpools were built to last. I got my Whirlpool in 1992.

Stay with electric. Easier to service, more choices, less cost.

My Maytag electric dryer must be about the same vintage as yours and nerdyshopper. When I last bought a part (the drum belt) the supervisor of the parts department at the local appliance store where I bought it said "I always advise customers to stay with these older dryers as long as they can. The new stuff is junk." (He may have used more colorful language!) I've also replaced the heating unit but that's it. DIY repairs are easy and parts are readily available. All above are right on. Stand pat.

I'm guessing in the 1990s whatever preceded GardenWeb was full of posts advising people to hold onto their mid-70s washers and dryers because the (then-)new stuff was junk. Not disputing that it's true, but the sentiment is right up there with every generation thinking the young kids are going to ^#*& compared to when they were kids.

All that said, I would run with the electric dryer until it's beyond economic repair. A new gas dryer of any decent quality will run you several hundred dollars. Add in the costs of running the gas line to the laundry room (and of making sure there's a 120 V socket available for the gas dryer; it won't run on 240), and the lower cost of gas drying will take a very long time to make up for what you've already paid to get the dryer. Who knows what gas costs/electric costs/your living situation will be by the time the payback arrives?

"Beyond economic repair" may be a long, long way away for a 70s vintage dryer. My 1979 kenmore was completely dismantled for cleaning (lint built up behind the drum after all those years began smoldering) a couple of years ago and when the repair guy finished putting it back together again he said, "Now you're good to go for another 35 years."

I don't want to get rid of my 1992 Dependable Care Maytag dryer.

The thing about dryers is that majority of the routine-wear mechanical parts (belts, idlers, drum rollers, and such, even heating elements) are inexpensive and easy-fix items. Timers and some control switches that are model-specific can go NLA but those items on older machines are largely long-term dependable. A heavy-use household can wear out the motor bearings and motors are a more expensive fix ... but then it has a new motor and is good-to-go again for many years.

You have much better low temps with the electric dryer. Gas tends to over dry clothes.