Using my electric dryer on high heat, it uses between 2-2.5kwh total in high heat mode on a 40-45 minute cycle. The element is on constantly for the first 15-20 minutes and then cycles on and off for the rest of the time and the clothes are dry by the end. I've tried lower heat and even the air dry cycle for 70 minutes and the heat is what dehydrates the clothes and in the lower heat cycle, it takes longer but it doesn't seem to use less power because it still ended up using 2.5+ kwh of energy but my shirts ended up being more wrinkled because they were cold before I had a good chance to get them hung up and the towels were still more damp than they usually are when I pulled them out. Based on my experience, I've stuck to high heat. My washing machine takes 40 minutes so I can run the dryer back to back and it seems to cut the element time down by about 5 minutes on subsequent cycles.
I'd imagine it isn't too much different on a gas dryer. I've got the gas line right next to the electric dryer, not sure why the previous homeowner replaced the gas dryer with an electric one but the cost of replacing it in comparison to the infrequent laundry loads per month leaves me with no huge incentive to replace it.
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