I just bought a house, and the area where the dryer needs to go only has a two foot electrical wire coming out of the wall. It's an old house, and it's possible these people just hooked those wires directly to the dryer without using an outlet. Is that possible? Or do I need to install those wires into a three prong outlet for electrical supply to my dryer?Thanks!
Yes, it's possible to wire some dryers w/o a plug. However, it's not commonly done in residential settings as most people don't have an electrician around to disconnect it if it needs service or to be moved for some reason.
Yes, you can hardwire a dryer or stove to that wire. They always used to be done that way and still could be unless code forbids it where you are. But it's really best to have an outlet instead, and new appliances come with plugs on them now. Makes it far easier if you ever need to disconnect the appliance for any reason because all you have to do is unplug instead of shutting off the power, disconnecting it all, and doing the reverse later, and gives you much more freedom to move them out to clean behind them. A dryer will take a four prong outlet because it has a 220 volt supply.
It would depend on your areas electrical code if it was legal to do that or not. I cannot see why in a residential setting anyone would need to do that. If I were you I would call an electrician to check the wires and install a proper outlet.
