Man, the outlet gasket thing is no joke. I did that at my last house and pulled out a wad of fiberglass batting that was stuffed behind the plates, which was doing nothing but holding cold air right against the wall. The other spot people miss is the bottom of the exterior doors, so run your hand along the sill on a cold morning and you will feel it. You can rent a thermal cam from the Home Depot on 41 for like $40 a day if you want to hunt down the rest of the leaks yourself instead of paying someone.

Ran the cheap ones in my own dryer for two years before it finally quit, and that was the timer not the element. Feels like half the "OEM only" talk comes from guys who never actually tried the aftermarket stuff. Give it another six months and you will know if it is luck or not.