WE’RE all trying to save our pennies as much as possible at the moment, but the cold weather’s not making it easy.
One of the most expensive appliances in the house to buy and to run is the tumble dryer, and air-drying clothes outside isn’t an option in the freezing weather.
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But there’s a much cheaper solution – heated clothes dryers.
These electric drying racks simply plug in and gently heat up to dry clothes in just a few hours or less, depending on the material.
While a tumble dryer would cost on average £1.53 for a one-hour cycle, according to Uswitch energy stats, a heated clothes rack costs as little as 62p for eight hours to run.
With this amazing saving in mind, we tried a few of the most affordable options on the market, including one from Aldi that’s just under £40.
Aldi Easy Home Heated Airer, £39.99
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Aldi’s electric airer is extremely popular – and sells out extremely quickly every time it’s brought back in stock.
Costing £39.99, including a cover which will help clothes dry faster, this is a great value alternative to an energy-guzzling tumble dryer.
When we tested it out, it came in at 274Wph, meaning it would cost just 75p to leave on all night for eight hours.
However, the downside of this airer is its shape and size, as it wasn’t big enough to hold the entire wash I did.
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It’s also very wide and long, rather than tall and narrow like other clothes racks on the market, which means you need quite a bit of space in your home.
In my small one-bed flat, I found it took up a lot of the room and, while it does fold away very neatly and tidily, I always find I have so much washing that the airer never has a need to be stored away.
Cost: 274Wph – 75p for 8 hours
Concise Home Electric Clothes Dryer, currently £80.99 from Amazon
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This dryer from Amazon is slightly different to the other ones I tried, as it uses an electric fan rather than heated rails to warm up the clothes.
For this reason, while it uses quite a lot more energy than the others I tried (940Wph), it only needs to be on for a maximum of two hours – and turns itself off automatically once it’s done – which means it costs just 64p to use at a time.
Handily, the fan can also be used as a heater – although it was quite loud, and had a slight burning smell to it.
The other problem with this dryer is that the cover is quite an ugly, bright blue colour, and it also doesn’t fold away, which means you’re stuck with an unsightly box in your home at all times.
Cost: 940Wph – 64p for 2 hours
Lakeland Dry:Soon Mini 3-Tier Heated Airer, £129.99
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The airer we tried out from Lakeland was the cheapest available from the retailer – but the priciest of the ones we tested, coming in at £129.99 (£20 more expensive than it was back in November 2021).
And, while the other two include a cover, Lakeland sells covers for an extra £44.99 – pricey!
But what’s great about this airer is its size.
It has three layers, and is tall, rather than folding out like the Aldi one, which means it suits small spaces.
It also has more bars to dry clothes on than the other two I tried, fitting a whole week’s washing in it
On top of that, it only uses 229Wph, meaning it costs just 62p to run for eight hours.
Cost: 229Wph – 62p for 8 hours
