What Is The Best Heated Airer On The UK Market?

During cold or wet weather, people use various ways to dry clothes indoors.

The most common is a tumble dryer. It works great but is expensive to run and can damage delicate garments.

Some people use a radiator but that’s bad for your health and increases your heating costs.

Other tricks like using a fan or dehumidifier are not effective at drying clothes fast.

What works without costing you a lot of money is a heated airer.

How a Heated Airer Works

A heated or electric airer consists of a metal frame heated by an element. The heating element is powered by electricity, meaning you need to plug the airer into an outlet.

The frame consists of one, two or three racks where you can spread your clothes or hang them. It takes several hours for the clothes to dry.

Benefits of a Heated Airer

• Cheaper to run: A heated airer is not only cheaper to buy compared to a tumble dryer, it’s also cheaper to run. It uses less than half the energy of a tumble dryer.
• Healthier: Unlike a fan or radiator, a heated airer does not add a lot of moisture to the air, which can cause mould and provide the perfect environment for bacteria.
• Gentler on your clothes: Tumble dryers can damage and shrink some delicate fabrics. There’s no such risk when you use a heated airer.

What to Consider When Choosing a Heated Airer

a. Size

Check how many tiers the airer has and how much drying area it provides.

The right size depends on your laundry needs. If you have a large family, get the biggest airer you can get with three tires and a wide drying area.

If you live alone or just need a drier for certain items like towels or underwear, you can do with a smaller drier.

b. Space

How much space do you have to spare?

A large airer is obviously going to take up more space. It’s not the best option for an apartment or small house.

Talking of space, make sure the heated airer is foldable – almost all of them are. This allows you to store the dryer out of the way when it’s not in use.

c. Safety

A heated airer works by heating the bars. Most airers do not get hot to the point of causing injury but some cheap ones can get that hot.

If you have kids or pets in the house, spend more on a premium airer that doesn’t get too hot.

If you have to get a cheaper one that users say gets hot, make sure you have a safe place you can use it in where kids cannot reach it.

d. Cover

Check whether the airer comes with a cover. The cover helps speed up drying by preventing heat loss.

Some airers come with a cover while with others like Dry:Soon, you have to buy it separately.

e. Timer

Finally, check if the airer comes with a timer. It’s helpful when you don’t want to leave the clothes for too long on the airer.

The Best Heated Airer Reviews [UK Market]

1. Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer

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Dry Soon is one of the most trusted brands when it comes to heated airers. Their products work reliably, are well made and cost very little to run.

Their top-of-the-line 3-tier heated airer is perfect for those who do large loads of laundry and need more drying space. It’s expensive but worth it.

It provides 21m of drying space and can hold up to 15kg of wet laundry.

The frame is made from aluminium. So it’s surprisingly light. You can easily lift it yourself and move it to another room.

The metal bars get noticeably warm but not dangerously hot. If you have kids or pets, the airer is safe.

Once you switch it on, a heating element gently warms the bars to dry your clothes. It takes about 8 hours for a load to get dry. You can also set a timer for up to 12 hours.

To save energy and reduce drying time, consider buying the Dry:Soon cover. It traps the heat within the drying area to speed up drying.

But some people found a big sheet to be just as useful.

When you are done drying your clothes, you can fold the frame down for easier storage in a cupboard or behind a door.

What we like about it:

• Lightweight – easy to move around.
• Safe for everyone – bars don’t get very hot.
• Collapsible – save space when not in use.
• Ideal for drying a large load of laundry.

2. AMOS Eezy-Dry Electric Clothes Dryer

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If the Dry:Soon airer is a bit too expensive for you, the AMOS Eezy-dry airer costs less than half but has the same 15kg laundry capacity.

It’s only two-tier but it fits a surprising amount of clothes. With some good organization, you can dry about 25 items at a go. If you are drying smaller items like underwear or baby clothes, you can fit many more than that.

Unlike the Dry:Soon Airer, this one comes with the cover included. The strong zip-up cover significantly speeds up drying.

It also ensures the rack with wet clothes on it is not an eyesore.

The dryer comes with a remote control to switch the heat on/off and to set the timer.

The frame takes just a few minutes to assemble when it arrives. When you are not using it, you can fold it flat for easier storage.

What we like about it:

• Affordable.
• Fits a decent amount of clothes.
• Foldable for easier portability and storage.
• Includes a convenient remote control.
• Comes with a drying cover to speed up drying and save energy.

3. Dry:Soon Mini Standard 3-Tier Heated Airer

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Like other Dry:Soon airers, this one is on the pricier end of the scale even though it’s fairly small. But the build quality and ease of use are incomparable to other airers.

The Dry:Soon Mini consists of three tiers with a maximum laundry capacity of 15kg and a drying space of 13m.

The only challenge users encountered was hanging large items like hoodies, jeans or bedsheets.

The upside of being small is that it can easily fit in smaller spaces. If you don’t have enough floor space for the Deluxe version we reviewed above, this one is perfect.

It works just as well and fast as the bigger drier. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have an integrated timer.

If you don’t want your clothes to stay too long on the frame, set a reminder on your phone.

You can use a drying cover to prevent heat loss and dry clothes faster but you’ll have to buy it separately.

What we like about it:

• Versatile – you can fold out the shelves in different ways depending on how you want to arrange your clothes.
• Perfect for small spaces. Folds down when not in use to save even more space.
• Lightweight aluminium constructions makes it easy to move around.
• Safe for kids and pets since it doesn’t get too hot.

4. Fine Elements Foldable Heated Airer

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If you live alone or need an airer jut for your hand towels or underwear, something small like this foldable heated airer from Fine Elements will do just fine.

It has not tiers, just a single rack with extended drying space on each end. You can hang clothes – mostly small items that won’t touch the floor – from the bars or lay them flat across the bars.

A word of caution: Users say the bars can get quite hot. Be careful when you are removing clothes or turning them over. If you have kids or a pet, use the airer in a lockable room.

The airer is very light, as expected. You’ll have no problem moving it from room to room.

When not in use, you can fold it down to save space though users say it takes some getting used to learn how to fold it properly.

What we like about it:

• Takes up little space – perfect for apartments and dorm rooms.
• Foldable.
• Dries fast.

5. AMOS 230 Electric Heated Clothes Dryer

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This is another good option if you are looking for a simple rack for just your clothes. It has the same compact design as the Fine Elements drier and even costs about the same.

The main flat rack is ideal for laying smaller items flat across the heated bars while the wings are good for hanging longer clothes.

The dryer can take up to 10kg of weight.

As with the Fine Elements dryer, be careful as the bars can get hot. Use it in a lockable room if there are kids or pets around.

The upside of this is that it dries clothes quickly; faster than even some more expensive airers.

The dryer is foldable though users say it’s tedious to fold and unfold. If it doesn’t take up too much space, you might find it easier to just leave it unfolded.

What we like about it:

• Foldable.
• Ideal for small spaces.
• Dries fast.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How much electricity does a heated airer use?

Heated airers generally use around 230W of electricity. This works out at a cost of around 4p for 60 minutes of use (larger airers can use up to 6p an hour). Assuming you run your airer for one hour a week, it would cost you a grand total of £2.29 over the year!

However, because heated airers will take longer than that to properly dry your clothes, the final tally for your electricity bill would be higher. The only way to really know is to get one, and check your bill when it comes in to see if it is considerably higher than usual!

2. How does a heated airer work?

A heated airer is a very similar principle to a non-heated airer – it has hanging places for your clothes, which will then air dry as opposed to being tumbled dried.

However, a heated airer is different in that the bars get warm, which helps clothes to dry quicker than they would if they were just being air dried. They plug into mains electricity, and heat up to a warm temperature, much like an electric heater (but much cheaper to run).

Placing your clothes onto these heated rails will help them dry much faster than if they were simply draped over a cold radiator, or a non-heated airer. Some come with a cover to keep the warmed air inside, which can dry the items even faster.

3. How long do clothes take to dry on a heated airer?

The length of time clothes take to dry will depend slightly on the type of clothes you are drying. Small, thin items like underwear can be completely dry in an hour; larger items that are still made from thin material, such as t shirts and blouses, can be dry in around 4 hours.

Larger, heavier items like thick jumpers and heavy jeans may take up to 12 hours to become completely dry. If you are draping over a duvet cover, it will be somewhere in between the 4 and 12 hours – although it is a large item, it is generally made from thinner fabric which dries more quickly.