Compared to a tumble dryer, however, the story is a little more nuanced. If you have small amounts of washing that can fit on a heated airer in one go, then there are savings to be made when compared to condenser tumble dryers. Generally taller and larger than most other airers, a tower airer comprises several horizontal flat sections and some also have hooks at the top for hanging shirts and dresses. Due to their size, they’re great for hanging double or king-size bedding, as well as heavy bath towels. Radiator The Infinity Flex is made of steel and aluminum— designed to be used indoor and outdoor. Do not leave outdoors and keep dry. Can heated clothes airers save you money? Our testing found heated clothes airers will cost about half as much money to run as a drying pod. Making the most out of available space, our Extendable Ceiling-Mounted Clothes Airer offers a contemporary twist on a classic design. It has the all the design features of a traditional ‘laundry maid’ clothes rail but is made from sleek modern materials – with five extending aluminium rails and smooth beechwood ends.

Some look like a tower, which typically affords more drying space for the room they take up, but they can be less accommodating of larger items such as dresses, towels and bedsheets. A great way to make the most of otherwise wasted space and get your drying done indoors, this indoor clothes airer is perfect for rainy days or if you just want to give your tumble dryer a rest. Ideal for smaller homes and flats, the OurHouse Over Bath Airer is the perfect space–saving solution for indoor drying. Designed to allow you to dry your garments over the bath, with multiple drying positions, this versatile airer boasts up to 7.5m of drying space and a maximum load capacity of 15kg. Another concertina design, gated airers are even more simple than tiered airers. They pull out to create a long zigzag with spacious rungs. Thanks to their fuss-free design, gated airers are popular among students as they tend to be the cheapest option available and fold down to just a few centimetres wide, meaning they can easily be stored behind a bed or wardrobe. Winged They dry clothes faster than heated bar clothes airers, but typically have smaller capacities. You'll be able to hang dresses and jeans in them, but bedsheets and duvets are a no-go.

Built-in Timer

The Glmahaus airer also gives you the added convenience of a built-in countdown timer. Using the digital controller, you can easily set the timer between 1 and 9 hours, once the countdown is complete it will automatically turn the unit off. This is perfect for those who are busy and which to leave their laundry drying while out and about. Not to worry if you don’t require a timer as the unit can also be manually turned off and will operate on constant when the timer is left on ‘0’. Additional Capacity for Drying More Clothes These are great for those with no floor space to spare. Some have legs and long wings to make the most of the space above a standard UK bath, but you can also find smaller tent-style designs that attach to the rim of the bath instead. Tower We dried a small cotton load on each airer, representing a week's worth of washing for a single person.

While heated airers use less electricity per hour than a tumble dryer, they take longer to dry the clothes. So, if you're drying big loads regularly, it will cost you more to run a heated airer annually than a tumble dryer.Guarantees: As mentioned before, finding a clothes airer with a good warranty is always beneficial because if and when it does break, you’re covered. Keep an eye out for this when purchasing an airer. Heated clothes airers we tested typically took between four to six hours to dry a small (2.15kg) cotton load. This airer has a generous 13.5m of drying space, which is more than enough space for a family load. It’s winged, so it has adjustable arms that can lift to accommodate longer items or fold down to save space. It also comes with handy corner hangers that can be used to hold a delicates dryer, or even to dry shirts using clothes hangers. The only sacrifice you’ll need to make is that it’s not as sturdy as more expensive clothes airers on the roundup, which means you’ll need to be careful not to snap the thinner bars with really heavy items such as dripping wet beach towels – items such as these would be best draped over multiple bars. At a fraction of the price of the other airers, though, this one’s a no-brainer.

Extending from 78 to 140cm to give you much greater flexibility, it can easily handle those larger laundry loads and is ideal for drying bigger items such as bed sheets, with the added advantage that the aluminium rungs won’t mark your clothes in the same way wood can. Drying pods are essentially big hair dryers for clothes, using a fan and heating element to blow hot air through the clothes hanging inside a pod.The best clothes airers you can buy in 2023 1. John Lewis 3-Tier Heated Indoor Clothes Airer: Best heated clothes airer

All heated airers are stable enough to hold a full load of washing, but some were more flexible and easy to topple than our top recommendations. Ease of use We also measured the total drying space and volume of the airer, so we can let you know which ones give you the most drying space without taking over an entire room in your home. Heated: Whilst they are much more expensive than your standard clothes airer, heated airers can hugely cut down on drying time. These resemble tiered or winged airers, and are plugged into the mains to heat up each drying rung. Additionally, they’re less expensive to run than tumble dryers and are gentler on your clothes. The high wings at each side of the airer allow you to hang even the longest garments. There is also a handy accessory for hanging small items without the need for pegs.Collapsible size: Let’s face it, clothes airers aren’t good looking. Most people want a clothes airer they can stash away in storage when they’re not in use. Pay attention to the collapsible size of the clothes airer you’re considering so that you know you can fit it inside a cupboard or under a bed. A typical drying pod will do a cotton load in a couple of hours, and a tumble dryer will take anywhere from one to three hours to do a big load of laundry. It's faster than air-drying indoors, but a heated clothes airer is still the slowest of the three. We selected the heated airers and drying pods from the most searched-for brands and popular UK retailers.