This ‘game-changing’ heated airer will slash your electricity bill
We all know that washing still needs to be done on wet, chilly winter days, which can mean months of draping steaming laundry over every bit of available space in your home.
Drying wet clothes in your house, especially on radiators, releases large amounts of moisture into the room. This puts your walls at risk of developing damp – a major and expensive issue to rectify. But if you don't have the space or budget to install a tumble dryer, a heated clothes airer can be a lifesaver.
We've put the best heated airers through their paces to see which one came out on top. Read on to discover more…
Tried-and-tested: best heated airers at a glance
- Best heated airer for family washes: Dry:Soon 3 Tier Heated Clothes Airer. Buy now from Lakeland (£159.99)
- Best compact heated airer: JML DriBUDDI Compact Heated Airer. Buy now from Amazon, (£78.99), or Argos (£79)
- Best heated airer for drying clothes quickly: AMOS Eezy-Dry Electric Clothes Dryer 15kg. Buy now from Amazon, (£50.99)
How we tested the heated airers
We dried a full load of washing, as per the capacity of our washing machines, but ensured it featured a pair of jeans, a hoodie and a t-shirt, so we could compare drying times across the different brands.
We allocated points in several categories – the first being how easy the airer was to use. This included setting up the heated airer, if there were instructions (and if so, how clear they were), if the airer included features like a timer, safety switch, and a cover, as well as hangers or capacity for drying shoes.
We also evaluated how eco-friendly the packaging was. We then assessed its functionality in terms of how sturdy it was, the dimensions and capacity, as well as how easy it was to store.
Next up, we timed how long it took to dry the full load, specifically timing the jeans, hoodie and t-shirt, and worked out how much the heated airer cost per hour to run.
Finally, we took all this information into consideration to determine if the unit represented good value for money.
Edited 02/12/2025 to reflect product availability
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The best tried-and-tested heated airers
Best heated airer for household washes
Dry:Soon 3 Tier Heated Clothes Airer
Score 4.5 out of 5
The lowdown: It may be expensive, but this heated airer is an efficient alternative to cranking up the central heating.
- Buy the Dry:Soon 3 Tier Heated Clothes Airer from Lakeland (£159.99)
Pros:
- Easy to assemble and compact when folded down
- Fits a large laundry load
- Cheaper than a tumble dryer and/or turning on radiators
- Excellent guarantee period
Cons:
- No timer function
- Expensive
Setting up this heated airer is super easy, and if you've got a small load, you can fold out just one half of the frame to save space, which is handy. Unlike the JML DriBuddi, the cover is sold separately. However, we found draping a towel or sheet over the top is also effective at speeding up the drying time for the rest of the load.
The Dry:Soon 3 Tier can accommodate 15kg of washing across 21m of drying space, but doesn’t feature a timer, which is a shame considering the cost of the product. In terms of timings, light items like T-shirts should be dry within 4 hours, and heavier items like jeans should be dry within 12 hours.
We love: The Dry:Soon 3 Tier is sleek and compact, featuring six identical drying shelves which fold up flat, making it easy to use and store in smaller households like flats and house shares.
Should you buy it: Yes. Although the efficiency of the model makes it cheaper than using the central heating or a tumble dryer, this heated airer comes with a fairly high upfront cost. However, in the long run, we believe it's a worthy investment, as, firstly, it's cheaper than a tumble dryer (and more eco-friendly), and secondly, it'll come in handy throughout the year, not just in winter (think of all the rainy days we have!).
Specs: 137 x 73 x 75cm and it holds up to 15kg of washing
Read the full The Dry:Soon 3 review
Best heated airer for smaller spaces
JML DriBUDDI Compact heated airer
Score: 4 out of 5
The lowdown: JML's DriBUDDI offers great value for money, is easy to set up and use, and has a capacity large enough to accommodate a full load. However, dry time may be a little longer than stated.
- Buy the JML DriBUDDI Compact heated airer from Amazon, (£78.99), or Argos (£79)
Pros:
- Easy to set up
- Portable, can be moved or disassembled easily
- Cheaper than running a tumble dryer in most instances
Cons:
- Dry time longer than advertised
The DriBUDDI Compact is a self-assembly airer, composed of three legs (which were a little fiddly to fit), a motor unit with a timer, a support pole, and the hanging unit, plus a zip-up cover and protective disc for the motor unit. In the end, the dry time was 4 hours to iron damp, 4.5 hours to bone dry – we think this is a reasonable dry time, but it’s worth noting JML suggests that an average wash load should take "between 1 and 3 hours".
We love: The cover is included, which isn’t always the case when buying a heated airer. While its primary purpose is to speed up dry time, the cover also means that your washing, hangers, and the appliance itself are neatly hidden from view – perfect if you want to set it up in a communal area of your home without having visitors staring at your knickers.
Should you buy it? Yes: In terms of how the airer's price compares to its competitors, it's impossible to compare models exactly like-for-like. But the DriBUDDI's closest high street rival is probably Lakeland's Dry:Soon pod airer, which is £1 more expensive at the time of writing and has a smaller capacity than the DriBUDDI (12 items vs 18 items). Plus, the DriBUDDI comes with a one year manufacturer's guarantee.
Specs: 160 x 70 x 70cm and it holds up to 10kg/18 items
Read our full, in-depth JML DriBUDDI heated airer review.
Best heated airer for drying clothes quickly
AMOS Eezy-Dry Electric Clothes Dryer 15kg
Score 3.5 out of 5
The lowdown: It’s not the cheapest option on the market, but this heated airer is great for speedy clothes drying in the winter.
Pros:
• Dries jeans and hoodies quickly
• Handy timer function
• Cheaper than a tumble dry and/or turning on radiators
• Lightweight and folds up
• Can wheel it around
Cons:
• Difficult to assemble
• Large and difficult to store if you live in a small space
• Slightly noisy
We found this airer tricky to assemble – it has lots of different parts, and it took us a few attempts to get it right (but that might say more about our instruction-following abilities than the airer). It also comes with a cover, so you don’t have to worry about buying that separately, and when it’s up, it couldn’t be easier to use.
In theory, this airer can accommodate 15kg of washing across two levels of drying space. However, we found that it works best when you spread items out and make sure nothing is touching. We especially love that it has a timer function, so you can press a button and just leave it to do its thing. We found that light items had a dry time of around 4 hours, and hoodies were dry in around 8 hours.
We love: If you don’t have a tumble dryer, this heated airer is a lifesaver. It’s great for getting things dry quickly, without having to turn your radiators on.
Should you buy it: Yes. Although it’s tricky to assemble, when it’s up, it’s great. The only issue we had was with storage – it does fold in the middle, but it’s still quite big and clunky to put away, so not great if you live in a small flat.
Specs: 70 x 23.5 x 24cm, and it holds 5kg of damp clothing (the website suggests roughly 25 separate items, but we’d say less)
Looking for a budget heated clothes airer?
Status 230W Portable Heated Clothes Airer with Wings
Best for: small loads and small spaces
If you're living in a small flat or a room in a shared house, the last thing you want is the constant smell of damp clothes around you all winter. A compact heated airer like the Status 230W Portable Heated Clothes Airer will drastically cut down your drying time, without taking up too much room. We love that it comes with wings to add that extra bit of capacity.
This simple airer folds out in seconds and can be folded away when not in use just as quickly. Plus, with a low wattage of 230W, it's one of the most energy-efficient models on the market.
FAQs
Heated airer vs the radiator
While a radiator can be a life-saver if you’re in a hurry and need to dry a pair of jeans or a hoodie quickly, if you’re using the radiator to dry your clothes, it isn’t heating your house, making it an inefficient use of your money. Especially considering the rising cost of energy and how much cheaper it is to run a heated airer (see below).
Of course, if you use an airer positioned in front of the radiator, it’s a sort of best-of-both-worlds option. However, you’ll need to swap your clothes around to make sure the garments dry evenly. Plus, with the airer in front of the radiator, it will block some of the heat from reaching the rest of the room.
How much does a heated clothes airer cost to run?
The exact cost of running an electric clothes airer depends on your energy tariff and the wattage of your airer. For instance, running an airer with a wattage of 1200W (typical for larger airers with a motor unit) for 3 hours would cost £1.22, using current energy cap rates. Meanwhile, running an airer with a wattage of 240W (typical for smaller foldout airers with heated bars) for six hours would cost about 49p, again using current energy cap rates.
To get a more precise estimate for your tariff and wattage, you can use SUST-IT’s energy cost calculator.
Comparing this to the cost of running a tumble dryer is tricky – it depends on the energy consumption of the tumble dryer, the type (condenser vs vented vs heat pump) and the length of the drying cycle. However, using a very rough average of a tumble dryer using 4.5kW with a 90-minute dry time, the cost would be £2.29 per cycle.
How to use a heated airer
Most electric airers are really simple to assemble and can easily be set up in any spare corner within reach of a plug socket, then dismantled and stowed away when not in use. Larger models can hold a full family wash, but you'll also find compact versions that are perfect for a small load.
Because they're powered by electricity, you might worry that a heated airer will drive up your energy bills. However, modern electric airers are more energy-efficient than you might think – using as little as a few pence per hour.
Which heated clothes airer is the best?
The electric airer you choose for your home depends on your needs. The models we have included in this article are all worth investing in, with the The Dry:Soon 3 Tier providing enough capacity for a household wash, while the JML DriBUDDI is great for compact spaces.
If you're in a shared property or a small flat with limited space and you're usually washing for one, a small foldaway heated clothes airer like the Status 230W Portable Heated Clothes Airer could be the answer to your winter washing woes. For busier households with a little more space, a larger, freestanding clothes airer able to handle a full wash, like the AMOS Eezy-Dry, could make more sense.
For more laundry solutions, check out our pick of the best tumble dryers and the best energy-efficient tumble dryers on the market.
