The scene in Aldi’s middle aisle on Sunday morning was unlike any other. The return of the hugely popular heated airer had been hotly anticipated - particularly with claims to help keep rising energy bills low - but I hadn’t expected it to be quite so sought after at my local branch.
Arriving 10 minutes before the store opened, it appears shoppers had been allowed in for ‘browsing’ at 9.30am, rather than the usual 10am, and the aisles were packed with people hurrying to scoop up one of the energy-saving devices.
When we found the palette on which they had been, there were two left - one we picked up, and another left for a shopper who would swoop it up and sell it out before the tills have even scanned their first item.
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It’s a sad sign of the times, really. The fact that people are so desperate to save money, heat their homes, and essentially survive the winter, that they’re relying on a £40 Aldi Specialbuy and other similar products to do so.
Aldi’s affordable Easy Home Heated Airer reportedly - according to the box - costs less than 7p an hour to run, compared to 30p+, like most tumble dryers. Uswitch estimates a tumble dryer uses around 4.5 kWh of energy per cycle, and by that figure, means running one for an hour can cost upwards of 60p.
In terms of cost per hour, the £39.99 Aldi airer wins hands down - but, we all know there’s no way it could dry a wash load in an hour, so we put it to the test to see just how long it takes, and how effective and efficient it is.
The heated airer was easy to set up, with an ironing board style assembly and fold out wings. It folds back up flat for easy storage, taking up little space in the pantry or under the stairs.
The cable is quite short, which means you’re a bit limited in where you can place it around the house, as it is quite long, but we found a spot for it in the living room where it’s out of the way of the bulk of the household traffic.
Ideal for rainy days and the colder months when the washing line is out of action, the airer has 20 bars on which to hang anything from clothes to towels and bedding. The bars are well sized and evenly spaced, making it quick and easy to hang anything from shirts to chunky knits.
Plugging in the airer, it took around three or four minutes to significantly heat up before we loaded it up with washing. We filled the centre with the majority of the load, using the ends to dry thicker items like jumpers and cardigans.
The airer comes with a snug fitting blue cover which traps the heat in, helping dry the clothes faster. We still checked on the washing every hour or so to rejig items and make sure all was well beneath the cover.
While the airer has more than 500 five star reviews online, there were some complaints that the airer only dries the bit that touches the bar. We found that it dries around five to six inches around the bar in an hour, to which then you may want to shift the placement to speed up drying time. Like with a regular airer, you could leave the garments and they will eventually dry in the same position, but you can certainly help speed things along with this method.
We also discovered that the airer kicks out a fair amount of heat into the room, so it’s well worth having it set up in the room where you spend the most time to avoid popping the heating on. Alternatively, you could pop it in the bedroom and have it nice and cosy before bed.
Our Aldi heated airer took around four hours to fully dry our wash load - which meant it cost less than 28p to do so, compared to more than 60p in the tumble dryer. Not only that, but careful hanging sees the creases drop out of your clothes, too, reducing the need to iron them.
It’s certainly faster than a regular clothes maid, and cheaper than a tumble drier to use. Not only that, but it’s perfect for those delicates, knits and more expensive clothes that you don’t want to risk putting in the dryer.
For items that wouldn’t fit on the heated airer, we put them on a regular clothes airer and placed it next to the Aldi Specialbuy so that the residual heat would help dry the clothes faster, too. Moreover, for that hour we’d usually have the tumble dryer on, it makes such a racket in the kitchen you have to turn the TV up to be able to hear it - the Aldi airer makes no sound at all, making for a more relaxing weekend.
If you missed out on the Aldi heated airer this time around, we’ve rounded up some other well-reviewed options online here. But be sure to keep an eye out on the Aldi website, just in case they come back into stock.
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