With the energy bills rising in price amidst the cost of living crisis, many families have been on the look out for cheaper alternatives to dry their clothes, instead of relying on central heating or the tumble dryer.
Heated airers are one solution and one of the most popular models on the market is Lakeland's Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer. Boasting over 100 five-star reviews, the electric clothes airer can hold up to 15kg of wet washing over 21 metres of drying space and is said to cost 'just pennies to run.'
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With this in mind, Emma Gill from the MEN put the heater to the test. She said: "I'm not sure what my washing weighed, but after at least four days of no washing with four people in the house, there was a lot. The description says it 'costs just pennies to run, but I wanted to know exactly how many pennies. So, having bought myself a nifty electricity monitor to check the usage of individual items, I checked it for myself.
"It was on for five hours overall, which amounted to 45p on my current electricity rate, or 9p an hour. When the rate increases on October 1, it will be just under 54p for the same time, or just under 11p per hour."
Emma found the clothes heater came with the added bonus of providing heat to the whole room. She added: "It wasn't all dry in that time, but the good thing about these is when it's on. your room heats up too - so the spare bedroom I use when working from home was toasty warm. And the heat that lingered once it was turned off helped to finish most of them off.
"You can get a cover for the airer too, which speeds up the drying time - although I'm told sticking a bed sheet over the top has the same effect. I didn't use it as I wanted to make use of the heat coming from it while I was there, rather than most of it staying trapped inside.
"I could have done with the cover to stop our dog getting near it though - not sure if all Labradors have the same sock fetish but he's obsessed - and I'll certainly be giving it a go when I'm not in the room. Reassuringly, there's a mesh top and sides to the cover to stop it getting too hot.
"I'd say the real beauty of this particular model is definitely its size, especially when you've got a family-load or loads to get dry, with school uniforms, sports kits and whatever else they've decided to stick in the wash after a couple of hours' wear. But it's light enough to move around to wherever you want to use it, whenever not in use it folds away neatly, with the cover turning into a storage bag."
The Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer is currently available to purchase from Lakeland online for £179.99. Delivery is free. You can also purchase a bundle which also includes a cover.
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