With the cost of energy set to reach new heights throughout the autumn and winter period, people have been looking for any alternatives to avoid racking up a big bill. Using the central heating or tumble dryer is not the most energy efficient means of keeping warm or drying your clothes, as the Manchester Evening News reports.
One solution can be found in the form of heated airers, with sales of varieties of this product having shot up amid the cost of living crisis. One of these can be purchased from Lakeland - named the Dry-Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer.
This particular product has gained new-found popularity with rising sales due to big demand. Priced at £179.99, it has acquired almost 200 five-star reviews, with a further 53 consumers giving it four stars.
With the ability to hold up to 15kg of wet washing across 21 metres of drying space, families have been raving about the product since making its way into their homes. The Manchester Evening News decided to test the heated airer to see what all the fuss was about.
After four days of no washing for four people in the house, the airer was going to get its full usage with a lot of washing to get through. With the description claiming it “costs just pennies to run”, they were keen to gauge just how many pennies it was setting them back via a nifty electricity monitor.
Having been on for a total of five hours, the overall cost of the current electricity rate came to 45p - or just 9p an hour. However, this is set to rise to 54p (11p an hour) once the October rate increase takes effect.
Aside from drying your clothes, an added bonus was found to be that it heats up your room in the process, making the spare room nice and toasty. The heat that lingered once it was turned off was enough to finish off most of the washing.
You can get a cover for the airer as well, which helps speed up the drying time, although a bed sheet is said to have the same effect. While your clothes would dry faster, using a cover would also prevent the heat emanating from it and warming the whole room.
There is also a mesh top and sides to the cover to stop it getting too hot. The real beauty of this particular model is definitely its size, allowing you to get a full family-load on, with school uniforms and sport kits aplenty.
However, it is still light enough to move around to whichever room you wish to use it. It also folds away neatly with the cover turning into a storage bag.
Dry-Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer costs £179.99 and delivery is free. You can buy the airer and cover as a bundle for £209.98.
