Last Updated on 15 September 2025 by Dan Wilderness
Hello everyone! It’s got cold here over the last week and I’ve made an investment in a heated airer as a result to have my clothes drying quickly and avoiding any risk of them feeling damp! Today I’m going to be conducting a review if a heated airer is worth your money, can dry your clothes effectively in colder weather and cover how much it costs to run.
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Why did I buy a heated clothes airer?
Part of my purchase of a heated clothes airer is because I live in a flat, and in the very coldest weather we notice that clothes take significantly longer to dry. It goes without saying we want to avoid any damp/mustiness, either in our room on the clothes themselves.
Living in a flat, unfortunately putting our clothes outside isn’t an option, with the other downside in cold weather is that wet clothes creating humidity in the flat.
Whilst we try and mitigate this by opening the windows (and I also use a dehumidifier, and have included my thoughts on if a dehumidifier is worth it in a separate article) it seemed sensible on both counts to see what else we could do here. The heated airer was the answer.
How does a heated clothes airer work?
Very simply! Picture a heated towel rail type arrangement – it’s very similar.
The clothes airer I got heats up in a couple of minutes, so I simply switch it on and load the clothes into it as it heats.
The heated clothes airer I got came with a cover as well, which traps the heated air inside to create more of the effect of an airing cupboard for the clothes.
Does a heated clothes airer work?
Yes it does, I’ve noted that clothes dry significantly quicker when heated, and are mostly dry in a few hours rather than in the winter months what can be a couple of days.
However, I will say that using the cover makes a significant difference here. Having just the clothes airer definitely assists things, but the cover trapping the heat means the clothes dry more evenly and quickly.
Do I need a cover for a heated clothes airer?
As per above, covering the clothes really does help – but you don’t actually need a dedicated cover, it just needs something to be able to contain heat. So something large a large bedsheet would also work to create the same effect.
Having said that, if you can get an airer with a cover designed for your specific model it’s worth considering as a preferred option – simply because it’s most likely to fit on directly and maximise the heat efficiency as a result.
Studies suggest that a cover may improve drying times by up to about 25%.
What type of heated clothes airers are available?
The key difference in heated airers really relates to the shape and size, and what’s right for you will depend on the volume of washing you’re doing.
- If you’re doing a large amount of washing, a three tier airer is probably what you’re after – this will take about 15kg of washing.
- If you’re looking to focus on things like bedsheets, a winged airer might be worth considering – this takes about 10kg of washing with less hanging space.
- If you’re just looking to dry a few essentials, a small ladder style airer may be best for you, which takes about 5kg of washing over 3/4 rails.
- You can also get a pod style heated airer, but we don’t particularly recommend these – they do work very quickly, but have limited capacity with very high running costs.
Which style of heated airer is best?
It depends how much washing you’re doing, but we’d tend to say we think the bigger options of the three tier airer or the winged airer at the best choice.
Even as a household of two people, we found we filled up the capacity even of the large model fairly quickly, and think the trade off with the running costs (more below) is not unreasonable for what you get out of it.
Of course, going smaller will save you money on the running costs and you can prioritise putting only your thickest or most difficult to dry clothes on the heated clothes airer.
How much does a heated clothes airer cost to run?
The electricity running costs of a heated airer will depend on the size, so I’ve broken this down in a similar way to those above.
There’s some variance depending on the specific model – but it’s usually in a fairly tight window.
The key factor in determining the running costs with any clothes airer is to look at the wattage value, which will tell you how many watts of power the airer will draw on in an hour. Electricity use is usually charged in kWh, so we can work out costs from how quickly we use 1000W to get a rough costing.
We’ve used the present electricity price cap of 25.73p per hour to make our calculations – so please note this will vary based on your own bill and if the cost of electricity goes up or down. We’ve then taken wattage examples from some of the models we’ve features below.
- A three tier style airer is usually about 300W – 330W, so will generally cost 7.7-8.5p per hour to run.
- A winged airer is usually about 260W so generally costs 6.7p per hour to run.
- A small ladder style airer is usually around 90-120W so generally cost 2.3-3.1p per hour to run.
- The fan-style pod airers run at a much higher wattage using 850W-1200W, meaning a cost of 20-31p an hour to run (however, these dry faster as a trade off).
One top tip is that if you put in on the same room as you’re living or working in, you’ll also get the benefit of the heat from the airer and it can save you putting the heating on!
Our recommendation of the best heated clothes airers
We’ve summarised some of the better reviewed options out there:
The Best Three Tier Style Heated Ariers
Personally I have a Black and Decker 3-tier heated airer, which I am very pleased with – it’s available from Amazon here with or without the cover, CostCo here with a cover as well (you’ll need a CostCo membership for this) or Robert Dyas with a cover.
Lakeland somewhat started the heated airer craze – their 3-tier Dry:Soon model is available here without a cover and here with a cover and get good reviews. The Dry:Soon products are also available from Amazon here if preferred.
And John Lewis, Argos and Dunelm have well rated own brand models which are at the links to each retailer.
The Best Winged Heated Airers
The Minky Sure Dry range is a good option here – there’s a larger XL 15m airer available from Minky here, or if you’re looking to focus on bedding a 12m option here.
Dunelm also have a heated winged airer here.
The Best Ladder Style Heated Airers
There’s not as much choice for Ladder Airers, but Dunelm have a well rated small ladder that can be found here.
How long does a heated clothes airer take to dry clothes?
It will depend on the size of your airer and the thickness of the clothes you’re looking to dry.
With my Black and Decker airer, I’ve found that a full washing load of clothes will be dry or near dry in 4-5 hours – thicker items like towels take a bit longer.
For avoidance of doubt, I’m using a cover with that – expect drying times to be longer without one.
When paired with a dehumidifier, this really does speed up the drying process and I’ve had really thick items dry in a couple of hours, even on a really cold day.
Tips to maximise the benefits of your heated clothes airer
Having had our heated airer for some time now, we’ve done quite a lot of experimentation and I’ve got some tips based on what I’ve found works best for drying efficiency.
- Heat rises, so put your larger clothes on the top rack of the airer and smaller stuff at the bottom
- For bigger items, using a couple of rails does make a difference.
- If you don’t have a cover, do use a bedsheet (and if you’re drying a large bedsheet, throwing it over will help as it can be difficult to fit into the bars.)
- You’ll ideally want that cover to be reasonably heavy in order to contain the heat.
- You’ll notice drying time will be a lot quicker where your clothes are touching the bars, so if you need speed, moving items around will help even out the heat.
- Where our clothes haven’t dried properly, it’s generally because we’ve tried to pack things too tightly onto the airer. (It’s better to put smaller items which will dry more easily on a regular airer separately rather than pack everything on to the heated one).
Are there any disadvantages to a Heated Clothes Airer?
As with any form of clothes drying it’ll raise humidity in your house – so you’ll just need to make sure there’s some ventilation in the room – or use a dehumidifier.
Verdict: Is a Heated Clothes Airer worth it?
Yes, it’s not an absolutely essential purchase but in the winter months it’ll help you guarantee that clothes (especially thicker winter type tops) will actually dry, and dry relatively quickly.
It’s an option that kinder to your clothes than a tumble dryer and cheaper as well (modern condensing tumble dryers are a lot more efficient that they used to be, although still clearly beaten by the heated clothes airer for efficiency.
If you’re doing particularly large batches of washing we would suggest running a dehumidifier alongside your clothes drying, as it helps manage any condensation and really supercharges the clothes drying time.
Advantages
- Heated clothes airers are cheap to run and effective
- Gentle on clothes
- Also helps heat a room at the same time.
Disadvantages
- Slower than a tumble dryer
- Increases room humidity
Any questions?
We’ve love to hear if you’ve got any questions or about your own experiences – just leave us a note in the comments below!
And that’s it!
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