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Best heated clothes airers 2024: quick to try and cheapest to run
The best heated clothes airers save you time and money when it comes to drying smaller loads on a rainy day.
Our testing reveals the best heated clothes airers, drying pods and heated drying racks from popular UK brands and retailers such as Lakeland, Dunelm, Minky and more.
Our testing goes the extra mile. We not only measure drying speed and running costs, but also discover which heated airers are most stable, easiest to put up and have the most drying space for their footprint.
Is a heated clothes airer with a cover actually faster at drying? We've found the answer.
The best heated clothes airers
Only logged-in Which? members can view the heated clothes airers and drying pod test results below.
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| Heated clothes airer | Capacity (number of T-shirts) | Drying speed | Running cost per hour | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fast | 10p | |||
| Fast | 10p | |||
| Fast | 6p | |||
| Very fast | 26p | |||
| Fast | 9p | |||
| Very fast | 25p | |||
| Average | 10p |
Date tested: December 2023 and July 2023. Page last checked: January 2024. Drying speed is based on a cotton load. Drying speeds may vary, based on the fabrics and other factors. Running cost per hour: electricity unit price of 24.5p/kWh. We aren't able to show every retailer, and cheaper prices may be available.
The heated clothes airers we tested
All the heated clothes airers we tested are listed alphabetically below.
Only logged-in Which? members can view the best heated clothes airers and drying pods from our tests.
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Argos Home Heated Electric Indoor Clothes Airer
Available from Argos (£55)
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions W x D x H (H folded) 144 x 54 x 93cm (6cm)
Need to know 11.1 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 220 watts; 2.7kg weight; 140cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
Argos Home Three Tier Heated Airer
Available from Argos (£105)
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Most recently tested December 2023
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Dimensions H x W x D (D folded) 144 x 73 x 68cm (10cm)
Need to know 15.3 metres available drying space (24 medium T-shirts); 300 watts; 4.2kg weight; 155cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
Black+Decker 63099 Three Tier Heated Clothes Airer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD (D folded) 140 x 73 x 68cm (10cm)
Need to know 17.2 metres available drying space (24 medium T-shirts); 300 watts; 5.5kg weight; 157cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
Costway Portable Electric Clothes Dryer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD 142 x 70 x 70cm
Need to know 10.1 metres available drying space (24 medium T-shirts); 900 watts; 3.1kg weight; 140cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
Dry:Soon Deluxe Three Tier Heated Clothes Airer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD (D folded) 133 x 74 x 70cm (8cm)
Need to know 20.5 metres available drying space (36 medium T-shirts); 300 watts; 5.9kg weight; 132cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight; also available with a cover at Lakeland
Dry:Soon Drying Pod
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD 146 x 62 x 62cm
Need to know 4.8 metres available drying space (12 medium T-shirts); 1,000 watts; 3.1kg weight; 180cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
Dry:Soon Foldable Heated Airer
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Most recently tested December 2023
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Dimensions WxDxH (H folded) 62 x 34 x 150cm (28cm)
Need to know 2 metres available drying space (5 medium T-shirts); 600 watts; 4.9kg weight; 150cm cord length; 5kg maximum load weight
Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet
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Most recently tested December 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD 152 x 45 x 72cm
Need to know 5 metres available drying space (12 medium T-shirts); 1,200 watts; 4.6kg weight; 145cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
Dry:Soon Mini Three Tier Heated Airer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD (D folded) 114 x 60 x 63cm (8cm)
Need to know 13 metres available drying space (24 medium T-shirts); 198 watts; 3.9kg weight; 130cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight; cover accessory available at Lakeland
Dunelm Addis Clothes Dryer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD 145 x 65 x 65cm
Need to know 7.2 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 1,000 watts; 4.0kg weight; 150cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
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Dunelm Three Tier A Frame Heated Airer
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Most recently tested December 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD (D folded) 135 x 66 x 73cm (140 x 66 x 7cm)
Need to know 17.6 metres available drying space (30 medium T-shirts); 330 watts; 5.5kg weight; 162cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
Dunelm Heated Airer with Wings
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions WxDxH (H folded) 144 x 52 x 93cm (7cm)
Need to know 11 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 220 watts; 2.2kg weight; 165cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
Dunelm Two Tier Heated Airer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD (D folded) 99 x 72 x 78cm (11cm)
Need to know 13.7 metres available drying space (20 medium T-shirts); 198 watts; 3.7kg weight; 165cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
JML DRIBUDDI Indoor Airer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD 160 x 70 x 70cm
Need to know 7.2 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 1,200 watts; 3.0kg weight; 140cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
John Lewis Three Tier Heated Clothes Airer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD (D folded) 135 x 66 x 73cm (7cm)
Need to know 15.8 metres available drying space (30 medium T-shirts); 300 watts; 5.5kg weight; 140cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
Minky Sure Dri Four Tier Heated Clothes Airer With Cover
Available from Argos (£140) (Out of stock), Minky (£160) (Out of stock)
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Most recently tested December 2023
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Dimensions HxWxD (D folded) 147 x 74 x 71cm (16cm)
Need to know 22.9 metres available drying space, 20.3m of which is heated (37 medium T-shirts); 300 watts; 5.2kg weight; 169cm cord length; 20kg maximum load weight
Minky Sure Dri Heat Pod Drying System
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Most recently tested December 2023
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Dimensions of heat pod HxWxD 28 x 33 x 17cm. Compatible with standard three-tier clothes airers up to dimensions HxWxD of 139 x 59 x 49cm
Need to know Drying space depends on your clothes airer, typically 13 metres for a three-tier clothes airer (24 medium T-shirts); 850 watts; 4.0kg weight; 135cm cord length; maximum load weight depends on your clothes airer (typically 15kg for a three-tier clothes airer)
Minky Sure Dri XL Winged Heated Clothes Airer
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Most recently tested December 2023
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Dimensions WxDxH (folded) 185 x 54 x 107cm (144 x 54 x 6cm)
Need to know 13.9 metres available drying space (26 medium T-shirts); 260 watts; 3.2kg weight; 130cm cord length; 20kg maximum load weight
Minky 12m Heated Clothes Airer With Cover
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions WxDxH (H folded) 146 x 54 x 93cm (6cm)
Need to know 11.4 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 230 watts; 3.4kg weight; 138cm cord length; 16kg maximum load weight
Oypla Electrical Extendable Heated Airer
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions WxDxH (H folded) 146 x 54 x 92cm (5cm)
Need to know 11.2 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 230 watts; 2.6kg weight; 137cm cord length; maximum load weight not stated
Status Portable Heated Clothes Airer with Wings
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Most recently tested July 2023
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Dimensions WxDxH (H folded) 144 x 54 x 93cm (7cm)
Need to know 11.1 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 230 watts; 2.7kg weight; 135cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
Compare different methods of drying. What's the best and cheapest way to dry clothes indoors? And find out what our heated airers expert's answer is to the question: 'Are heated airers worth it?'
How we test heated clothes airers
We select the heated airers and drying pods from the most searched-for brands and popular UK retailers, and pay for every airer and drying pod we test.
Drying speed
- We dry a small cotton load on each airer, representing a week's worth of washing for a single person.
- If the capacity of the airer is much smaller than our test load, we fill the airer up to its capacity.
- We weigh the wet clothes before they're hung up to dry, and then frequently reweigh and rotate the cotton clothes on each airer
- The heated airers are rated on how quickly the small load dries.
- We take each airer's capacity into account to calculate the drying time for a large cotton load, equivalent to the average load size used to calculate tumble dryer annual running costs in our tumble dryer reviews.
The best heated airers and drying pods dry small loads in a comparable time to tumble dryers; the worst take over six hours to dry a small load.
We recently updated this test in response to new portable heated clothes airers that have very low capacities.
It would take multiple uses of this type of airer to dry our cotton test load, and so would automatically score low for drying speed.
This isn't reflective of how these airers actually perform and are designed to be used.
To rate these low capacity heated airers, they are judged on how quickly they dry a single cotton load that's the size of its stated capacity, rather than the size of the small cotton test load.
Energy use
- We measure the running cost per hour and total cost to dry the small cotton load.
- We take each airer's capacity into account to also calculate the cost of drying a large cotton load.
The best heated airers cost as little as 6p per hour to run, while the most costly come in at around 34p an hour.
We use the RS PRO energy meter (£27, from RS Components) to measure each airer's energy use.
If you're interested in measuring the energy use of your appliances, you can buy similar meters from popular retailers such as Amazon and Screwfix.
Stability
We use a force gauge to determine how much force is needed to topple over each heated airer, and the flexibility of each airer's bars.
All heated airers are stable enough to hold a full load of washing, but some are more flexible and easy to topple than our top recommendations.
Ease of use
- We score each heated airer on how easy it is to carry, assemble and dismantle.
- We also rate how easy it is to fit different sized of clothing items on each airer.
- We measure the volume of each airer when folded up, to let you know which take up the least amount of room when not in use.
- We also measure the total drying space and volume of the airer, so we can let you know which ones give you the most drying space without taking over an entire room in your home.
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Are heated airers cheap to run?
They dry your clothes faster than air-drying indoors:
- Heated clothes airers we tested typically took between four to seven hours to dry a small (2.15kg) cotton load.
- Drying pods we tested took on average two hours to dry a small (2.15kg) cotton load.
But do heated airers use a lot of electricity? Our tests found they use significantly less of it to dry clothes when compared with drying pods.
- 35p on average for heated airers vs 50p on average for drying pods (for a small 2.15kg cotton load).
- 84p on average for heated airers vs £1.71 on average for drying pods (for a larger 5.7kg cotton load).
For larger loads, you can reduce the running costs even further with our Best Buy heated airer recommendations, which cost 60p on average to dry a large load, compared to the 93p of all the other heated airers we've tested.
While heated airers use less electricity per hour than a tumble dryer, they take longer to dry the clothes. So, if you're drying big loads regularly, it will cost you more to run a heated airer annually than a tumble dryer.
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Are heated clothes airers worth it?
Like most things in life, it depends. In this case: on the amount of clothes you need to dry and how fast you want them to dry.
If you already have a tumble dryer and are thinking of making a swap, it will also depend on what type of tumble dryer you already own.
How long does a heated airer take to dry clothes? Our tests found you can expect it to take between four to seven hours for a cotton load. For thicker items, such as jumpers, this will be longer.
A typical drying pod will do a cotton load in a couple of hours, and a tumble dryer will take anywhere from one to three hours to do a big load of laundry. It's faster than air-drying indoors, but a heated clothes airer is still the slowest of the three.
Can heated clothes airers save you money? Our testing found heated clothes airers will cost about half as much money to run as a drying pod.
Compared to a tumble dryer, however, the story is a little more nuanced. If you have small amounts of washing that can fit on a heated airer in one go, then there are savings to be made when compared to condenser tumble dryers.
For example, drying three small (2.15kg) cotton loads a week will typically cost around the same as the average tumble dryer, but this saving increases to £28 a year if you compare it exclusively to condenser tumble dryers.
But the savings reduce dramatically for larger laundry loads, where you'd need to use the heated airer multiple times to dry a load that could fit in the tumble dryer in one go.
- Small household with small amounts of washing? A heated clothes airer could save you money. From our tests, it will cost around £55 a year to dry three small cotton loads a week, compared to £82 for a condenser and £99 for a vented tumble dryer.
- Large household with lots of washing? Tumble dryers are the best balance of speed and cost. The annual running cost is £65 a year on average to dry three large loads a week. According to our calculations, it would cost around £130 to dry the equivalent amount on a heated airer we've tested. The annual costs of condenser and vented tumble dryers are similar to this, but they will dry your laundry faster than the clothes airers.
- If you have a heat-pump tumble dryer, stick with it. They are just as efficient and cost effective as heated airers for small loads; and for large loads, the average annual running cost for a heat-pump tumble dryer is £51, which is much less than the £130 average for a heated airer.
- Drying pods are costly, but may be what you're after. You won't make any savings – in fact, you could pay significantly more over the lifetime of the product compared to a tumble dryer or heated clothes airer. But if you want to occasionally dry items almost as quickly as you can in a tumble dryer – and you don't own one or can't have one installed – a drying pod could be the answer.
Cut your laundry costs by up to £151 with our money-saving advice
Why you should never dry clothes on your radiator
Radiators can seem a handy option, but drying your clothes on them could end up being more expensive than you'd think:
Wet laundry on your radiators will act as a barrier between the heat your radiators give out and the rest of your home.
This will make the radiators work much harder than they need to, ramping up the heat to compensate and, therefore, could cause your heating bills to rise.
You might end up with dry clothes, but you'll also end up with a colder home and bigger energy bills.
Types of heated clothes airers
There are two main types of heated clothes airer: heated bar clothes airers and drying pods. Both work very differently.
Heated bar clothes airers use (as the name suggests) heated bars to dry clothes, with each one acting like a mini radiator.
Some look like a tower, which typically affords more drying space for the room they take up, but they can be less accommodating of larger items such as dresses, towels and bedsheets.
Others resemble your typical clothes horse, often with foldable wings for extra drying space. They have a larger middle section, which is good for bigger items such as jeans and bedding, but overall have less drying space than tower models.
Drying pods are essentially big hair dryers for clothes, using a fan and heating element to blow hot air through the clothes hanging inside a pod.
They dry clothes faster than heated bar clothes airers, but typically have smaller capacities. You'll be able to hang dresses and jeans in them, but bedsheets and duvets are a no-go.
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Do heated clothes airers cause condensation?
Yes: drying wet clothes releases the moisture into the air. Unless you have means for catching it or letting it out of the house, it will build up and could lead to damp problems.
Crack a window open in the room you're using the heated airer or drying pod or use a dehumidifier.
You can also buy covers for heated bar clothes airers, which will minimise how quickly the moisture is released – but our testing found that they significantly slowed down the drying time.
Best dehumidifiers to control that condensation and best window vacs to shift it.