Heated bar clothes airers use (as the name suggests) heated bars to dry clothes, with each one acting like a mini radiator. Drying space: This is one feature of clothes airers that you don’t want to overlook. This is the total length of all the drying rungs added together as if they formed one long clothesline. Obviously, if you’re a big family you’ll want more drying space, but if you’re living alone this could be something you can compromise on. Have a window open. Perhaps obvious, but it's also free, which the other methods aren't. It clears the 'wet' air out and let fresh air in. OK to do on milder days, but I know most of us don't want the windows flung open on the cold winter months, so instead you could... I’ve seen people swear by putting a cover over their heated airer to speed up drying time. But from my experience, this isn’t always the case. We used a force gauge to determine how much force is needed to topple over each heated airer, as well as the flexibility of each airer's bars.

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. The best heated airers and drying pods dried small loads in a comparable time to tumble dryers; the worst took over six hours. Energy useFinally, tower airers have a combination of vertical and horizontal bars on which to hang clothes, and often an area to hook on clothes hangers - a great addition if you wash a lot of shirts. Another option for speeding the clothes-drying process is to run a portable dehumidfier in the same room. Dehumidifiers can shorten drying time by 25 percent, while also reducing damp and mould in the home. 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. The best heated airers cost as little as 6p per hour to run, while the most costly came in at around 32p an hour. Stability The British weather is very unpredictable and drying our clothes inside our homes is what most of prefer rather than take the risk of hanging them outdoors. However, medical experts raised some concerns on the risks of how draping clothes on warm radiators can have an effect on a home’s moisture levels. An increase in a home’s moisture levels can create a breeding ground for mould spores.

Collapsible size: Let’s face it, clothes airers aren’t good looking. Most people want a clothes airer they can stash away in storage when they’re not in use. Pay attention to the collapsible size of the clothes airer you’re considering so that you know you can fit it inside a cupboard or under a bed. I've only tested heated airers that come with plastic covers. The plastic doesn't let moisture through, so the clothes takes longer to dry - more than six hours for a cotton load.Every airer I’ve tested simply turns on and off, so it costs the same per hour to run whether you’ve got a item of clothing on every bar or not. We also measured 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. Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer Patterned Cover - dry your clothes in style with this new contemporary, patterned deluxe cover. This Dry:Soon 3-Tier Standard Heated Airer offers 21m of drying space and can hold up to 15kg of laundry. Our Drysoon airers cost pennies to run*, and with gently heated bars are a lot kinder to your clothes than tumble drying. And when you don't have laundry to dry you can fold your electric airer down to only 8cm deep for flat storage. These are great for those with no floor space to spare. Some have legs and long wings to make the most of the space above a standard UK bath, but you can also find smaller tent-style designs that attach to the rim of the bath instead. Tower