I spent £95 on a heated airer to dry laundry in winter - here's my thoughts after 3 years

It's no secret that drying laundry in the winter months is incredibly hard, especially if you don't have a tumble dryer. Combined with rising energy bills, drying laundry can seem impossible for those reducing how often they use their heating. Luckily, there are some ways which can aid in drying wet clothes, such as a dehumidifier to remove excess moisture in the air and heated airers.

A heated airer is essentially an electric clothes horse designed to dry clothes indoors. Typically, they are foldable racks made of metal or plastic rods, and some may even have multiple tiers or arms to hang clothes on.

The electric heating elements warm the rods, which radiates heat to the clothes. Some models even have timers or adjustable heat settings.

You simply hang wet clothes on the rack, plug the airer in, and let it work. While they are incredibly energy-efficient compared to tumble dryers, they are much slower, and it can take a while for clothes to dry.

Initially, I was super excited to try my heated airer, which was purchased for around £95 three years ago.

There are many on the market, but I purchased mine from Dunelm, and I later tried a cheaper £40 one from Aldi.

While they are a great idea, the heated rods obviously only dry the fabric touching the rods, which means turning clothing constantly, with some areas not drying at all.

Some heated airers come with a cover, and while these make them work slightly better, areas are still left untouched.

One positive, however, is that the room I had the heated airer in was significantly warmer than the rest of the home, which helped dry the rest of the clothing.

However, do I think they're worth the money? Not really. They can be quite an investment, and for them to now work as well as a dehumidifier, which can be picked up for a similar price, I think you're better off spending your money elsewhere.

I'll reach for it occasionally, but I use a dehumidifier much more and find it works much better.

However, if you have lots of baby clothes, underwear or socks, you could benefit from a heated airer as small items of clothing will dry fast.