It’s this time of year when a heated airer really comes into its own, drying clothes quickly and efficiently, while it is too cold to dry them outside. And if you’re looking for an affordable option, George Home’s Silver Heated Winged Clothes Airer is currently £25, down from £40.
A heated airer is a handy bit of kit, but with a wide variety of models ranging in quality and price, it can be tricky to find the best deal. Aside from checking to see if any of the best heated airers are on sale, I also scour the middle aisles of Lidl and Aldi to hunt down a bargain.
Lidl is currently selling a heated airer for £29.99, and normally I’d argue you won’t find a better deal - that is, until I spotted George Home’s airer, which also has received some pretty good reviews.
If you’re wondering how long a heated airer takes to dry clothes, essentially whether they are worth it or not, the answer is just four to eight hours on average. Anyone who’s dealt with laundry taking closer to four days to dry on a standard airer in winter will know this is a great time.
Considering an energy-hungry tumble dryer can still take over an hour to dry clothes, a heated airer is a good investment to make. While it takes longer to dry clothes, heated airers are cheaper to run than a tumble dryer.
George Home’s Silver Heated Winged Airer is made from aluminium and weighs just 5kg, making it lightweight and easily transportable for your home. It also folds for easy storage.
Its foldable nature comes down to its large wings, which also expand the surface area for drying clothes when opened. When the wings are open, the airer is 54 x 147 x 94 cm in size, meaning it can happily handle a standard load of washing. Plus, it comes with a 100-day warranty.
By contrast, Lidl’s heated airer looks very similar. It has the same dimensions as George Home’s airer, so I can assume it holds a similar load size. While George Home has not shared information about how much weight their airer can hold, Lidl has. The Lidl airer has a drying space of 12m and can hold up to 15kg of laundry. As George Home’s airer is the same size, I predict it can hold a similar amount of washing.
Lidl’s heated airer also costs just 7p per hour (according to the October Ofgem price cap), meaning it won’t make too much of a dent in your energy bills to use. By contrast, George Home does not have this information available, but some reviews do comment that it is affordable to run.
‘Very practical, works efficiently, doesn't use much electricity, heats clothes dry quickly, very impressed, and use all year round. Amazing!’ said one.
‘Had this for several months, best thing ever, works best if you dry things flat and rotate often, but a saviour when the weather's wet and cold,’ said another.
If you can’t choose between the two, here are three recommended heated airers, tried and tested by the Ideal Home team.
Ideal Home's best rated heated airers, it dries clothes in just 2 to 3 hours It's also affordable and dismantles when not in use
A winged heated clothes airer is generally the most affordable option, and will still speed up drying times compared to a non-heated airer. This is the best budget option we've tried.
If you have a big or busy household, you'll need a heated airer with a big capacity. This has 21 metres of drying rack space. It's also one of the best options for drying large items like trousers, sheets and towels.
While I’m normally pretty loyal to my local Lidl middle aisle, this time I will be heading to George Home. What about you?
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