As the weather begins to get that bit chillier and energy bills continue to sky rocket, many of us will be looking for cheaper ways to dry our clothes without using too much energy.
While popping on the tumble dryer used to be the go-to method, the cost of living crisis has forced many of us to look at more energy-efficient methods - with one being an electric clothes heater.
One such heater that has generated quite a lot of buzz has been the Dry-Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer from Lakeland, which currently has nearly 200 five star reviews online from impressed shoppers. Priced at £179.99, the airer is said to be able to hold up to 15kg of wet washing over 21 metres of drying space.
Said to be great for slashing heating bills, one mum decided to test out the retailer's sought after airer to find out how much it would actually cost her to run. Using an electric monitor to check the usage of individual items, Emma Gill from the MEN put the airer on for just five hours and found that it helped dry her clothes and keep the room warm.
Here is how she got on
The description says it 'costs just pennies to run', but I wanted to know exactly how many pennies. So, having bought myself a nifty electricity monitor to check the usage of individual items, I checked it for myself.
It was on for five hours overall, which amounted to 45p on my current electricity rate, or 9p an hour. When the rate increases on October 1, it will be just under 54p for the same time, or just under 11p per hour.
It wasn't all dry in that time, but the good thing about these is that when it's on, your room heats up too - so the spare bedroom I use when working from home was toasty warm. And the heat that lingered once it was turned off helped to finish most of them off.
You can get a cover for the airer too, which speeds up the drying time - although I'm told sticking a bed sheet over the top has the same effect. I didn't use it as I wanted to make use of the heat coming from it while I was there, rather than most of it staying trapped inside.
I could have done with the cover to stop our dog getting near though - not sure if all Labradors have the same sock fetish but he's obsessed - and I'll certainly be giving it a go when I'm not in the room. Reassuringly there's a mesh top and sides to the cover to prevent it from getting too hot.
I'd say the real beauty of this particular model is definitely its size, especially when you've got a family-load or loads to get dry, with school uniforms, sports kits and whatever else they've decided to stick in the wash after a couple of hours' wear.
But it's light enough to move around to wherever you want to use it when not in use it folds away neatly, with the cover turning into a storage bag.
Lakeland's Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-Tier Heated Airer is currently available for £179.99 online now. You can also purchase the airer and cover bundle for £214.98.
You might want to be quick though, as Lakeland have described the airer as a "bestseller" and that "unprecedented demand" will be leading to longer delivery times.
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