Best heated clothes airer to dry your clothes quickly and efficiently

Living in a flat can make winter laundry particularly tricky, with limited space and slow drying times often leading to damp smells and clothes draped over every available surface. A heated airer helps solve this by offering a low cost, space efficient way to dry clothes indoors. During colder months, when drying times stretch out even further, this can make a noticeable difference, especially for larger families dealing with constant laundry loads.

Best heated airer at a glance

• Best heated airer for drying a big load: Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer, £159.99
• Best heated airer for small houses: Dry:Soon Mini 3-Tier Heated Airer, £129.99
• Best heated airer for drying flat: Argos Home Heated Electric Indoor Clothes Airer, £55
• Best heated airer for lowest running costs: Homefront Electric Heated Clothes Airer, £49.95
• Best heated airer for drying a medium load: Dunelm 3-Tier Heated Airer, £95

With the demand for heated airers constantly rising, there are a few stock issues right now, so if you want one, it's a good idea to buy one as quickly as possible before they go completely out of stock.

To help you find the best and most efficient heated airer we spoke to parents around the country from our Top Testers Club and asked them which heated airer they use to dry their family's washing, to get real parents' views on the best options out there. If you'd like to compare the different airers we've also included a handy table at the bottom of the list. If you're looking for nifty storage ideas for your clothes, take a look at the best vacuum storage bags.

For more energy saving products take a look at our roundup of the best retractable washing lines, the best rotary washing lines, or the best heated throws so prevent you from having to put the heating on. For more useful household products, take a look at the best clothes steamers, the best bath mats and the best cutlery trays.

• • Jump to best heated airers

What to look for when buying a heated airer

• Drying space – Depending on the size of your family and how much washing you do, you need a heated airer that will fit enough clothes, preferably a whole load. Most heated dryers list the amount of drying space in metres. However, some are not as helpful so it's important to workout how much space you need so you're not disappointed and have to dry your washing in 2 rounds, meaning it has to be on for longer.
• Size – Although you may need a large amount of drying space, you also need to be realistic about how much room you have for a heated airer. Fortunately, quite a few of them are tall rather than wide so take up less room, but always check the measurements and think about where you can fit it in your house.
• Running cost – With electricity prices so high at the moment, cost of running may be the most important thing when choosing a heated airer – to help you we've included this in the specifications and in a comparison table below. Do consider the fact that higher wattage driers may dry clothes quicker, so will need to be switched on for less time.
• Storage – Most of the heated airers are quite compact when folded away. If you want it out of the way when not in use, ensure that it folds away to be stored.
• Cover – Some heated aireres come with covers – included or as an added extra – if you want your clothes to dry faster then the covers can really help increase drying time.

Our pick of the best heated airers to dry your clothes

1. Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer, £159.99

Best for drying a big load

Laundry weight capacity: 15kg | Drying space: 21m | Dimensions: L73cm x W75cm x H137cm | Wattage: 300W | Average cost of running per hour: 10p

When we asked around which heated airer people were using, this was by far the most popular. Although it is quite expensive, it's much cheaper to dry a large load of washing using this in comparison to a tumble dryer. The heated airer costs just 10p to run (exact cost depends on your tariff). Parent tester Cali uses this airer and said, "It uses much less energy than a tumble dryer and the washing doesn't take days to dry."

It can hold up to 15Kg of washing with 21m of drying space making it ideal for big families. The 3-tier dryer has thermostatically controlled bars that won't overheat and can be folded down to 9cm deep for easy storage when not in use.

Parent tester Laura uses this airer to dry her family's clothes (pictured above) and said, "It's fab, it fits almost 2 loads of washing on and a little bonus is it helps heat the room up."

There are also some accessories you can buy such as the cover (£39.99), which Laura said really helped speed up drying time or some extra mesh shelves (£14.99) and a peg hanger (£9.99) to help you arrange your clothing on the airer.

Pros: Can hold a large load of washing, has accessories available, folds down, cost-efficient
Cons: Takes up quite a bit of space, no timer, cover not included

Available from: Lakeland

2. Dry:Soon Mini 3-Tier Heated Airer, £129.99

Best for small houses

Laundry weight capacity: 15kg | Drying space: 13m | Dimensions: L60cm x W63cm x H113.5cm | Wattage: 198W | Average cost of running per hour: 6p

This is very similar to the original Dry:Soon 3-Tier heater but is smaller, making ideal for flats or smaller houses where there may not be lots of space for a clothes airer. Not only is it space-saving but thanks it its smaller size, it also only uses 198W compared to 300W for the larger version, costing 6p per hour instead of 10p.

This one is small but mighty, holding up to 15kg of washing and boasting 13m of drying space – impressive considering the size. If you're still lacking space you can use it with just one side folded out so it can be against a wall.

When not in use, if folds down to 8cm deep to be stored away ready for next time.

Again, the cover (£39.99) can be bough separately and is recommended for optimal drying time. All the Dry:Soon accessories are compatible with this heated airer too.

Pros: Lots of drying space despite size, compact, low wattage, accessories available
Cons: Cover not included

Available from: Lakeland

3. Argos Home Heated Electric Indoor Clothes Airer, £55

Best for drying flat

Laundry weight capacity: 10kg | Drying space: 11.5m | Dimensions: L84cm x W54cmcm x H93cm | Wattage: 220W | Average cost of running per hour: 7p

This airer is a great option if you like to lay your clothes flat to dry as it's very wide and long rather than tiered like some of the others in this list. It holds up to 10kg worth of clothes, and has 11.5m worth of drying space.

When not in use it can be folded away. Although it's large, it does have less drying space than both Dry:Soon options, however, it is a lot more affordable.

Parent tester Kelly uses this airer to dry her family's washing (pictured above) and said, "We've recently had a baby so it's been a huge help drying his clothes. It works out very cheap to have on for the day."

Pros: Great for lying clothes flat to dry, affordable
Cons: Less drying space than others compared to size, does not have cover to speed dry time

Available from: Argos

4. Homefront Electric Heated Clothes Airer, £49.45

Best for lowest running cost

Laundry weight capacity: 10kg | Drying space: 2m | Dimensions: L53.5cm x W36cm x H90.5cm | Wattage: 90W | Average cost of running per hour: 3p

If you want to dry a few items then this heated airer is ideal, costing just 3p an hour to run. It's also a great option if you don't want a big airer in your house. It has 2m of drying space and with 6 thick bars it can carry wet, heavy washing without any problem.

The airer is made from tough aluminium and ABS plastic. Unfortunately, it doesn't fold away but there's really no need as it's already so compact.

Pros: Compact, durable, low running cost per hour
Cons: No cover, does not fold, can only hold small amount of washing

Available from: Robert Dyas and Amazon

5. Dunelm 3-Tier Heated Airer, £95

Best for drying a medium load

Laundry weight capacity: 15kg | Drying space: 20m | Dimensions: L78cm x W72cm x H138cm | Wattage: 330W | Average cost of running per hour: 11p

This Dunelm heated airer is very like the original Dry:Soon 3-tier one holding the same weight and almost the same amount of drying space 20m instead of 21m. However, because of the slight difference in size, we recommend this one for a medium wash load.

This heater uses 30W more than the Dry:Soon one so it could be more expensive to run, however, this heated airer is quite a bit cheaper to buy.

Parent tester Catherine uses this airer (pictured above) and said, "It's great, we really like it and can fit all our washing on it. It has been really handy with the new baby."

When you need to store it away it can be easily folded away. Unfortunately, it does not have a cover to speed up drying time.

Pros: Large amount of drying space, affordable option, folds away
Cons: Uses more wattage, no cover available

Available from: Dunelm

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