Want to dry your clothes faster? Find the best heated clothes airers and drying racks here.

Searching for heated clothes airers that aren’t overly large and draining of energy can be a challenge. Will they dry your clothes? Will it hold the weight of your laundry? Will it be too big for the room? All these factors make it difficult to find a drying rack to suit, but we’ve got the best of the best heated clothes airers to help your laundry time go more smoothly. 

As the colder months arrive, drying clothes becomes even more of a challenge. With the lack of sun and the abundance of rain, snow, and 0 degree weather, drying clothes has become the bane of our lives.

What you need is a heated clothes airer that will transform the drying time of your washing. Undoubtedly, a tumble dryer is the fastest at drying your garments, but there are other ways you can speed up your drying time indoors.

So, how do you dry clothes without a dryer? Enter heated airers! They won’t damage your fabrics, they speed up the drying process of your clothes and the residual heat can be used to warm up the room your clothes are drying in too.

In fact, according to Uswitch — they estimate a tumble dryer uses roughly 4.5 kWh of energy per cycle. Each kWh of energy you use costs 28p (if you’re on a duel fuel tariff), which means that you’ll be spending roughly £1.12 per cycle.

You’ll begin to see how much cheaper heated clothes airers are to run in comparison! Read on to find out which airer is right for you. Plus, we’ll include everything you need to know on how to calculate energy used for heated clothes airers too — so you can save cash on your energy bills.

Best heated clothes airers 

Heated clothes airers are flying off shelves at a rapid rate due to the increase in energy rates across the UK. We’ll be updating this list with more in-stock choices as they become available too.

To summarise just some of the best-heated clothes airers on our list…

1. Best quick dryer: Dry:Soon Drying Pod — Lakeland
2. Minky Sure Dri 23m 4 Tier Heated Clothes Airer with Cover — Argos
3. Best value for money: Heated Airer with Wings — Dunelm
4. Best for energy efficiency clothes airer: Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer — Lakeland
5. Heated Ladder Clothes Airer — Dunelm
6. Best for easy storage airer and drying rack: Easy Home Heated Airer — Aldi

We have tons more options listed too!

Worried about needing an iron? Who can really be bothered to iron as a student? With a heated clothes airer, you won’t need to worry about your clothes crinkling, particularly with our top-listed heated airers that fit a variety of purposes and spaces. 

And if heated air dryers are just a no-go, we’ve got some great recommendations on the best clothes drying racks to buy that won’t break the bank.

The best of the best heated clothes airers

Below are the best heated clothes airers, as well as non-heated, indoor clothes airer options to choose from at a range of builds and price points.

Best quick dryer

Dry:Soon Drying Pod — Lakeland

The Lakeland Dry:Soon Drying Pod is one of those heated clothes airers that can be used as an alternative to a tumble dryer. It’s so compact that it actually takes up less room than a coat rack. Don’t let its tiny stature fool you though, it’s still an incredibly strong unit that’s capable of holding up to 12 items on hangers, plus other items, and includes 12 holes you can add hangers to for even more space to dry your washing. 

When the cover is on top, the device can reach a temperature of around 70C, which means warm air is always moving around your clothing to dry it quickly. Thicker materials, like denim jackets or jeans, are dry after about 2 hours of hanging on its aluminium rods.  T-shirts and shirts, however,  can dry in just 60 minutes. Worried about it overheating? You won’t have to! You can set a timer that will automatically turn off the power after 30 minutes, three hours, or intervals of 30 minutes.

Plus,  it’s compact, lightweight and portable, which is great if you’re moving dorms or need to place the heated dryer in a separate room. It is designed to fold downwards, which makes for easy storage too.

Finally — the pod draws around 600 watts of power and costs an average of 4p per hour to run.

• Cost: £99.99
• Watts: 600
• Load: Holds up to 12 items on hangers
• Best for: Quick drying

Minky Sure Dri 23m 4 Tier Heated Clothes Airer with Cover — Argos

The Minky Sure heated clothes airers from Argos may be a little more on the pricey side, but the 4-tier 23m capacity heated airier enables you to dry a whole load of clothes, quickly and cheaply, too. Costing only a few pennies to run depending on domestic electricity prices, it’s a lot better for the environment and your clothes.

The heated clothes airer is lightweight and comes with a cover to trap heat around your clothes and help them dry faster. Its unique vertex-angled arms lift and separate items of clothing to ensure optimised heat flow and quicker drying times.

• Cost: £140
• Load: Holds up 1 wash load
• Best for: Quick, flat drying
• Size when open: H147, W73.5, D67cm.
• Size when closed: H147, W73.5, D15.5cm.

Best value for money airer

Heated Airer with Wings — Dunelm

The Dunelm Heated Airer is a winged dryer uses aluminium rods to dry your clothes fast. It’s also one of the best value for money airers on the market, that’s cheap to run and will get your clothes dry in a flash.

As one of the heated clothes airers for running on a budget, it only costs approximately 7p per hour to run and uses 220 watts of electricity. If you want to speed up your drying time to minimise costs, you can buy an additional cover for the Dunelm Heated airer, which only costs £16 extra.

According to Dunelm, if you use the airer for around 10 hours a week, based on Dunelm’s calculations, it will cost £18 to use it for half the weeks in a year. That’s pretty amazing value if you ask us! 

But if you still want to slash costs even further (or dry more clothes),  Dunelm also has other options available, such as a slightly larger two-tier heated airer for £75, or a smaller heated ladder airer — which is absolutely perfect for smaller items, one-person households or students, which costs only 3p an hour to run.

• Cost: £40
• Watts: 220
• Load: 10kg of clothing
• Best for: Cheap energy usage

Best for energy efficiency clothes airer

Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer — Lakeland

This Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer is a lot more affordable than a tumble dryer, for drying a sizeable load of laundry. Running the heated airer only costs 10p (though the exact cost depends on your tariff). This makes it one of the most sustainable, considering its drying capacity of 15kg and 21m of drying rail space.

It’s perfect for those who have tons of clothing or prefer to do a wash load with family or housemates. Plus, this Dry:Soon 3-tier airer is made of lightweight yet durable aluminium, making them portable and foldable to a depth of 9 cm or less for storage. This makes them perfect to use during the colder months, particularly for some residual heat to warm up the room you’re in. 

Finally — the aluminium bars are thermostatically regulated, meaning it won’t overheat or damage your clothes.

• Cost: £159.99
• Watts: 300
• Load: 15kg of clothing
• Best for: Energy-efficient drying for a heavy load.

Best for easy storage airer and drying rack

Heated Ladder Clothes Airer — Dunelm

This heated clothes ladder airer from Dunelm is small, compact, but perfect for student accommodation. Easily dry your underwear, PJs, towels, or anything smaller and lighter quickly. You won’t need a lot of space to keep this as it measures just H 91cm x W 35cm x L 53.5cm. Store along the wall in your bathroom and you’ll forget it’s even there…

At just £40, it’s perfect if you don’t have the funds or space for a tumble dryer because it’s lightweight and simple to put together. It’s perfect if you want to reduce your radiator usage too, as it only uses 90W of power. In fact, the heated clothes airer from Dunelm will only cost around 3p per hour to run.

All in all — don’t go to uni without one.

• Cost: £40
• Watts: 90
• Load: 5kg of clothing
• Best for: saving storage space

Addis Superdry Indoor Airer — Amazon

Don’t be thrown off by the steel airer’s sophisticated appearance; folding and storing it is actually very straightforward!

The Addis Superdry Indoor Airer from Amazon is ideal for drying both indoors and outside. Outside you say? That’s right — although it’s not a heated airer, the unit is quite heavy, meaning it can withstand strong winds. As heated clothes airers go, this is probably one of the easiest to store along with our previous option. 

Plus, it’s got tons of hanging space and you can be confident this airer won’t break or blow over in the wind. Addis has truly thought of everything; it includes wheels for mobility, shoe supports, and a helpful net that serves as a washing bag too. Perfect for delicates!

The con? It’s not as energy efficient as the Aldi heated clothes airer, but it holds more laundry. So if that’s important, this is the heated airer for you.

• Cost: £55.95
• Load: 20kg of clothing
• Best for: indoor and outdoor drying

Get an Amazon student discount.

Best wall-mounted drying rack

Garden trading extending clothes dryer —Garden Street 

This stylish wall-mounted rack from Garden Street doubles as a clothes dryer too. In fact — it’s the perfect wall-mounted dryer that can fit with almost any interior decor you have going on. It’s made of birch plywood and comes in a universally-flattering charcoal or chalk. Plus, it folds up pretty discreetly against the wall when you’re not using it.

In terms of drying space, it has 10 extendable zinc rails, which you can lengthen or shorten depending on your living space. The only con is that it is a little on the heavy side, so make sure wherever it’s hung can support the weight. 

• Cost: £149.99
• Load: 7kg of clothing
• Best for: indoor drying.

Metaltex Gale Over-The-Door Laundry Dryer — Amazon

The Metaltex Gale Over-The-Door Laundry Dryer from Amazon is a collapsable dryer that’s small enough to put over a door, balcony, or shower screen. It’s so discreet, that you’ll barely notice it disrupts your interiors! 

This tiny yet mighty over-the-door dryer has 11 metres of hanging area, and it’s made to last enough to hold a full load of clothes. Once your clothes are dry, you can fold this wall-mounted dryer away into a compact space, making it suited for those in smaller rooms or homes.

While it’s a little on the pricier side, it has amazing build quality and lots of space to dry your clothes.

• Cost: £58.99
• Load: 5-7kg of clothing
• Best for: indoor drying.

Get an Amazon student discount.

How long does it take clothes to dry?

Depending on the fabric and whether it’s hanging inside or outside (most likely inside!), air-drying clothing can take anywhere from 45 minutes to 24 hours. This will be much longer in cold weather, when you may not have your window open for as much to keep warm.

The usual way to dry clothes is by hanging them up to air dry. Many people still do this if they don’t have access to a tumble dryer. However, some uni halls of residence have a laundry room which has a few tumble dryers in. You may know the struggle of having to queue up though. To beat that, a drying rack or heated clothes airer is going to be your best bet.

So, if you decide to opt for those latter options, you’re probably wondering —  how long does it take for clothes to air dry? 

Ultimately, the amount of time it takes for your clothes to dry depends on a variety of factors:

• Type of fabric
• Where your clothes are being left to dry (is there enough ventilation?)
• If the clothes have been rung out — certain fabrics hold onto a lot of water

That second point is very important too. If you don’t have a way of ventilating the area in which your clothes dry, it’ll end up taking much longer. Plus, this can cause a damp-like smell, which isn’t ideal!

How much do heated air dryers cost to run?

According to The Telegraph, a heated air dryer can cost around 7p per hour for 200W dryers and 10p per hour for 300W dryers, approximately. These figures are based on the energy price cap of 34p per kW/h for October 1 to December 31 2022, although prices will vary according to your tariff.

Electricity companies use units called kilowatt-hours (kWh).To calculate this, you’ll need to know the wattage of the appliance, plus your tariff rate (which you can usually find on the account of your energy provider online).

How to calculate how much an air dryer will cost to run

The formula for calculating your air dryer usage for the month is:

kWh = (watts x time in hours)/1000

Below are the steps to calculate the use of your air dryer (or any other appliance).

1. Find the appliances’ kilowatts. E.g. 1000 watts / 1000 = 1kw
2. Estimate how long you’ll use the air dryer per month. E.g. 20 hours of use x 1 = 20 kWh
3. Find your electricity tariff rate. E.g. 0.1 x 20kWh = £2

This particular air dryer will cost you £2 to run per month.

Different types of clothes airer

There are five main types of clothes airers you can invest in. Some of these may be combined, such as a tiered heated airer, or some may be branded as a bathtub/winged airier. But ultimately, these are the main types of clothing racks you want to keep an eye out for.

Tiered designs pull up in a concertina shape and are usually two to three tiers high. They’re great if you don’t have much space to dry your clothes, as you can “stack” the clothes vertically (or hang, rather).

Winged types have a criss-cross base section and ‘winged’ sections that project out to the side. They’re larger than tiered ones so require a bit more room, but there’s usually more space for air to circulate around the clothes so they’ll dry quickly. If you’re lucky enough to have a bathtub or a big enough shower, then a winged type might be the one for you.

Then you have folding styles of airers. These usually have around three or four sections and are pretty cheap to get hold of. 

If you want a combination of vertical and horizontal hanging capability, then the Tower type may be the one for you. They even have areas to hook on clothes hangers, which is great if you have a lot of clothing.

Finally, the fifth type is a heated version of one of the above types of airier! They’re especially useful if you want to dry your clothes quickly and use the residual heat to warm up your space.

Should I use radiators to dry washing?

Drying your clothes on a radiator can pose a fire risk. It’s advisable not to do this and instead invest in a drying rack, at least to start with.

They may cause the following to happen too:

Increased condensation

When wet clothing is hung to dry on a radiator, the water evaporates off the fabric and becomes moisture in the air. Condensation can develop on surfaces such as walls, windows, mirrors, or any other surface that the damp air comes into contact with when there is too much moisture in the air.

Some student halls and houses have frequent reports of poor air ventilation and inadequate insulation, which makes them less effective at retaining heat and making them more prone to condensation. This causes stale air and moisture to become trapped — and the result can be unpleasant and unhealthy (think black mould…yuck!).

Soaring energy bills

The cost of living crisis has caused energy bills to soar, which the average student can’t keep up with, as we discovered in our cost of living report.

Plus, the main purpose of a radiator is to heat a room, so when it’s covered by something else, like clothing, the radiator becomes less effective. Things like a wire clothes hanger can still work, though, if you really must use a radiator to produce heat in your room. 

You may also need additional ventilation in your room to allow for the water vapour from your wet clothes to escape. So, if your radiator is on, the efforts used to produce heat become redundant, and you essentially waste energy and money. 

If you really must get your clothes to dry quicker, this is where an energy-efficient heated clothes airer may come in handy.

We hope you’ve got a better idea of which heated clothes airers to choose from. Want to get the latest student deals? Sign up for Student Beans to get home student discounts, fashion student deals and much more.