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I spent the weekend studiously ignoring my laundry pile. With most of the UK being battered by storms right now, drying clothes has become a logistical nightmare.
With drying outdoors very much out of bounds, I hung one load of washing on my regular clothes airer and it took two full days to dry. Even worse, one of my favourite chunky jumpers still had damp cuffs and had begun to get that horrid musty smell.
I realised it was finally time to invest in a heated clothes airer. Luckily, I happened to stumble on one the Good Housekeeping Institute’s best heated clothes airers with 20% off right now. With three tiers and a 15kg capacity, Dunelm’s 3 Tier Heated Airer might just be the solution to all that damp laundry hanging around like a bad smell.
The Dunelm 3 Tier Heated Airer at a glance
Pros
- Large capacity with plenty of space for drying items flat and corners for clothes on hangers
- Tall, so you can dry bedding and trousers without them dragging on the ground
- Great value
Cons
- Some fluctuations in temperature across the airer in testing
Key specifications
| Total drying space | 20m |
|---|---|
| Drying capacity | 15kg |
| Size when open | 138 x 72 x 78cm |
| Timer | No |
| Energy consumption per hour in lab | 0.4kWh = 10p an hour |
| Heat up time in lab | 12 minutes |
Dunelm’s heated airer: Is it worth it?
When we tested it at the Good Housekeeping Institute, our experts gave Dunelm’s airer a solid score of 82/100. Here’s what impressed in the lab.
It dried clothes much quicker than a traditional airer
If you’re like me and hate having wet clothes hanging around for days on end, you’ll be pleased to hear that this heated airer got the job done and dusted in four hours. Some thicker fabrics had slight damp patches, but regular cotton and polyester clothes were completely dry and ready to put away.
Our bedding dried even quicker, taking just one hour and 45 minutes compared to four and a half hours on a traditional airer. So, you can get the bed changed, washed, dried, and made again all in one day.
It’s sturdy, well-built, and has lots of space for drying
Quick to put up, with a sturdy build, the airer takes around 12 minutes to heat up. Pop it on when your washing machine says it has 10 minutes left and it will be ready to use right away (because we all know washing machines lie about their finishing times). Compared to winged airers, it doesn’t take up too much space either, making it a good pick for smaller homes.
The three tiers also offer plenty of drying space. Hangers can be hung from the corners too, so your shirts won’t get creased from lying over the bars and you can spend less time ironing (something we can all easily get behind).
It doesn’t cost much to run
During testing, the Dunelm heated airer used around 0.4kWh of energy per hour of drying, which works out around 10 pence an hour at the current energy price cap. This means drying a full load of clothes would cost around 40 pence each time.
Compare that to a tumble dryer, which typically costs from 50-60 pence (for a heat pump model) or up to £1.40 (for a standard condenser dryer) and this is the more cost-effective option, and there’s no pricey initial outlay, either. Win, win.
Plus, with 20% off the full price right now, there’s never been a better time to grab this GHI Approved heated airer.
More Dunelm buys to help dry laundry quicker
There are currently lots of discounts on practical wet weather essentials at Dunelm – check out more of our favourites below.
Pop this heated ladder in your bathroom and enjoy a warm, toasty towel every time you step out of the shower. It can hold up to 5kg but has a slim, discreet design. The six rungs offer plenty of space for drying small items of clothing like pants and socks too.
Not convinced by a heated airer? This traditional, three-tiered drying rack is now less than £10 and folds neatly away once you’re done with it. The different levels and number of rungs make it ideal for drying large loads.
I hate spending ages hanging up pants and socks only for them to slip off the rungs of my airer. With this clever hanger, you can peg up your delicates and hook it onto the end of your drying rack, leaving more space on the rungs for larger pieces of clothing.
Megan is the Good Housekeeping Institute’s senior homes and lifestyle writer. She loves diving into the latest product releases to find the very best buys on the market and has written hundreds of product reviews on everything from the best vacuum cleaners and coffee machines to the best ice cream makers and robot window cleaners.
When she’s not writing about the newest gadgets and gizmos for your home and garden, you’ll find her running every distance from 5km to 100km or relaxing at home with her cat – there really is no in between.
Megan has an MA in Magazine Journalism and has previously written for Stylist, Glamour, Women's Health, TimeOut, SquareMeal, and YOU magazine. You can find Megan on Instagram @meganlouisegeall.
Blossom is passionate about finding the best home products and appliances for GH readers. As head of the homes testing team, she has led reviews across multiple categories, from pizza ovens, and smart plugs to portable fans and hobs. She enjoys delving into the intricacies of products and refining testing protocols to ensure we’re testing them against their claims. Her aim is to find the top-performing products on the market, to help take the hard work out of housework. Blossom’s most notable accomplishment in the lab has been toasting 528 slices of bread in her quest to find the best toasters money can buy. In her free time, she openly admits to being a music geek and indulges her creative side through crocheting, baking, singing and writing.
