My heated airer saves laundry from winter woes and costs just 9p an hour

We’re in the coldest and darkest stretch of winter, where the sun barely has time to warm us before we’re plunged back into the darkness again. That doesn’t just have an impact on our vitamin D, it’s also a disaster when it comes to laundry day.

With high energy prices, running a tumble dryer on top of the heating bill might be the last thing you want – if you’ve even got space for a tumble dryer, that is. But a heated airer, like the that I have, could solve your problems.

Best of all, this award-winning heated airer is

Before I talk about the heated dryer, let’s consider the alternative: a regular airer in winter can take a long time to dry clothes, with the risk that they’ll start to get a bit pongy. You can avoid that musty smell by draping your laundry over radiators, but that’s unsightly and it stops the flow of air heating your home properly.

A heated airer, however, is cheap to run (much cheaper than a tumble dryer) and can dry your clothes more quickly than air drying, so there are no musty smells and no build-up of washing hanging around your home.

I’ve had the Dry:Soon Deluxe for a couple of years and it’s been a game-changer. I was away with the family for a couple of weeks for Christmas and there’s a mountain of washing to get through – not to mention the kids’ school uniforms.

Fortunately, the Dry:Soon Deluxe cuts through the drying time: it will dry regular cottons in less than half a day and sportswear can be dried in hours. That means I can get through the washing quickly, even on cold days.

The three-tier design is pretty big when deployed – but you can just open up half of it if you’ve only washed a small load. The design also makes it easy to load, although the little plastic latches that support each shelf can sometimes be a little fiddly.

Here are my top tips for getting the most out of your

Don’t overload it

If you pile too much onto the heated airer, it will slow down the drying process – potentially a let down if you’re a household that needs to dry a lot at once. The clothes need some space to let the water evaporate so your clothes can dry. Don’t be tempted to keep piling on wet stuff: it’s great, but it’s not magic.

The cover speeds up drying

There’s an optional cover, which might sound crazy, but it helps speed up the drying time reducing heat loss. There’s another advantage that the cover brings – my cat loves sleeping on top of the dryer and the cover stops me getting cat hair all over my clothes. The cover is pretty expensive at £45, but consider it a long-term investment.

Lay delicates over the shelves

You can use the three tiers like shelves, so if you want to dry a woollen jumper for example, you can lay it flat over the bars to dry it – which also avoids stretching. Equally, you can drop the middle shelf if you want to hang longer items, like trousers or towels.

Drape bigger items over the whole airer

If you’ve washed a duvet cover, then it will dry faster if you drape it over the whole airer. You can still have other items on the airer, but if you fold up larger items they will take much longer to dry. When I wash my bedding, I don’t use the cover, I just spread out the sheets over the shelves and then drape the duvet cover right over the top (and shut the cat out!).

Super-charge your drying with a dehumidifier

If you to the room that you’re drying in and close the door, you’ll speed up the process, reduce the moisture in the room and avoid damp, condensation and the potential for mould. It works best if you shut the door, otherwise you’re trying to dehumidify whole home. Obviously, this will increase the energy cost, but if you don’t have space for a tumble dryer, the heater airer and dehumidifier combo is a great option. There’s a great