Heated Airer Opinions

[johbreaking]

With Winter coming up and us already getting rain looking at options for drying clothes over the winter. The tumble dryer packed up last month and won't be in any rush to get a new one due to cost of running them!

 

What solutions are people using. I know people have said about using heated airers but someone in the family had one of the aldi ones and said it never really dried anything it just made one part of the clothes dry and left them damp still.

[PotNoodleTech]

I never had a tumble drier so I just put mine on the clothes horse. If your house is approx 20 degrees c then they should be dry in 48 hours assuming you've spun them at 1200.

[AlistairB1983]

We only use our tumble dryer for towels & similar (because they go hard and crusty if you let them air dry!) but everything else is left over a clothes horse.

 

Most things dry within 24 hours (less in the summer when you can put it in the sunshine!) although some things like jeans you have to occasionally have to move/turn to ensure all of it dries.

[Andrew_C]

We've got one of these hanging high in the stairwell. You do HAVE to be aware of condensation risks, especially in a modern sealed house. I fitted a PIV unit above it, and we've had no problems at all. (WOW! Prices have shot up, unless that's not the one I fitted!!)

 

 

ETA - cheaper on Amazon.

Edited September 12, 2022 by Andrew_C

[JATSO]

If your drying your clothes on an airier, try using a dehumidifier, we always use one for ours, it has a clothes drying setting on it.

Put the clothes on the airier, ensure winds and doors are shut turn it leave overnight or during the day, empty the tank.

Uses minimal electric.

[dhicks]

With Winter coming up and us already getting rain looking at options for drying clothes over the winter.

 

I live in a small, well-insulated flat, which is great heating-wise over the winter but does tend to build up a fair bit of moisture, hence we have a dehumidifier. I'm not quite sure exactly how much power it takes, but I'm guessing a fair bit less than most heaters.

 

If you want to go for a larger solution, you could look at an air-sourced heat pump - basically an air conditioning unit that can be run in reverse to act as a heater. Typically 2 or 3 times more efficient than using the same amount of electricity to simply run a heater. Grants might be available for installation, it might be something worth looking into.

 

The trick with any kind of heating / cooling system seems to be circulation - in our server cupboard we have a couple of extra fans to direct the cold air going through the servers, otherwise you get hot / cold spots in different areas. The same might help with your clothing - a simple fan pointed at the clothes horse should help circulate the air around, couple that with a dehumidifier.

[mavhc]

You have to specify and air to air heat pump though, or in the uk they'll give you a air to water heat pump

[andy_b]

I have a heated airer - works ok (ish), they seem to work better when you use a cover.

 

Put a portable dehumidifer in my parents "utility" room and that works much better and you don't get the condensation.

[elsiegee40]

I always give clothes an extra spin in the washing machine to get them as dry as post.

 

Then I just drape clothes over an airing rack and stand it in the bathroom with a window open a shade and the door closed to stop cold draughts.

 

That’s probably easier when there are only two adults living in the house and we have somewhere else to go to the toilet during the day!

Edited September 13, 2022 by elsiegee40

[3s-gtech]

I just drape clothes over an airing rack and stand it in the bathroom with a window open a shade and the door closed to stop cold draughts.

 

That’s probably easier when there are only two adults living in the house and we have somewhere else to go to the toilet during the day!

 

Same. The clothes dry well, as long as the room isn’t sealed.

 

Low energy, simple, and doesn’t involve having to retrieve your smalls from two towns over after a gusty day.

[msi_school]

I use a spin dryer before hanging my clothes up or tumble drying. Mine takes about a liter of water out of a load of washing, making the rest of the process much quicker.

[Theblacksheep]

heatpump tumble, they use alot less, like 1.4kwh

[pooley]

As others have said, we use clothes airers, but we also have a fan (cold air) blowing/agitating the clothes which speeds up drying time.

[dhicks]

Hmm - most solutions seem to involve some source of relatively low heat and some sort of motive force to circulate air. Is anyone else thinking small-dog-on-a-treadmill? You could hook it up directly to a tumble dryer...

[3s-gtech]

The clothes may end up significantly less fresh as a result, depending on the dog!

[psydii]

+1 for getting something to move the air - its why clothes dry so fast on a breezy day.

 

We are lucky and have a new build with an MVHR system. Placing clothes racks in parallel to the air flow is the most effective way for us to dry most things within 12hrs and jeans etc. within 18.

[XiJ]

I never had a tumble drier so I just put mine on the clothes horse. If your house is approx 20 degrees c then they should be dry in 48 hours assuming you've spun them at 1200.

 

I’m not doubling the house temperature!

[3s-gtech]

I’m not doubling the house temperature!

 

Temperature doesn’t work like that

[PotNoodleTech]

I’m not doubling the house temperature!

 

Come on mun - put your hands in your pockets!!!

 

I'd rather spend 10 units of energy heating the whole house and getting dry clothes for free, than 10 units on powering a tumble drier three times a week and shivering the rest of the time!

[ICTDirect_Dave]

We tend to hang our clothes on the curtain rails in a couple of bedrooms. With the windows open a crack and the door closed they tend to dry over the course of an afternoon.

A couple of these for socks/smalls really helps too.

[CHiLL]

During winter when I can't hang clothes out, I put the washing on airers in a small/spare room with a dehumidifier and the door closed. As it's circulating the air only in that room, the clothes are usually dry within 24-48 hours (depending on the load(s) - based on two people's weekly wash). It consumes about 380W while running and I need to empty the water down the drain when it's full. I started doing this to prevent mold and damp during the winter, as I lived in a place that was pretty susceptible to it at the time. Despite no longer living there, I've been continuing to do it. Edited September 14, 2022 by CHiLL

[ZeroHour]

Our tumble dryer uses approx 30-32p for a run at current power rates just as a reference. It’s not fast but it is only 3 years old approx and it’s smart sensing.

We do have the option to hang outside as well here as long as the wind and rain isn’t in full flow.