14 best heated clothes airers to save energy and money, tested by experts

Score: 96/100

Our winning heated clothes airer barely dropped a mark in our tests. It heats up quickly, taking just three minutes to reach the optimum drying temperature. It dried clothes with equally impressive speed – in just 45 minutes – while wet bedsheets were toasty in just over an hour. Plus, there were no crease lines, meaning a smaller ironing pile!

The pod shape is useful for those who are tight on space, but you do have to assemble and disassemble it after every use, and you'll need somewhere to store it. Our testers would also have liked some wheels on the bottom to make it easier to move, but that’s being picky. It’s easy to use and has a good range of heat settings – there’s very little to dislike.

Score: 94/100

The compact hanger design of this clothes airer is different from all the other models we tested. It works by blowing hot air down onto whatever it’s holding (our testers managed to clip in single items of clothing and a pillow case), making it perfect for travel or for when you need one item dried in a hurry.

It achieved near perfect marks for speed, drying clothes in one hour 46 minutes. It cost eight pence an hour to run and has some attractive features, including an LED temperature reader and built-in UV sterilisation to give your garments an added clean.

While it’s not one to turn to for everyday laundry, testers found the innovative design easy to use from start to finish, making it a reliable gadget for one-garment drying.

Score: 92/100

Again, this isn’t a conventional airer, but the pod design proved effective and efficient. Testers found it simple to assemble and it was the fastest at drying on test, too – it heated up in four minutes and clothes dried within one and a half hours on average.

As the washing must go on hangers, it’s not ideal for bedding, and its energy consumption was higher than others, at 22 pence for an hour. It also requires disassembling to store away and as it comprises several components including a cover, it’s not as slick as a traditional fold-down rack. But, given its perfect drying score, these small gripes wouldn’t put us off.

Score: 91/100

Lakeland’s newest Dry:Soon model is all about versatility. It has three drying configurations to suit different spaces: a slim, flat set-up, a box shape, and a rectangular one, all of which our experts found easy to assemble. It holds up to 30kg too, so we had no problems piling on big loads of washing.

Our bedding took less than three hours to dry, which is much quicker than normal air drying; however, when it came to clothes, there were still some small damp patches even after four hours. There weren’t any crease lines though, so you won’t need to dig out the iron after every wash.

While there’s no denying it’s pricey, it’s a worthwhile investment for busy homes. You’ll also receive two laundry baskets and a neat, grey cover with your purchase, so you don’t have to worry about disassembling every time a guest pops round.

Score: 87/100

With minimal temperature fluctuations, this rack-style airer is a trusty buy. Although it had a longer drying time for clothes than our two highest scorers, coming in at two hours 36 minutes, this was still notably quicker than the six and a half hours taken by our unheated airer. It was also much more suited to drying bedding.

Testers found the airer easy to use overall and its instructions detailed, although it did collapse down when they tried moving it, meaning it’s best left in one place if you’ve got washing on it. Pleasingly, however, all our washing was notably crease-free after drying – the dream!

Score: 87/100

It may be an extra-large model, but this Minky airer is lightweight, making it easy and convenient to move around your home. Plus, when you don’t need it, the handy concertina-style, folding design ensures easy, fuss-free storage.

It performed well in our tests, with a consistent, even temperature, and proved particularly effective when it came to bedsheets, cutting drying time down to just two hours and four minutes (air drying traditionally takes around four hours and 30 minutes). It took 12 minutes to pre-heat, which is slightly longer than average, but that’s a minor niggle for an otherwise versatile and consistent performer.

Score: 86/100

Another Minky model, and when it came to drying bedsheets, this winged airer scored full marks on test, taking just one hour 22 minutes. Clothes took over two and a half minutes to dry and testers found the airer's temperature was consistent throughout use.

It folds away neatly for easy storage, while its flat design offers versatility and can hold ample washing. At £60, it’s a more affordable model than many we tested, and our experts found it relatively good value in use too, calculating its electricity usage at about seven pence an hour.

Score: 86/100

A great value design resembling a more traditional airer, this dried our clothes within two and a half hours and our bedsheets in one hour forty. Testers liked the fact you can lie clothes flat in the middle and found it easy to fit a load of washing on.

It takes up a lot of space when its wings are out and its temperature fluctuated a little, but this didn’t impact its performance or its energy consumption, using an impressively low six pence an hour on test.

Score: 84/100

Testers found this the easiest airer to use, thanks to its simple set up and wheels, which make moving it around the home effortless. You have to wait 16 minutes for it to heat up, but once at temperature, it dried all our laundry evenly, impressing on the bedding test with its one hour 25-minute drying time.

It took close to four hours to dry a full load of clothes, but again that’s still notably quicker than air drying, especially in winter. It also maintained a stable temperature throughout use.

Score: 84/100

Thanks to its tall frame, this is suited to drying sheets and longer garments such as trousers and dresses. Testers found set-up straightforward and it’s lightweight if you’re moving it from a cupboard to your drying area.

Clothes were dry (and handily crease-free) within four hours, while bedding took one and a half hours. The instructions are clear and feature detailed troubleshooting and safety advice.

Score: 83/100

If it’s an iron or clothes steamer-free life you’re after, then this airer may appeal, as our washing dried evenly with minimal creasing. Testers liked the overall design, finding it straightforward to set up and use thanks to its three good-sized tiers. Its wheels also deserve an honourable mention for making it easy to move it around.

Our probes detected some fluctuation in temperature, but it dried bedding in two and a half hours and clothes in three hours 13 minutes. Its safety information is clear too.

Score: 82/100

For just under £100, this is a great value, large heated airer from Dunelm. Testers found it well-made and sturdy, commenting on how easy it was to use. In fact, it scored full marks for this on test, thanks to how simple it is to put up and down and move around the home.

When it came to drying our laundry, it dealt with bedding in under two hours, but unfortunately, it didn’t eliminate creases entirely. Our clothes took four hours to dry with the odd cold patch remaining on some items – but overall, it was effective and will undoubtedly transform your laundry drying on rainy days.

Score: 80/100

Testers found this a stable and effective way to dry clothes. Its controls were straightforward, and the three tiers provide ample space to dry a full load of laundry. It was also up and running in a quick ten minutes, but our clothes took four hours to dry.

Bedsheets dried more quickly, but a few damp patches meant we had to wait two hours and 10 minutes before we could put them away. However, there is a cover available to buy separately, which should lock in more heat and aid drying times further. It’s a good buy if you want something sizeable and sturdy.

Score 77/100

This compact ladder design is ideal if you have a small space. It can’t house a full load of washing but is handy is you have several garments or items you want to dry quickly. It fared better with bedding (dry in two hours twenty minutes) than with clothes, which took four hours exactly.

It didn’t distribute heat as evenly as some other models, and it struggled with heavier garments, but it’s inexpensive and has the lowest running cost of all at two pence an hour. One for drying in tight spaces.