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We don't have a clothes drier, but are thinking of getting one.
However, a friend of my wife's friend brought up the heated airers from Lakeland (Dry:Soon), said they were pretty good. So the wife said I had to look into it (as is usually the case with all things that contain technology).
What on earth am I talking about? This thing: https://www.lakeland.co.uk/25372/Dry%3ASoon-3-Tier-Heated-Airer-and-Cover-Offer-Bundle
They say it cost 6p per hour to run, doesn't say how many hours you need to run it.
I see it as a few heated bars, not sure how it gets the whole garment dry. I assume the cover will help with the drying as it will create, effectively, a clothing hotbox.
Up until now, we have just used an outside clothes line (when weather allows it), an airer next to a radiator and the good old fashioned 'throw-it-over-a-radiator' technique.
Anyone using one?
I assume the cover will help with the drying as it will create, effectively, a clothing hotbox.
This. I sometimes do similar with bedsheets when using an airer next to a radiator, tuck the back of the sheet down the back of the radiator and use the rest to go over and around the airer, which has got the rest of the washing on. Works pretty well to be fair.
So, yeah, I can see how it'll work, I'm not seeing £180 in it though...
We dry a load of washing in about 6hrs or so inside our house just hung up, so I think that this would do better.
We've had that model for about a month now after a lot of pleading from my other half, we have friends who have one and liked it. We have 2 kids so the house feels like a laundry most of the time, and it's a pain when it's not warm enough to pop clothes on the line.
I bought a refurbished one via the Lakeland ebay outlet to make the cost more manageable, and have since bought a cover which is in the post at the moment. It definitely works (assuming you don't expect insta-dry capability), it's most effective if you don't load an item per bar, but use several bars per item, I'm hoping the cover helps speed it up a bit.
In terms of tech, the model I have (you link) is pretty simplistic, it has an on/off switch.
We have got/had one about ten years. No cover though, I think that could be a good investment for ours. It's pretty effective, gets used all year round but only really turned on in the winter.
Our old (new build) house we had it in the spare bedroom with no issues, our new (old) house is not as good at dealing with the humidity so it gets run in the kitchen with the extractor on.
We’ve had it and used it a few times. It takes ages to dry clothes and quite a few times they ended up smelling (perhaps we were overloading?). Sold it and got Meaco dehumidifier (DD8L) - so much better. It is a bit loud but helps to dry clothes quicker.
Meaco dehumidifier (DD8L)
Got the exact same model too after recommendations on here. It's superb, small and unobtrusive, dries washing really quick plus does other duties in the cellar and car etc
We’ve had one for a few years. With the cover it dries well spun clothes in about 5 hours. One item per bar helps the air circulate, but still don’t overload. It works well if you can hang the wet washing outside to knock the worst of the wet out first.
It certainly beats putting wet clothes directly on radiators, far less condensation in the house. The cover is a must.
If or when it dies I’ll buy another without a second thought.
Dehumidifier was also mentioned, so thanks for reminding me.
We have two young kids, so clothes on the analog airer and radiators was getting a bit of a juggling game so looking at some cost-effective way of speeding up the process.
We also plan on running the central heating at a lower temp this year in a bit to see how much we can save on that side of things. Obviously the cost of whatever we choose will be spread over the years, so looking at low run cost options. How efficient are those dehumidifiers?
What's the score with the dehumidifiers then, just stick them on in the same room as the washing?
We hung a pole on the ceiling at the top of the stairs, and clothes get dried on coathangers. Very effective although it's not exactly aesthetic.
I've got this one:
I love it... can hang a medium sized load on it, and just leave it overnight. All dry by the morning.
Works well, no issues, no noise.
I likey..
DrP
What’s the score with the dehumidifiers then, just stick them on in the same room as the washing?
Basically, yes
We have one of those racks that comes down on pulleys from the ceiling in our hallway. We load up the rack, pull it back up to the ceiling and flick the dehumidifier on. Job jobbed, zero condensation and lovely dry, clean smelling washing. To be honest it is a bit of a miracle. This time of year til spring it is a godsend.
We never need to put stuff on rads.
Madame does the bills but tells me it is economical (we are two peeps doing one load a week though).
It actually costs 9p/hour to run at todays rates.
15Kgs of washing sounds optimistic but hey!
If we can't use the washing line we just put stuff on the drier that sits on our massive boiler!