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Best heated clothes airers to save you time and money in 2026
Are heated airers worth it? We put heated clothes airers and drying pods to the test to find the quickest and cheapest to run
Our testing reveals the best heated clothes airers, drying pods and heated drying racks from popular UK brands and retailers such as Argos, Black & Decker, Dunelm, John Lewis, Lakeland's Dry:Soon models, Minky and more.
We've tested more than 25 models, measuring drying speed and running costs. We also assess which are the most stable and easiest to put up and down, how much washing they can hold, and which have the most drying space for the amount of floorspace they take up.
A heated airer can be a tower-like structure or a winged frame that heats up clothes through bars. By contrast, drying pods work more like a big hair dryer, blowing hot air through clothes inside a pod. They dry faster but hold less, so they’re fine for everyday items but not for bedsheets or duvets.
We've found five Best Buys that stood above the rest and two Great Value options for less than £80.
How our tests find you the best
We've tested more than 25 heated clothes airers
We assess products from the big brands and at different price points to ensure you get the best value and performance.
Energy use
Running costs matter, or we’d all be turning up our heating and running every wash through a tumble dryer. We reveal which airers keep your energy bills low.
Drying speed
Musty-smelling clothes because they just won’t dry? We test which airers get the job done quickly, and which leave you – quite literally – hanging.
We also test...
Whether your airer is rock-solid or wobbly, easy to fold or a faff to put down, and whether it all tucks away neatly when you're done with it.
The heated clothes airers we tested
The biggest brands and the 11 most popular heated clothes airers are listed below.
Only logged-in Which? members can view the best heated clothes airers and drying pods from our tests.
| Heated clothes airer | Price | Score | Capacity (number of T-shirts) | Drying speed | Running cost per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign up to reveal Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations Unlock tableGet Digital access £9.99 per month, cancel at any time. Already a member? | 91% | 8p | |||
| 79% | 10p | ||||
| 78% | 9p | ||||
| 75% | 7p | ||||
| 74% | 6p | ||||
| 72% | 7p | ||||
| 70% | 9p | ||||
| 70% | 10p | ||||
| 70% | 8p | ||||
| 70% | 24p | ||||
| 68% | 27p |
Sign up to reveal
Get instant access to this and all our scores and recommendations
Unlock tableGet Digital access £9.99 per month, cancel at any time.
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We've tested more than 25 heated clothes airers in total, but the table displays our top picks only.
Date tested: October 2025, September 2024, December 2023, July 2023. Page last checked: June 2026. Drying speed is based on a 2.15kg cotton load. Drying speeds may vary, based on fabrics and other factors. Running cost per hour: electricity unit price of 24.67p/kWh. We aren't able to show every retailer, and cheaper prices may be available.
Only logged-in Which? members can view the best heated clothes airers from our tests.
Argos Home 3-tier heated airer
Most recently tested December 2023
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 144 x 74 x 9.5cm
Need to know 15.3 metres available drying space (24 medium T-shirts); 300W; 4.2kg weight; 155cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
Beldray Round Heated Clothes Dryer
Most recently tested September 2024
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 149 x 67 x 67cm
Need to know 7.2 metres available drying space (18 medium T-shirts); 1,000W; 3.5kg weight; 150cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
Black & Decker X-frame Heated Airer
Most recently tested October 2025
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 126 x 69 x 54cm
Need to know 11.5 metres available drying space (24 medium T-shirts); 360W; 4.3kg weight; 160cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
Dry:Soon Deluxe Three Tier Heated Clothes Airer
Most recently tested September 2024
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 133 x 74 x 70cm
Need to know 20.5 metres available drying space (36 medium T-shirts); 300W; 5.9kg weight; 132cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight; also available with a cover at Lakeland
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Dunelm Three Tier Heated Airer
Most recently tested October 2025
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 138 x 78 x 72cm
Need to know 15 metres available drying space (36 medium T-shirts); 330W; 5.25kg weight; 180cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
George Home Silver Heated Winged Clothes Airer
Most recently tested October 2025
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 94 x 148 x 53cm
Need to know 11.5 metres available drying space (26 medium T-shirts); 230W; 2.8kg weight; 5kg maximum load weight
JML DRIBUDDI Indoor Airer
Most recently tested July 2023
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 160 x 70 x 70cm
Need to know 7.2 metres available drying space (30 medium T-shirts); 1200W; 3kg weight; 140cm cord length; 10kg maximum load weight
John Lewis Three Tier Heated Clothes Airer
Available from John Lewis (Only available in-store)
Most recently tested July 2023
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 135 x 66 x 73cm
Need to know 15.8 metres available drying space (30 medium T-shirts); 300W; 5.5kg weight; 140cm cord length; 15kg maximum load weight
Minky Sure Dri Four Tier Heated Clothes Airer With Cover
Available from Argos (£140), Minky (£159.99)
Most recently tested December 2023
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions HxWxD 147 x 74 x 71cm
Need to know 22.9 metres available drying space, 20.3 metres of which is heated (37 medium T-shirts); 300W; 5.2kg weight; 169cm cord length; 20kg maximum load weight
Minky Sure Dri Heat Pod Drying System
Most recently tested December 2023
Running cost per hour Log in to instantly reveal
Dimensions of heat pod HxWxD 28 x 33 x 17cm. Compatible with standard three-tier clothes airers up to dimensions HxWxD of 139 x 59 x 49cm
Need to know Drying space depends on your clothes airer, typically 13 metres for a three-tier clothes airer (24 medium T-shirts); 850W; 4.0kg weight; 135cm cord length; maximum load weight depends on your clothes airer (typically 15kg for a three-tier clothes airer)
More heated clothes airers from our tests
Here's how the rest of the heated clothes airers from our test measured up, listed in alphabetical order.
| Heated clothes airer | Price | Score | Capacity (number of T-shirts) | Drying speed | Running cost per hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argos Home 1m Heated Clothes Airer with Wings | Argos (£105) | 26 | |||
| B&Q 3 Tier Electric Heated Clothes Airer | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50023275 | 24 | |||
| Black & Decker 63099 Three Tier Heated Clothes Aire | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50000111 | 24 | |||
| Dry:Soon 3-Tier Heated Airer | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50016498 | 36 | |||
| Dry:Soon Drying Pod | SQUIRREL_TEXT_12882069 | 12 | |||
| Dry:Soon Heated Cabinet | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50016951 | 12 | |||
| Dry:Soon Mini 3-tier Heated Airer | SQUIRREL_TEXT_12882071 | 24 | |||
| Dunelm 3-tier A-Frame Heated Airer | Dunelm (£100) | 30 | |||
| Dunelm Clothes Dryer Pod | Dunelm (£55) | 18 | |||
| Dunelm Two-Tier Heated Airer | SQUIRREL_TEXT_12882067 | 20 | |||
| GlamHaus Heated Digital Clothes Airer | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50016499 | 36 | |||
| Highlands Electric Heated Clothes Dryer | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50023274 | 26 | |||
| Minky Wing 12m Heated Clothes Airer with cover | SQUIRREL_TEXT_12882197 | 18 | |||
| Minky Sure Dri XL Winged Heated Clothes Airer | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50011170 | 26 | |||
| Status Portable Heated Clothes Airer With Wings | SQUIRREL_TEXT_50000115 | 18 |
Date tested: October 2025, September 2024, December 2023, July 2023. Page last checked: June 2026. Drying speed is based on a 2.15kg cotton load. Drying speeds may vary, based on fabrics and other factors. Running cost per hour: electricity unit price of 27.69p/kWh. We aren't able to show every retailer, and cheaper prices may be available.
How we test heated clothes airers
We regularly revisit the heated airers and drying pods on sale to see if there are any more popular models that need testing and when we find them we do so.
Drying speed
- We dry a small cotton load on each airer, representing a week's worth of washing for one person.
- If the capacity of the airer is much smaller than our test load, we fill the airer up to its capacity.
- We weigh the wet clothes before they're hung up to dry, and then frequently reweigh and rotate the cotton clothes on each airer.
- The heated airers are rated on how quickly the small load dries.
- We take each airer's capacity into account to calculate the drying time for a large cotton load, equivalent to the average load size used to calculate tumble dryer annual running costs in our tumble dryer reviews.
The best heated airers and drying pods dry small loads in a comparable time to tumble dryers; the worst take over six hours to dry a small load.
We recently updated this test in response to new portable heated clothes airers that have very low capacities. It would take multiple uses of this type of airer to dry our cotton test load, and so they would automatically get a low score for drying speed. This isn't reflective of how these airers actually perform and are designed to be used.
To rate these low-capacity heated airers, they're judged on how quickly they dry a single cotton load that's the size of its stated capacity, rather than the size of the small cotton test load.
Energy use
- We measure the running cost per hour and total cost to dry the small cotton load.
- We take each airer's capacity into account to also calculate the cost of drying a large cotton load.
The best heated airers cost as little as 4p per hour to run, while the most costly come in at around 29p an hour.
We use the RS Pro energy meter (£32, from RS Components) to measure each airer's energy use.
If you're interested in measuring the energy use of your appliances, you can buy similar meters from popular retailers such as Amazon and Screwfix.
Stability
We use a force gauge to determine how much force is needed to topple over each heated airer, and the flexibility of each airer's bars.
All heated airers are stable enough to hold a full load of washing, but some are more flexible and easy to topple than our top recommendations.
Ease of use
- We score each heated airer on how easy it is to carry, assemble and dismantle.
- We also rate how easy it is to fit different-sized clothing items on each airer.
- We measure the volume of each airer when folded up, so you know which take up the least amount of room when not in use.
- We also measure the total drying space and volume of the airer, so we can let you know which ones give you the most drying space without taking over an entire room in your home.
Why you can trust us: at Which? we're free from manufacturer and retailer influence. Find out more about our impartiality and how your support helps us to stay editorially independent.
Are heated clothes airers any good?
It depends on the amount you need to dry and how fast you want it to dry. But heated clothes airers do dry your clothes faster than air-drying indoors.
If you already have a tumble dryer and are thinking of making a swap, it will also depend on what type of tumble dryer you already own.
How long does a heated airer take to dry clothes?
The heated clothes airers we tested typically took between four to seven hours to dry a small (2.15kg) cotton load. The drying pods we tested took on average two hours to dry a small (2.15kg) cotton load. For thicker items, such as jumpers, these times will be longer.
It's also worth noting that the speeds we've found assume you'll regularly rotate and move around the wet laundry – these products are not very effective at drying the areas of clothes not in contact with the heated bars. So if you leave your washing undisturbed, they'll take much longer.
A typical drying pod will do a cotton load in a couple of hours, and a tumble dryer will take anywhere from one to three hours to do a big load of laundry. It's faster than air-drying indoors, but a heated clothes airer is still the slowest of the three.
Why you should never dry clothes on your radiator
Radiators can seem a handy option, but drying your clothes on them could end up being more expensive than you'd think. Watch our video to find out more.
Are heated airers cheap to run?
Our tests found that heated clothes airers cost around half as much to run as a drying pod.
Compared to a tumble dryer, however, the story is a little more nuanced. If you have small amounts of washing that can fit on a heated airer in one go, then there are savings to be made when compared to condenser tumble dryers.
For example, drying three small (2.15kg) cotton loads a week will typically cost around the same as the average tumble dryer, but this saving increases to £24 a year if you compare it exclusively to condenser tumble dryers.
But the savings shrink dramatically for larger laundry loads, where you'd need to use the heated airer multiple times to dry a load that could fit in the tumble dryer in one go.
- Small household with small amounts of washing? A heated clothes airer could save you money. From our tests, it will cost just over £46 a year to dry three small cotton loads a week, compared to around £79 for a condenser and around £93 for a vented tumble dryer.
- Large household with lots of washing? Tumble dryers are the best balance of speed and cost. The annual running cost is around £58 a year on average to dry three large loads a week. According to our calculations, it would cost around £112 to dry the equivalent amount on a heated airer we've tested. The annual costs of condenser and vented tumble dryers are similar to this, but they will dry your laundry faster than the clothes airers.
- If you have a heat-pump tumble dryer, stick with it. They are just as efficient and cost-effective as heated airers for small loads; and for large loads, the average annual running cost for a heat-pump tumble dryer is around £46, which is nearly triple that of a heated airer.
- Drying pods are costly, but may be what you're after. You won't make any savings – in fact, you could pay significantly more over the lifetime of the product compared to a tumble dryer or heated clothes airer. But if you want to occasionally dry items almost as quickly as you can in a tumble dryer – and you don't own one or can't have one installed – a drying pod could be the answer.
Can you leave heated airers on overnight?
You can, but for safety reasons, it’s probably safer to avoid doing this.
Most brands advise against leaving the appliance running while you sleep or when it’s completely unattended. Even though heated airers don’t get as hot as, say, tumble dryers, they're still heat-producing electrical devices, which means there's always some level of fire risk.
That risk increases if the airer is overloaded with thick items, placed too close to curtains or furniture, or plugged into a cheap extension lead, so avoid any of these pitfalls.