Dehumidifier vs heated airer

[SoMuchAnger]

I've done a search but can't seem to find the answer to this question.

Along with many others I am trying not to use the tumble dryer. It's an A rated appliance (Miele, good brand) but for some reason will only completely dry clothes on the longest setting. So uses a load of electricity. Over 5 years old now so out of warranty. Reluctant to spend £500+ on a new one. Will suck up cost occasionally for towels etc.

So using the rotary airer as much as possible and then finishing off inside on clothes horses in a small utility room. Can take a while as only a small radiator in there and leads to garage so not particularly warm room.

Considering either a heated airer or a dehumidifier. I wonder which is more efficient both drying wise and electricity wise? I believe dehumidifier is more expensive but maybe this is the way to go.

Opinions/ experiences welcome please.

We have this dehumidifer and it gets daily use probably from October to April since we got it many years ago. It doesn't take up much space, isn't too noisy and I'm always surprised at how much water it removes from clothes/the air! I wouldn't be without it, can get a full load of washing dry overnight and no worries about damp or condensation in the house.

I bought meaco last week I wish I knew before about it. Has option for drying washing. Amazing !

We have both a dehumidifier and a heated airer. The latter we only put on occasionally, when we have a lot of stuff to dry; it works much better with a thin sheet over it. The former we use daily in autumn/winter/early spring. We have it set to switch itself off when humidity drops to a certain level, so it will come on and go off periodically. It really helps with the drying - we have it in a corner between three airers (we are fortunate to have a large space where we can keep these up permanently, out of the way) and it's rare that the washing isn't dry within 12-24 hours. If it's a choice between the two, definitely go with a dehumidifer. They also warm the room up a little too.

And of course it costs, but IMO it's not massively expensive to run. Almost certainly cheaper than a tumble dryer.

Ours uses about 1kwh of electricity to dry a load of washing. Takes about 12 hours although sometimes it’s a bit longer for towels or thick cotton clothes. We set it to switch off at 50% humidity so it doesn’t keep using power unnecessarily. Ours is a refrigerant type, made by Blyss - not sure what model but we’ve had it several years so they probably don’t make it any more anyway.

We have a dessicant one as well but never use it because it’s not much good. The refrigerant ones are more expensive but worth the extra.

Have you used it and do you mind linking to it please?

I keep thinking about this-trying not to use the drier but as it gets colder than will be hard. I can’t help but wonder how much cheaper it would be to actually buy a decent humidifier and then have it on for several hours per load, than to just use the drier I’ve already got for 40 minutes?

I'm not sure how much cheaper it is although I've heard it is, I've not seen actual figures myself. However, I find there's lots of things I can't put in the tumble dryer as they'd get ruined. Using the dehumidifer doesn't damage your clothes at all (our dehumidifier has a 'laundry' setting). Using it heats the room a little bit, and it prevents damp in the atmosphere. So it's a definite plus for me. I still use the dryer sometimes, particularly to finish off towels otherwise I find they stay a bit rough.

Yes I wonder this. Especially as I have a heat pump drier. When I got it I used it initially a lot and my electricity bills increased to a frightening level. I thought they were meant to be cheap as chips to run? I now only use it to dry clothes that have already been outside and are just a bit damp.

Heat pump dryers are much cheaper but if you use it a lot you’ll notice. I linked to a calculator that can work out what your appliance will cost to run if you pop in the details.

In case anyones interested, I got a dehumidifier and put it on at the same time as my Lakeland drying pod and it took 1 1/2 hours, 90 minutes, to dry almost everything completely dry. A pair of sweatpants with a thick band were a little damp. The cost using the energy calculator was around 65p I think. With heated airer alone it took 3-4 hours to dry most of my load and I had to not put as much in it. I’m going to try now doing it with just dehumidifier. I could put things in that I don’t put in the dryer too. My dryer sucks and costs £1.75 to get most of a load dry without sports gear etc I can’t put in.

Can I ask how much the dehumidifier and heated airer cost?

I had a load on my heated airer overnight and much of the day. It still wasn’t completely dry! That was without a dehumidifier.

@SilverLiningPlaybook I know I keep seeing others here saying similar and I just can’t understand why we are all getting such different experiences! What kind of airer do you have? You’re not overloading it?

@Shinyandnew1 the airer cost £90. I only got it because of increased energy prices. The dehumidifier cost £130, but we’ve been meaning to get for a long time and had a much smaller one we used. We have quite a damp house in some areas and the fan for the en-suite doesn’t work so we have had black mould. I still think it would be worth getting though as long term the savings would be worth it.

I wonder if it’s down to the moisture in the air? Maybe it takes longer in damper houses or in bigger rooms? I just use a dehumidifier and normal airer in a small room and that works well enough that I’m not going to get a heated airer so I can’t test it.

I was just thinking that. Our house is stone with double glazing, I don’t know if that makes a difference. The room we have it in is small. I also have a cover for my heated airer. I like this method I have now because it drys the clothes quicker, I don’t like them all day or more than on a normal airer as some clothes smell a bit funny left out like that too long. I’m going to see how the dehumidifier alone is next.

We've had a heated airer for years and never had a dehumidifier with no problems. I just open the nearest windows a tiny crack.

Mine is a Lakeland airer. I have a cover but find that makes all the clothes ‘sweat’. It doesn’t really seem to speed up drying and the clothes don’t smell as nice . So I tend to put a sheet over it all. The room is not particularly cold and I leave the window slightly open. I can’t understand why my airer just doesn’t seem to work. I have tried it fully loaded and partly loaded. Even with a window slightly open the room is full of condensation so I really think they’re a waste of time.

If it’s colder outside, the open window can make it worse. I find it so puzzling why there are such different experiences with the same airers!!

Sorry I meant damper outside, not colder, but if it’s damper than inside and the window is open you’ll not dry your clothes that way. If your room is full of condensation there’s no way you’ll dry your clothes. There’s something different about the environment is all I can think. Your clothes will get more wet if there’s lots of condensation.

This thread is about dehumidifiers and most seem to have a negative experience

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4651308-to-be-disappointed-with-my-dehumidifier

i have a heated airer, which I adore. It also heats up the room, which is an added bonus. No issues with damp at all

Meaco junior dessicant dehumidifier. I have 3 now (and a heated airer bit don't use it often). On drying settings the meaco is very warm anyway

Probably there are newer models
Meaco Portable Dehumidifier DD8L - Compact Desiccant Dehumidifier - Best For Small Homes & Spaces - Prevent Condensation, Mould & Damp - 18 x 35 x 50 cm amzn.eu/d/7wR0hdI

I have 3 now, one has been going strong for about 12 years.

If you dry clothes indoors on any sort of airer, heated or otherwise, radiators, chair backs or whatever, you need a dehumidifier. The reason for this is that drying washing indoors in any way puts a lot of water into the air inside the house.