Heated airer vs dehumidifier vs tumble dryer: the cheapest way to dry washing this winter

Drying washing gets harder once the clocks go back, and with energy bills forecast to rise again in January, it's worth knowing what each option really costs. There's a change coming for tumble dryers too: from 19 January 2027, new vented and condenser models can no longer be put on the market in Great Britain, leaving heat pump dryers.

We've compared heated airers at Dunelm and dehumidifiers at B&Q, using the prices and wattages on their own websites on 25 October 2026, alongside Which?'s latest running costs for the three types of tumble dryer. Prices were correct at the time of writing.

At a glance

• Cheapest to buy and run: Dunelm's Heated Ladder Airer, £32 (was £40), 90W, about 14p for six hours. But it has only 3m of drying space.
• Best value full-size airer: Dunelm's Winged Heated Airer, £35, 220W, for up to 10kg of washing, about 35p for six hours.
• Biggest loads: Dunelm's 3 Tier Heated Airer, £76 (was £95), 330W, for up to 15kg, about 52p for six hours.
• Lowest-wattage dehumidifier we found: the Meaco 12L Low Energy at B&Q, £177.99, 157W, about 25p for six hours.
• Tumble dryers: Which? puts an average heat pump dryer at £54.32 a year to run, against about £139 for condenser and vented models.

How we worked out the costs

Ofgem's average electricity unit rate from 1 October to 31 December 2026 is 26.32p per kWh for Direct Debit customers. To get a running cost, multiply the watts by the hours, divide by 1,000 and multiply by the unit rate. We've assumed six hours for a load. How long yours takes depends on the load, the fabric and how warm and airy the room is. The wattage is the most an appliance draws, so treat these as worst-case figures.

Dunelm's product pages also give approximate running costs. Some differ from ours, so we've worked from the wattage it lists for each airer.

Heated airers at Dunelm

A heated airer warms its rails rather than the room, so clothes dry faster than on an ordinary airer. Which? says heated airers are usually cheaper to run than tumble dryers and can be gentler on fabrics such as denim and wool. Dunelm sells covers for several of its heated airers, from £8 for the Winged Heated Airer to £18 for the extra-large 3 tier. The moisture still ends up in the room, though, so open a window or run a dehumidifier.

Dehumidifiers at B&Q

A dehumidifier pulls water out of the air, which helps washing on an ordinary airer dry and keeps damp off windows and walls. B&Q's website lists dozens, and many are sold and shipped by other companies through its marketplace, so check who you're buying from.

• Pro Breeze 12L Low Energy Dehumidifier: £99.99, 200W, removes up to 12 litres a day, 38dB. About 5.3p an hour, or 32p for six hours. Sold by One Retail Group.
• Meaco 12L Low Energy Dehumidifier and Air Purifier: £177.99, 157W, 12 litres a day, with a HEPA filter. About 4.1p an hour, or 25p for six hours. Sold by Big On Electricals.
• MeacoDry ABC 10L: £129.99, with a laundry mode that runs at full speed for six hours. Sold by Meaco. B&Q's page doesn't give the wattage.
• B&Q's own 10 litre dehumidifier (D002A): £80, down from £99, with a timer and a 2L tank. No wattage listed.
• Pro Breeze 10L Desiccant Dehumidifier: £199.99, but 620W, so about 16.3p an hour, or 98p for six hours.

Tumble dryers: what Which? found

Which?'s figures, published on 1 October 2026 and based on the 26.32p unit rate, assume three loads of cottons a week at 70% full:

• Heat pump: £54.32 a year on average, from £33.49 to £93.73.
• Condenser: £138.91 a year on average, from £113.80 to £181.45.
• Vented: £139.74 a year on average, from £116.44 to £166.77.

Spread over 156 loads a year, that's about 35p a load for an average heat pump dryer and about 89p for a condenser or vented one. That division is ours, not Which?'s.

The tumble dryer rules from January

The Ecodesign for Energy-Related Products and Energy Information (Household Tumble Dryers) Regulations 2026 apply in England, Wales and Scotland. The retail trade association RETRA says they came into force on 10 April 2026 with a transition period that ends on 18 January 2027. From 19 January, new vented, condenser and gas-fired tumble dryers can no longer be placed on the market, so only heat pump models that meet the new standard will qualify. The rules also bring in a new energy label with a repairability score.

You don't have to replace a dryer you already own. RETRA says you can keep using and repairing it, and second-hand sales are still allowed.

Where each wins and falls short

• Heated airers are the cheapest to buy, from £32, and the 220W models cost about the same per load as an average heat pump dryer. But clothes still take hours, and the damp goes into your home.
• Dehumidifiers work with any airer and help with condensation all winter. But they cost £80 to £200 at B&Q, and the desiccant model we found uses about three times the power of the 12 litre compressor models.
• Heat pump tumble dryers are the cheapest dryers to run by a long way, according to Which?, and the only new type that'll be on sale from 19 January. They cost far more to buy than an airer, and we haven't compared dryer prices here.
• Condenser and vented dryers cost about 89p a load on Which?'s figures, more than two and a half times as much as a heat pump model.

Your questions answered

Will January's price cap change the sums?

Every option here runs on electricity, so they'd all go up together. Cornwall Insight forecasts a 16% rise in the cap for a typical household from January, though that's a forecast for the whole bill, not just electricity. Ofgem sets the actual cap in late November.

Is a dehumidifier worth it just for washing?

On running costs, the Meaco 12L costs a little less for six hours than a 220W heated airer. Whether it's worth £100 or more to buy depends on how much you dry indoors and whether you also have condensation or damp to deal with.

Ways to save

Dunelm has free standard delivery on orders over £60, free same-day Click & Collect and 28-day change-of-mind returns. At B&Q, you can get £5 off a £30 spend when you join B&Q Club, and there's free standard delivery over £100 and a 90-day returns policy, though marketplace sellers can set their own delivery terms. If you're replacing a tumble dryer with a heat pump model, compare Currys, AO and John Lewis. AO gives Blue Light Card members £25 off appliances over £549, and John Lewis has a Price Promise that matches cheaper prices.

Sources: Dunelm: clothes airers, Dunelm: Winged Heated Airer, Dunelm: 3 Tier Heated Airer, B&Q: Meaco 12L dehumidifier, B&Q: Pro Breeze 12L dehumidifier, Which?: which type of tumble dryer is cheapest to run, Ofgem: price cap unit rates, Cornwall Insight: 16% price cap rise forecast in January, The Household Tumble Dryers Regulations 2026, RETRA: tumble dryer sales restrictions in 2027

Ad: affiliate links. The codes and deals below link to the stores, and we may earn a commission if you buy, at no cost to you. How we make money.