Review: This heated drying pod has solved my winter washing conundrum
This article contains affiliate links. We may earn a small commission on items purchased through this article, but that does not affect our editorial judgement.
I share my home with two children under four and a man who likes running in his spare time, so it’s fair to say we’ve got a constant backlog of washing.
In the summer - not a problem - it all goes out on the line, or it’s hung on airers in the sun. But in the colder months, everything takes longer to dry inside which slows the whole process down as my washing pile starts to resemble Mount Everest.
I’ve contemplated buying a heated airer, but with two clothes horses already taking up plenty of space in the house, I couldn’t face bringing in another.
Then along came the Beldray Heated Drying Pod, a heater and cover which fits over your three-tier airer.
So you add your damp clothes to the airer as usual, pop the heater underneath, put the cover over the airer and close the zips, before connecting it to the heater and setting it to your desired time.
The cover is suitable for most three-tier airers and the heater has an adjustable timer for efficient drying. The 1,000W motor generates warm air up to 50°C, while the cover keeps the heat inside to dry clothes faster.
Beldray says it runs at an average of 30p per hour, so the Drying Pod is significantly cheaper than a tumble dryer, which costs 71p per hour to run.
I found my washing was dry and ready to put away after a two-hour drying period - which is certainly preferable to two days on the clothes horse!
And the Drying Pod lets off a fair bit of heat too, so I’ve taken to plugging it in close by when I’m working from home so I don’t need to turn the heating on - win-win!
The things I love about the Drying Pod: It can be used over your airer if you have one, so you don’t need to lose any more space. It dries clothes quickly and has really helped me keep on top of my washing pile, plus it doubles up as a heater in colder months. And it has a timer so it switches off at the end of its heating cycle.
The one downside is although it’s much cheaper than using a tumble dryer, it’s still not super cheap to run at 30p an hour, which might put off anyone who is trying to keep their electric bills as low as possible.
But all in all, I’d say this is a great buy to help you keep on top of your washing this winter - and the heater and cover will be easy to store away in the warmer months when you don’t need them.
The Beldray Heated Drying Pod is currently £44.99 on Amazon. And if you haven’t got an airer but you like the sound of this set up, you can buy a three-tier Beldray Clothes Airer & Heated Pod Drying System as a bundle for £54.99 from Amazon.