As the cold weather sets in and energy bills rise for many people, Martin Lewis has labelled tumble dryers as ‘demon appliances’ due to their high running costs, which can reach up to £1 per hour.
During a recent episode of The Martin Lewis Podcast, the renowned financial expert advised consumers to steer clear of these costly appliances and opt for a more economical alternative – a dehumidifier.
Like many others, I’ve reduced my reliance on my tumble dryer over the past year and have been using central heating less frequently. After all, who wants to see their energy bills skyrocket unnecessarily?
However, with a constant stream of laundry – from children’s school uniforms and sports kits to the towels used for drying the dog during this season – it can be challenging to stay on top of it all.
Towels, especially, can take forever to dry and may develop an unpleasant musty odour if left damp for too long.
Therefore, I decided to heed the expert’s advice and invest in one of those highly-recommended dehumidifiers.
I opted for a plug-in model to ensure effective performance, unlike the small pots designed for window sills, which are great for eliminating condensation but not particularly efficient at drying clothes.
You could easily splurge hundreds on these devices, but I opted for a reasonably priced HOMCOM brand, which is currently discounted from £179.99 to £119.99 on the Debenhams website – a saving of over a third.
It’s incredibly user-friendly; you simply plug it in, switch it on and press a button to alternate between dehumidification mode and dry clothing mode.
You can also modify the fan speed setting and adjust the humidity from 40 to 80 percent – it’s advised to keep them set between 30 and 50 percent during winter to maintain a comfortable home environment and prevent mould.
What better way to give it a thorough test than with a drum load of towels.
I’ve been adhering to the advice to double spin my laundry to eliminate excess water and it’s definitely making a difference. But no matter how I choose to dry them, it usually takes an age.
With the dryer, it often shuts off when there’s a build up of lint in the filter and I can end up forgetting they’re even in there – growing smellier by the minute. It also ends up being quite costly, hence the warning from Mr Lewis.
I adore my heated airer, which is significantly cheaper to operate than a tumble dryer. However, it can take quite some time for towels and thicker garments to dry completely.
Plus, I always need to keep the window open as the room becomes somewhat damp when it’s in use. But with this dehumidifier in the same room as my airer, I believe I’ve discovered the perfect solution.
After just a few hours of operation, the machine extracted a significant amount of moisture from the towels – about two inches deep in the drainage tank – leaving large portions of them already dry.
It features a 3.7L detachable tank and boasts an impressive ability to extract up to 16 litres of moisture per day, making it suitable for areas up to 20 square metres.
There’s no risk of overflow either, thanks to an automatic shut-off feature. While there is some noise when it’s running, you quickly become accustomed to it if you’re in the same room.
As I work from home, I simply turn it off or set the fan to low if I need to make a call. The white noise seems to calm my dog, who is easily startled by any sound, so that’s an added bonus.
But the greatest advantage is the cost of operating this device. An hour on the ‘dry’ setting and an hour on the ‘dehumidify’ setting used roughly the same amount of electricity, costing just 6p per hour.
Even with my heated airer running concurrently – which costs a mere 9p an hour – it’s significantly cheaper than the tumble dryer. Perhaps I should consider ditching the ‘demon’ appliance for good.
The HOMCOM 16L/Day Dehumidifier, perfect for home damp, mould, and laundry drying, is available on the Debenhams website here, along with a variety of other machines.
Dehumidifiers are also up for grabs at other retailers, including Amazon, where the 12-litre HUMSURE model has been slashed to £119.99 for Black Friday.
Over at Wowcher, the Alivio 10L Energy Saving Portable Dehumidifier is a steal at £79, down from its original price of £299.
