How many watts does a heated airer use?

By Tom Calder · Figures checked 4 November 2026 · Costs at 26.32p per kWh (Ofgem cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026)

In short

A heated clothes airer draws about 300W; a covered drying pod with a heater and fan about 850W. An hour costs about 8p to 22p at 26.32p per kWh, and a load usually takes several hours.

A kettle coming to the boil beside a microwave and slow cooker in a warmly lit kitchen on a rainy evening

The numbers

Running watts: 300W to 850W
Amps at 230V (most): 3.7A
Energy an hour: 0.3 to 0.85 kWh; Rated watts for an hour: a 300W three-tier airer to an 850W drying pod. Thermostats may cycle, so an upper bound.
Cost an hour: 8p to 22p
On a 1kWh power station: 55 minutes to 2.5 hours
On a 2kWh power station: 2 to 5 hours

Costs use 26.32p per kWh, the Ofgem price cap's average Direct Debit electricity unit rate for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Your own rate is on your bill; on a fixed or time-of-use tariff it will differ.

How it’s used, and what that costs

Ideal Home lists Lakeland’s Dry:Soon Deluxe 3-tier airer at 300W and JML’s DriBUDDi drying pod at 850W, and puts a 300W airer at around 8p an hour (at July 2026’s rate). Lakeland, which sells the Dry:Soon 3-tier, says it “costs just 8p to run” against 65p for a standard tumble dryer, on its own assumptions.

The honest bit

It is not automatically cheap: six hours at 300W is 1.8 kWh, close to a heat pump dryer’s full load. It works best with a well-spun load in a warm, ventilated room; a dehumidifier nearby helps the room as well as the washing.

In a power cut: how long a power station would run it

A 1kWh power station: 55 minutes to 2.5 hours. A 2kWh power station: 2 to 5 hours. These use the same planning method as our power station pages: capacity × 90% usable depth × 85% inverter efficiency, divided by the load plus about 10W the unit uses itself (BLUETTI’s UK formula).

Output matters as much as capacity. The 7 units around 1kWh we list supply 1,500W to 2,000W continuously, and the 6 around 2kWh supply 2,200W to 3,000W, so check a unit’s rated output covers 850W before you rely on it.

To size one for everything you’d want to keep running, use the sizer on our power stations comparison.