Electric Drying Racks Are Flying Off Shelves in the UK

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Charlie Pears doesn't own a tumble dryer. Last winter, when she and her partner Joe needed to dry laundry, they'd just turn on the heat in their 100-year-old house in northeast England, draping clothes over radiators. 

This year is different. Expectations for the UK's average annual energy bill are hovering around £2,500, over £1,000 more than at this time last year, based on maximum prices per unit of gas and electricity currently set by the government. At those prices, Pears and her partner needed an alternative to firing up the gas boiler for the sake of dry jeans — so they bought a heated clothes airer. 

Heated clothes airers, also known as electric drying racks, are becoming a must-have winter item as British consumers look for ways to beat the energy crisis spurred in part by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The humble airer joins the ranks of other low-tech warming products in high demand as temperatures start to dip in Europe, a list that also includes electric blankets and firewood. 

“When heating is so expensive, you cannot justify putting it on just to dry clothes,” says Pears, 36, who lives in Newcastle, works in marketing and describes her new airer as “smashing.” The £100 ($120) product from department store John Lewis has bars that heat to 50C (122F), and at current energy prices costs around 10p an hour to run. Pears makes it even cheaper by putting the airer on a timer, taking advantage of discounted electricity between 10:30 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. 

Lakeland, a UK company known for selling quirky household gadgets, says it pioneered the heated airer in the country, where it has been selling them for 14 years. While they are often at the top of Lakeland's bestseller list, customer ambassador Wendy Miranda says this