Martin Lewis: 5p-per-hour trick will dry your clothes faster without tumble dryer

Drying clothes indoors can be a battle in the winter - but Martin Lewis has revealed a simple trick that will help you dry your clothes faster without a tumble dryer

Drying clothes indoors during the winter months can be a challenge, with concerns about mould, condensation damage and high energy costs. Money expert Martin Lewis has offered some advice on this issue, suggesting households use cheaper methods to dry their clothes inside rather than relying on costly appliances like tumble dryers.

According to Martin, dehumidifiers are an ideal solution as they are inexpensive to run and prevent mould or mildew buildup without the need to open windows and lose heat. They can cost as little as 5p an hour to run based on current energy prices, compared to 50p to £1 for a typical tumble dryer.

Speaking on The Martin Lewis Podcast, he explained: "Many dehumidifiers have different wattages – the one I checked out was 200W."

He added: "Once we know it's 200W and we know a kilowatt is 1,000W, which is how electricity tends to be priced, we know this is a fifth of a kilowatt."

He concluded: "And you pay roughly 34p per kilowatt per hour. A fifth is 7p, so you're going to pay roughly 7p per hour to run a dehumidifier at 200W, assuming it uses full power the whole time.", reports the Express.

Energy costs have slightly decreased, meaning it will now only cost approximately 5.5p an hour based on 26p unit prices this winter. This also implies that there's no need to excessively use your heating or radiators to dry clothes, although not using any heating at all could prolong the drying process.

In comparison, energy supplier Utilita estimates that a tumble dryer costs between 53p to £1 an hour to run, which is ten to twenty times the amount. Indeed, a demon appliance.

The Pro Breeze 12L dehumidifier, available on Amazon for just £134.99, offers great value with its laundry drying settings and a 12 litre tank. Although the upfront cost may seem high, it's much cheaper than running a tumble dryer and fixing mould damage in the long run.

Devola offers a larger 20L model with an air purifier built in, allowing you to improve your home's air quality while removing moisture and drying your clothes. It's priced at £179.99 for the larger 20L model or just £119.06 for the smaller 12L size, and also features a quiet run mode at just 38db, quieter than a fridge.

Lastly, the EcoAir DD1 7L is slightly smaller but its slim profile will fit more easily into a living room. It has a laundry setting and runs quietly at just 34db, making it the quietest model here.

While it's a bit more expensive at £229, this model is the most advanced one available with numerous settings, an app for connectivity, and glowing reviews. There are cheaper portable options available, but these lack laundry settings and aren't recommended for drying clothes due to insufficient power and water storage capacity.