The first frosts always seem to arrive on a Tuesday morning.
You wake up, breath hanging in the bedroom like a small cloud, phone full of emails, smart meter flashing a number you don’t really want to read.
The heating clicks on for “just an hour”, then somehow stays on all day.
By the end of the week, the bill in the app has jumped by another £20.
You tell yourself you’ll “be good next week”, wear two jumpers, maybe drag the old throw out of the cupboard.
Then the kids complain, your partner turns the thermostat up a notch, and there goes the plan.
Now picture this: you pop into Lidl for milk and bread, and on that middle aisle of temptation sits a small, cheap gadget with Martin Lewis’ stamp of approval.
One that promises to keep you warm without sending your bill through the roof.
You hesitate, hand on trolley.
Could that little thing really change your whole winter?
Lidl’s new winter gadget that has Martin Lewis talking
From next week, Lidl is rolling out a budget heated airer that’s already making energy nerds and freezing students quietly excited.
It’s the kind of thing that looks unremarkable at first glance, like a folding rack with a plug stuck on.
But this winter, that small electric frame might be the difference between steaming-hot radiators and a carefully warmed corner of the living room.
Martin Lewis and his team have repeatedly pointed to heated airers as one of the smartest low-cost ways to dry clothes and warm up a space without burning cash on the boiler.
So when a supermarket chain drops one for a fraction of what premium brands charge, people start circling dates in their calendars.
One gadget.
A whole different way of getting through the cold months.
If you’ve ever spent a January evening weaving through damp clothes in your hallway, you know the struggle.
Radiators buried under jeans and school uniforms, windows misted over, that slightly sour “wet laundry” smell sneaking into the sofa.
A heated airer tackles all of that.
It uses a gentle, steady heat to dry clothes faster than a regular rack, without the 50p-an-hour punch of a tumble dryer.
Families posting on money-saving forums talk about cutting their winter drying costs in half, simply by swapping the tumble dryer for a heated airer and timing it with cheaper electricity hours.
One mum in Leeds reckons last year’s airer paid for itself in three weeks flat.
That’s the kind of maths that turns a middle-aisle gadget into a winter essential.
The logic is simple.
Running the central heating just to dry a load of washing is like boiling a whole pan of water to cook a single pea.
A heated airer focuses energy in one small area, right where you need it.
Instead of heating every room in the house, you heat the rails that are actually touching your clothes.
It draws much less power than a tumble dryer, and you’re not paying to keep an empty spare room toasty just because you’ve hung shirts on the radiator.
Energy experts like Martin Lewis love these gadgets for one plain reason: cost per use.
You’re swapping big, blunt energy use for targeted, careful warmth.
Not perfect, not magic, but a lot kinder on your bill.
How to use Lidl’s heated airer so it actually saves you money
When you get your hands on Lidl’s airer, the trick is to treat it like a tiny, controlled drying station.
Find the driest, most ventilated room you’ve got – usually a living room or spare bedroom – and set it up away from soft furnishings.
Spread clothes out instead of piling them up.
The rails work best when air can circulate; that’s when the low-level heat really does its job.
If your model comes with a cover, use it to trap warmth, but crack a window slightly to stop condensation fogging the glass and creeping into the walls.
Run it for a couple of hours, then flip or rotate the thicker items.
Think of it like slow cooking for laundry: gentle, steady, and a bit of patience.
There’s one easy way to sabotage the savings: treating the heated airer like a background lamp you forget to turn off.
That’s when your cheap gadget becomes an expensive habit.
Set a timer on a plug or your phone for each session.
Dry in batches rather than one T-shirt here, two pairs of socks there.
We’ve all been there, that moment when you tell yourself you’ll “just leave it on a bit longer” and then remember four hours later.
Let’s be honest: nobody really tracks every single kilowatt they use every single day.
Another common mistake is turning the heating up at the same time “for a boost”.
You lose the whole point.
The airer is meant to replace that casual, low-level heating, not sit on top of it.
Martin Lewis has long been blunt about winter bills: “If you can heat the human, not the home, you’re almost always going to spend less.
Low-wattage heaters, electric blankets and heated airers can all play a role – as long as you use them smartly, not constantly.”
- Check the wattage
Lower wattage means cheaper running costs, even if drying takes a little longer. - Use with off-peak tariffs
If you’re on a time-of-use tariff, run the airer in your cheaper hours for extra savings. - Pair with dehumidifier or window venting
You’ll speed up drying and avoid that heavy, damp feeling in the room. - Rotate heavy items halfway
Jeans, towels and hoodies dry much faster when you flip them at the halfway point. - Keep it for real loads
One almost-dry T-shirt on its own isn’t worth the running time.
Why this “small” gadget hits such a big nerve this winter
There’s something almost symbolic about this Lidl launch landing right before the cold really bites.
For a lot of households, winter 2024 doesn’t feel like a cosy festive countdown; it feels like another round of mental spreadsheets and quiet dread about direct debits.
A heated airer won’t solve broken boilers or wipe out standing charges.
It sits in that awkward space between comfort and survival, a little tool that lets you feel just a bit more in control of your own four walls.
*Sometimes that’s what people are really buying in the middle aisle: not metal bars and a plug, but a tiny bit of power over their next bill.*
You can easily imagine the scenes next week.
Someone in a fleece, scanning the Lidl leaflet by the freezer aisle.
A couple doing the silent nod, the one that means “Yes, this will help us get through January.”
This is the kind of object that starts conversations between neighbours, lands in WhatsApp groups, and quietly reshapes how a street gets through winter nights.
| Key point | Detail | Value for the reader |
|---|---|---|
| Low running cost | Uses far less energy than a tumble dryer or full heating | Helps cut winter electricity bills without sacrificing warm, dry clothes |
| Targeted warmth | Heats clothes and a small area, not the entire home | More control over when and where you spend on heating |
| Martin Lewis–approved concept | Aligns with expert advice to “heat the human, not the home” | Reassurance that this is a smarter, not just trendier, winter buy |
FAQ:
- Is Lidl’s heated airer really cheaper than using a tumble dryer?In most cases, yes. Heated airers draw much less power than a typical tumble dryer cycle, especially if you run them for planned, timed sessions.
- Can a heated airer replace my central heating?No. It’s a support tool, not a full heating system. It can warm a small space and keep you comfortable while drying clothes, but it won’t heat an entire home.
- Is it safe to leave a heated airer on overnight?Energy experts generally prefer you use them while you’re awake. Use common sense: follow the manual, keep it clear of bedding and curtains, and avoid covering the plug or cable.
- Will a heated airer cause damp or condensation?It can if the room isn’t ventilated. Crack a window slightly or pair it with a dehumidifier to keep moisture under control.
- How do I know if Lidl’s version is worth grabbing on launch day?Check the price, wattage, and any cover or folding features. If it’s significantly cheaper than other brands with similar specs, and you currently rely on radiators or a tumble dryer, it’s likely a solid winter investment.
