What do we mean by electric laundry rack? How does it work? How is it useful for? What are the available alternatives? Be honest: have you ever heard of electric laundry racks? It's not a very common product. It might sound familiar but you don't know exactly how it works?
Well, we’re here to shed some light.
The electric laundry rack
If someone says electric laundry rack, the first thing that comes to mind is a traditional, foldable rack with wings and a power cord.
What distinguishes it from a traditional laundry airer is precisely the power cable: thanks to this, each rack -depending on the model- may feature additional functions.
The most common electric laundry racks use electricity to heat the tubes, making it possible, at least in part, for the laundry to dry faster. The result is very similar to when you hang a wet towel or rag over a radiator.
It will definitely dry faster but, at the same time, the clothing fibres will also tend to dry out more quickly as opposed to what would occur if left to dry naturally.
Also, it will more likely produce creases that will be harder to iron out afterwards.
Other electric laundry rack models
One version of foldable racks is the tower airer: instead of opening horizontally, this type of rack stands vertically, making it taller and narrower, therefore requiring less space.
The term “electric laundry rack” also refers to other models that are designed to operate slightly differently. One example is the so-called “drying pod”, which gets its name from its cylindrical shape.
Drying pods stand vertically: the garments hang from the central rail using clothes hangers. When the cover is closed, the warm air circulates inside it without causing dispersion.
Unfortunately, though they work well, these types of airers have extremely limited inside space, they can only be used with clothes hangers and tend to use up a lot of energy.
Based on how powerful they are, electric laundry racks can be seen as a good alternative for tumble dryers, which they beat in price and energy consumption. But it all depends on the heating power.
Finally, all laundry racks and airers, whether electrical or not, can feature various accessories, such as wheels for easy moving, hooks for hangers and/or extendible bars, which make it easier to hang sheets, tablecloths and blankets.
Another key factor for judging the quality of the product is the material it's made of: the plastic ones are often less expensive, while the ones in coated steel or anodised aluminium are much more appealing, durable and sturdy enough to be used both indoors and out.
What are the pros and cons of the traditional electric laundry rack?
Before you decide on what to purchase, let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of both electric heated bar racks and drying pods:
Pros:- Shorter drying time compared to traditional laundry racks;
- They are foldable and can be easily tucked away when you’re done.
- When in use, they usually take up quite a bit of space;
- The foldable ones with heated bars cause clothes to dry out and form visible creases;
- Pod dryers have very limited capacity;
- Pod dryers require clothes hangers for everything you want to dry;
- In both cases, you will probably have a very unpleasant surprise when your utility bill arrives.
Are there any good alternatives?
There is actually an alternative to what we've seen so far, which will solve all the “cons” we’ve just looked at.
It’s Foxydry Air Foxydry Air, an electric airer where "electric" refers to the up and down movement and not to the power required to heat it.
Foxydry Air is a remote-controlled electric airer -installable either on a ceiling or wall- that goes up and down independently and stores itself away, out of sight.
An airer with an overall dimension (almost) equal to zero.
Foxydry Air has been designed to make the most of the natural principle of air movement. Clothing will dry naturally and more rapidly than on traditional laundry racks because it is installed up high.
As is known, hot air tends to rise, based on the process of convection. This allows the temperature near the ceiling to be up to 8°C higher than the air closer to the ground.
Foxydry Air does even more: thanks to integrated ventilators, the Foxydry electric airer allows air to recirculate within the room, imitating wind movement, which further boosts drying time.
It also features an LED lamp that can be used as additional lighting (because, at night, you can never have enough light), providing low-consumption illumination to the area below. And finally, the two extendible tubes are sturdy enough for hanging sheets, tablecloths and blankets without having to fold them.
Why would I need a laundry airer like Foxydry Air?
1. To make more room: if the house seems too small, more often than not size isn’t the issue but rather how the space is organised. Getting rid of a standalone laundry rack is the first and simplest way to gain up to 2 m2of usable space.
2. Because it's two in one: Foxydry Air can hold up to 35 kg of laundry and provides a total of 20 m of hanging space. It's the equivalent of at least 2 traditional laundry racks. It allows you to neatly hang shirts using the provided hangers, but you can also hang coats or jackets that simply need freshening up before returning them to the closet.
3. To be more environmentally friendly and save on bills: if we compare the average consumption of the different types of electric racks, the ventilation of Foxydry Air uses7 times less than a heated bar rack and almost 30 times less than a pod dryer.
(data may differ based on the model type available on the market)
