A ceiling airer, or ceiling clothes airer is an ingenious device that is well known in the UK, but less familiar to people in the US and Canada. It is a pulley-operated clothes drying rack that takes advantage of warm indoor air during the cooler months to efficiently dry laundry. The pulley operated airer has been in European and British households for over a century for drying clothes. It is versatile and saves energy by allowing rising warm air indoors to pass through the hardwood rails as it rises toward the ceiling, drying clothing in unused ceiling space.
First, you need to lower the ceiling airer down. Then you hang wet clothing on the rails. Then you use the pulley to raise the unit up near the ceiling where rising warmer air can dry the clothes well out of the way.
A ceiling airer has cast iron ends or holders into which horizontal rails or “laths” made of wood-usually hardwood-fit at fixed intervals. The cast iron ends are also attached to cords used to raise the device and lower it. These cords also run on pulleys that are affixed to the ceiling to enable that movement. A cleat on the wall keeps the cords secure and out of the way.
While indoor spin dryers are common, they can use up quite a lot of electricity. With utility bills high in winter anyway, using a ceiling airer can help you take the best advantage of the situation by using the warm air within your house to dry your clothes naturally and gently. It’s ideal for drying jumpers and shirts, and models that have clothes hanger attachments for shirts will minimize the amount of ironing you’ll have.
There are many different styles of ceiling clothes airers available to suit every type of domicile. Models range from having three to six drying laths, so that they’ll fit even into small spaces. The “Sheila Maid” is one of the most common ceiling airers. It is a style that has been around for 100 years. The cast iron rack ends are curved, and it has four wooden laths. Kits come with a single pulley, double pulley, a cleat hook for the wall, and a 10-meter long jute rope. Installation instructions are included too.
The Kitchen Maid is another of the “original” style airer. The end pieces are made to resemble an original Victorian design that was common during that era. The end pieces of this ceiling airer are solid cast iron, and the laths are typically made from pine. A Kitchen Maid clothes airer is one of the most earth friendly ways to dry your laundry. It can dry up to 30 kg of washing overnight. The wooden laths are finished and smoothed so as not to snag washing.
If you have a larger family, you can also purchase ceiling airers that stack to double the quantity of clothes you can dry using the warm rising air in your home. You can install them on any hard ceiling surface. You can also purchase models that have flat laths that you can use as storage like shelves. And many models can be customized with additional laths to add more drying space.
As previously mentioned, small dryers are available for small homes. Shorter and made with fewer laths, they are still a great energy efficient way to dry clothes instead of a tumbling electric or gas-powered dryer.
The autumn is the perfect time of year to install a ceiling airer. They are easy to install, and as long as you have your heating turned on, you might as well use some of that warm air to dry your clothes. Ceiling airers can be installed on many different hard ceiling surfaces, and will work on sloped ceilings and can even be installed over staircases. There are any number of places in your home where a ceiling clothes airer can go. Those that don’t have a garden will find it useful year-round, and whatever your living situation installing a ceiling clothes airer will help you save on your energy bill while at the same time helping minimize your environmental footprint.
Learn more about the ceiling clothes airer. Stop by Gary Nickless’s site where you can find out all about modern ceiling clothes airers and drying racks and what they can do for you.
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