Martin Lewis urges Brits to swap 'demon' appliance for cheaper alternative

MoneySavingExpert's Martin Lewis has warned against the high costs of using one kitchen appliance, labelling them 'demon appliances'.

The warning comes as winter draws in, and people are forced to dry clothes inside their homes - potentially leading to issues of damp and mould.

The money saving expert has said that Brits should ditch costly tumble driers, suggesting a cheaper alternative to dry clothes, reports the Liverpool Echo.

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Stressing the financial burden of running tumble driers, which can reach £1 per hour, he instead recommends employing dehumidifiers, an approach that is both cost-effective and helps to avoid problems like mould and mildew.

During an episode of The Martin Lewis Podcast available on BBC Sounds, Spotify, and Apple Music, he highlighted 'demon appliances' that consumers should avoid, with tumble dryers being a prime example due to their potential cost of up to £1 per hour.

Martin advocates for a switch to dehumidifiers, and said: "Many dehumidifiers have different wattages the one I checked out was 200W. 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.

"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."

Energy costs are slightly down since those calculations, meaning it will only cost about 5.5p an hour now based on 26p unit prices this winter. By contrast, energy provider Utilita estimates that running a tumble dryer could set you back between 53p to £1 an hour, which is ten to twenty times more expensive. Quite the costly appliance.