Appliance Spares
Quick answer: A full load of washing carries roughly two litres of water, and drying it indoors on an airer puts every drop of that into the air of your house. In an Australian winter, with windows shut, that water lands on the coldest surfaces — window reveals, wardrobe walls, cornices — and grows mould. Indoor airers are fine in a ventilated room and a poor idea in a sealed one. A vented dryer ducted outside removes the water from the building entirely, which is the actual difference between the two.
Last updated August 2026
The three ways to dry indoors, and what each does to the house
A dryer wall mount bracket kit typically costs $19-$40 AUD in Australia (median $35.75), as at August 2026 — worth knowing, because the reason many households dry on an airer is floor space rather than preference.
| Method | Where the water ends up | Sensible when |
|---|---|---|
| Airer in a ventilated room | Into the air, then out the window or through the exhaust fan | You can genuinely ventilate, and you are not in a hurry |
| Airer in a closed room | Into the walls, windows and ceiling of that room | Rarely. This is where winter mould comes from |
 Vented dryer ducted outside | Out of the building | Most Australian laundries. Use a wall bracket if floor space is the problem |
| Vented dryer NOT ducted | Into the laundry, worse than an airer because it is hot and fast | Never. Duct it or open it to outside air |
| Condenser or heat pump dryer | Into a container you empty, or a drain | Internal laundries with no external wall |
The pattern is simple once you see it: the question is never “airer or dryer”, it is “does the water leave the building”. An airer next to an open window and an extraction fan is doing that. A vented dryer blowing into a closed laundry is not.
Why winter makes it worse
Warm air holds more moisture than cold air. Through an Australian winter the air inside a heated room can carry a good deal of water, but the surfaces at the edges of the room — glass, external walls, the corner behind a wardrobe — sit much colder. When moist air touches them it drops its water.
That is why mould appears in the same places every year: window reveals, the wall behind furniture, the ceiling corners of the smallest room. It is not that those spots are dirty; it is that they are cold. Adding two litres of laundry water a day to a closed house tips a marginal room over the line.
The other winter factor is time. Clothes on an airer in a cold, still room can take days. During all of that, they are releasing moisture, and damp fabric left too long develops that sour smell that no amount of fabric softener fixes.
If you are going to use an airer, use it properly
- Pick the room with ventilation, not the warmest room. A bathroom with a working exhaust fan beats a heated bedroom every time.
- Run the fan or crack a window. Ten minutes of cross-ventilation moves more moisture than an hour of still warm air.
- Spin harder first. The washer’s spin removes water mechanically and costs a fraction of evaporating it. Use the highest spin your fabrics tolerate.
- Space the garments. Overlapping fabric dries slowly and stays damp in the folds.
- Do not dry in a bedroom you sleep in. It is the room where damp air and cold surfaces do the most harm, and you are breathing it all night.
Done that way, an airer is a perfectly reasonable tool, and it costs nothing to run. We would rather say that plainly than pretend every household needs a dryer.
Where a dryer genuinely wins
A vented dryer that is ducted to an outside wall or window removes the water from the building. That is its real advantage over an airer — not speed, though it is faster, but the fact that the moisture is gone rather than redistributed.
The catch is that the duct has to actually go somewhere. A vented dryer discharging into a closed laundry is the worst option on the table, because it delivers the same two litres hotter and faster than an airer would. If your laundry has no external wall, a condenser or heat pump machine that collects water into a container is the honest answer.
The other thing a dryer needs is airflow through itself. A perished lint filter or a crushed duct makes cycles long and hot, which is both expensive and the setup behind most dryer smells. The symptom is covered in dryer taking too long to dry, and if the machine returns damp, cool clothes instead, the heating element is the usual cause.
The space problem, which is usually the real reason
Most households drying indoors on an airer are not making an environmental choice — they are out of floor space. That is a solvable problem for a vented dryer, because Australian vented machines have been designed to hang on a wall since the 1980s and the mounting points are already pressed into the back panel.
The bracket is matched to the dryer: the Fisher & Paykel and Haier kit, the Omega and Euromaid kit that also covers the Stirling, Tempo and Akai badges, or the universal kit with wall spacers if your badge is obscure. The install method, including the stud and masonry rules, is in how to wall-mount a dryer in Australia, and the layout thinking is in fitting a washer and dryer into a small laundry.
Frequently asked questions
How much water does a load of washing actually hold?
Roughly two litres after a normal spin, depending on load size, fabric and spin speed. Every millilitre of that has to go somewhere — into the air of your house, or out through a duct.
Does a dehumidifier make indoor drying safe?
It helps a great deal, because it takes the water back out of the air. It also uses power, so the “free” advantage of the airer shrinks. Used in a closed room with the door shut, it is a reasonable setup.
Why do my clothes smell sour after drying inside?
They stayed damp too long. Bacteria multiply in fabric that takes days to dry. Higher spin speed, better spacing and real ventilation all shorten that window.
Is it safe to dry clothes over a heater?
No. Covering a heater is a fire risk and it is one of the more common causes of house fires in winter. Never drape washing over or against a heating appliance — the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Product Safety site carries the standing advice.
My laundry has no window and no external wall. What are my options?
A condenser or heat pump dryer, which collects the water rather than venting it, or an airer plus a dehumidifier. A vented dryer without a duct is the one option to rule out.
Can I put the dryer on the wall and still dry some things on an airer?
That is what most households end up doing, and it works well. The dryer handles towels and bedding, the airer takes the delicates, and the floor stays clear.
Get the right part first time
If the reason you are drying indoors is that the dryer is slow, smelly or has nowhere to live, send us the model code from the sticker inside the door — or run it through the part finder. Tell us your wall type if it is a bracket you need. Same-day dispatch from Sydney’s Northern Beaches on orders placed before 12pm.
Disclaimer: this article is general information only and is provided without warranty of any kind. Appliance designs vary between models and production runs — always follow the manufacturer’s instructions, switch off and unplug the appliance before starting any work, and confirm parts against the model number on your appliance’s model sticker. Any repair is undertaken at your own risk and Oz Appliance Spares accepts no liability for injury, loss or damage arising from work performed after reading this guide, to the maximum extent permitted by law. If in doubt, use a qualified technician.
