Food dehydrator?

Researching food dehydrators lately. I already have a feeling that making my own raisins at home is probably more expensive than buying them at the lowest sale price I can find or wait for at the supermarket. But I can probably make my own dried apricots, apples, bananas, and other fruits for cheaper than what I'd find at the store, and I wouldn't sulfur them, sulfured dried fruits being something that hippies like myself try to avoid, for vague "it's a chemical, so it's probably teratogenic" reasons.

I don't keep a lot of dried foods on hand. I'm not a hiker, and it's not part of my emergency supplies. The question, then, is whether I'd actually change enough of my diet to make it worth my while to home-dehydrate a lot of produce. I mean, I guess I do go on a dried apricot kick every once in a while; and I add prunes to oatmeal. But I'm not really an oatmeal-for-breakfast person. Maybe I would dehydrate enough vegetables to make a lot of crockpot soups in the winter? Ooooh, or maybe vegetable lasagna? Or, of course, emergency supplies that would absolutely be cheaper than the ready-to-eat and instant foods I currently keep.

The deluxe-est home dehydrators go for about $250.00. I suspect it would take me a long time to make that pay for itself, though of course I don't have to get the deluxe-est. Hrm, no decision yet.