@Winsome, I have a dehydrator that I built (and doubles as a large proofing box for bread dough) and a 9 tray Excalibur that is scarcely ever out of use (particularly during the Summer).
I watch out for special offers on tomatoes (particularly cherry or baby plum tomatoes) and red peppers and then I dehydrate as many kgs as I can reasonably manage because we use vast quantities of them. We put tomatoes in lots of items such as savoury muffins and breads, add them to casseroles, soups and broths and eat them by themselves. Similarly for the peppers - as well as blitzing them into spreads.
We use kgs of nuts (various sorts) in a year. If I bought the unblanched sort then I'll sometimes blanch and skin 500g or so at a time after which I dry them again, using the dehydrator. (You can make some fabulously crisp almonds this way.)
We like fruit leathers and as we use a lot of apple puree in baking/granola this is very helpful for us.
How much use you get out of it depends on your buying patterns and what you like. I find it invaluable and wish I'd bought an Excalibur years ago.
My home-made dehydrator is still good (particularly for jerky/biltong) but the finer temperature control of the Excalibur has enabled me to try many more techniques and foods and is much less fiddly than my DIY one.