In many adverts for electric blankets or heated throws, manufacturers claim that blankets cost 'pennies to run', but what does this actually mean? If you sleep with a partner, look into dual controls so you can each control your own side of the bed. You might also want the option of a timer to help with energy saving (though electric blankets are pretty low cost to run all night anyway).

Silentnight Comfort Control Electric Underblanket - Double Silentnight Comfort Control Electric Underblanket - Double

Better blankets have elastic skirting but cheaper models use straps, which can be fiddly. More timing options and heat settings can also make a difference. The best electric blankets let you set different temperatures for your upper and lower body (since feet tend to get colder). If you sleep with a partner, look out for the dual control function, which allows one side of the bed to heat up independently to another. While health benefits shouldn’t be exaggerated, you might find if you suffer from a condition like arthritis or poor circulation that an electric blanket can alleviate some of the pain. But perhaps the biggest incentive is the high cost of electricity. At the time of writing, a typical 2000W electric heater in your bedroom could cost 68p an hour to run. By contrast, a 100W electric blanket would cost less than 4p. On their highest settings, we found that electric blankets cost anywhere between 2p and 7p an hour to run. For heated throws, the range is from 2p to 5p.Durability After testing, each electric blanket and heated throw is washed and dried five times to simulate wear and tear. We then conduct a full electrical safety test on each one. None showed significant wear and tear, and all passed the test.

Silentnight Comfort Control Teddy Fleece Luxury Heated Throw Silentnight Comfort Control Teddy Fleece Luxury Heated Throw

If you buy your blanket from a reputable UK retailer, as we did for our tests, then it should be safe. The blanket itself is thin, so apart from those chunky pads I didn’t feel a thing. There were only three settings, which is far less than most competitors, which means there’s less control over heat. The first setting was fine for eliminating chill, the third was quite toasty, and the second somewhere in between. There were nine settings for feet and body, ranging from boiling-hot nine to barely noticeable one; four or five was optimal for me. The timer has four settings: one, five, eight and 12 hours. High-resistance wires – these days often made of carbon fibre – heat up as an electrical current passes through them. The heat is transferred via fireproof plastic coating to the bedlinen itself. Your blanket will come with a plug (or two if it’s dual-control), which usually extends to around a metre or so. Attach it to your mattress via its straps or elastic skirt, place your sheet over it, and then make your bed as usual. Make sure your duvet fully covers the bed so as not to dissipate the heat. Get cosy with the perfect winter warmer! This Silentnight electric blanket takes just a few minutes to warm your bed.Also, be aware that the running cost claims on the box are often based on the blanket's lowest power setting, which our testing revealed hardly heats the blankets up at all. You can see the real running costs based on the blankets highest settings in the table below. The best electric blankets from our test HEAT SETTINGS: Featuring 9 heat settings so that you can control your comfort and choose the warmth that suits you best. Choose settings 1-6 for slower heat up and moderate warmth, or 7-9 for faster, ultimate cosiness. An ideal addition to your bedroom as the winter months approach, with single control, 3 heat settings, and Sleep Safe overheat protection.

Electric blankets | Habitat Electric blankets | Habitat

Finally, we take into account the durability of each blanket by washing and drying it five times after testing. The Homefront offers dual control, which helps save on energy. The LCD control pad was simple to use and, on top of choosing which side you want to heat, you can also differentiate between body and legs, with nine different temperature settings for each.You don't have permission to access "http://www.argos.co.uk/browse/home-and-furniture/bedding/electric-blankets/c:29472/brands:silentnight/" on this server.

Comfort Control Electric Blanket | Silentnight

The electric blanket has six heat settings that cost between less than 1p and 8p per hour to use, and three timer options of one, three or nine hours. It connects to a mains plug but has dual control so you and anyone you share a bed with can control your own heat settings. My advice is that you need a cool bedroom and a warm bed. Getting into a cold bed may be perceived by your brain and body as a threat, increasing wakefulness.” Dr Stanley says switching on an electric blanket around half an hour before bed should make it perfectly cosy to get into, letting you drift to sleep naturally, but you should set it to turn off some time after you nod off. All the blankets I tested were able to warm up the bed in 30 minutes or less, costing less than 3p at today’s prices. What makes a good electric blanket Dates tested: August 2023 and October 2022. We're not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available. Heat distribution Using the six temperature sensors, we record how evenly each blanket heats up. Most heat up evenly, but some have irregular hot and cold spots.

Heat yourself, not your home. Save on energy usage with the Silentnight Electric Blanket Double - it can heat your bed from as little as 1p*. Comfort A panel of five volunteers assesses each electric blanket and heated throw for comfort. There is quite a big difference in how snuggly each one is and underwires are more noticeable in some of them. For electric blankets, we also assess how easy each one is to attach to a mattress and how comfortable each one is to lie on under a fitted sheet.