January 23rd, 2020 by Chris Chapman

Electric blankets are luxuriously comfortable and cosy, but you probably knew that already! What you may not have realised, however, is that they’re also incredibly eco-friendly and that using one could dramatically reduce your heating bills. Here’s how your heated blanket could save you money this winter!

Why Are Electric Blankets So Eco-Friendly?

Electric blankets use much less energy than a radiator because they don’t have to warm up a whole room. They’ll help you feel cosy even if your room is chilly or draughty as most of the warmth they produce is absorbed by their thick, cosy fabric.

Even if you have an ultra-modern central heating system, it still has to use a relatively high amount of energy to heat your home. If you’re not careful, it’s also really easy to waste energy on heating rooms you aren’t using (such as spare rooms and storage closets). When you use an electric blanket, almost all of the heat it generates ends up in direct contact with your body, so you’ll feel the benefit right away. Bear this in mind if you live on your own and don’t need to heat your whole home all the time!

Power Usage

As a result of all of this, electric blankets use barely any energy (in most cases, it’s less than 100W). Most don’t actually get much hotter than 40-50°C simply because they don’t need to as they’ll be in contact with your body for an extended period. This is why most blankets don’t feel very warm if you briefly touch them – you need to lie on them for a few minutes before you’ll feel any benefit.

Blanket Fabric

Blanket fabric acts as a sort of insulation that makes it much easier for the heating elements inside the blanket to reach their target temperature. The thicker and better quality the fabric is, the more eco-friendly it’ll be (usually). As a bonus, thick, snuggly fabric is also amazingly comfy to lie on, and causes all sorts of feel-good chemicals to be released in your brain!

Timer Settings

Most modern electric blankets are fitted with some sort of timer – usually a countdown timer. This will allow you to switch it off throughout the night if you don’t want it to run while you’re sleeping. Some blankets will offer 10 or 12 different timer settings while others might only have a few. The more timer settings you have, the more control you have over your energy use, so it’s worth considering if you want to be really eco-friendly.

Electric Blanket Running Costs

All of this means you can run an electric blanket for as little as 1p per night. Fitted blankets are more efficient than heated throws as they can work with your duvet to retain much more heat for a longer period. With throws, some of the heat they generate escapes into the room, although a cosy throw is still much more efficient than central heating if you only want to keep warm on the sofa!

Use your heating less and your electric blankets more – you’ll definitely notice a difference over the course of a year!

Sweet Dreams Prestige Luxury Electric Blanket with Dual Controls - Double

Price: £89.99

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