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).

electric blankets and heated throws - Which? Best electric blankets and heated throws - Which?

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. There’s something luxurious about this 100 per cent cotton Dreamland electric blanket, a far cry from the cheap polyester feeling of some brands. Unlike others on this list, there’s no elasticated skirt or straps, instead it relies on a rather effective anti-slip grip on the underside. 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.Here’s what I found after several nights testing the best electric blankets, starting with my favourite. (And if you’re looking for other ways to improve your sleep this winter, you could consider upgrading your pillow next). How does an electric blanket work? 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. I found that some cheaper blankets had a tendency to come lose or crease up when I moved around at night; this one was fine. I liked the feature that adds extra heat to the area around your feet: in all honesty, I found in general keeping my feet snug and warm quite nice, whereas too much heat on my body made me feel stuffy and affected my sleep.

Electric blankets | Habitat Electric blankets | Habitat

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.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.

The best electric blankets to keep you warm at night (and The best electric blankets to keep you warm at night (and

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. Then, via the control pad (or your smart phone) you switch it on, and choose between heat settings and – on the better models – select a time. How safe is an electric blanket? 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.

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As the winter cold sets in, an electric blanket could just be the friend you need. Unlike the heavy covers your grandmother used to inflict on you, the best electric blankets these days are soft and light, with wires you’ll barely notice – and thankfully much safer and affordable, too. The top brands like Silentnight, Dreamland and Slumberdown are just as comforting as a weighted blanket (the currently popular sleeping aid), but they keep you warm and, some say, can also alleviate muscle aches and joint pains. 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