WE TEST… electric blankets
Things we considered: Are the controls easy to use? Is the temperature even? Any special features?
Fairisle pattern heated throw, £79.99, Lakeland
Having only ever experienced an electric blanket, the concept of a heated throw is a new one to us… and we’re sold! We love the flexibility of this soft throw – you can wrap yourself up on the sofa to read a book on a Sunday afternoon or lay it over your knees while you’re working at home on a winter’s day. There are nine settings, from gentle warmth to toasty hot, and an automatic cut off that can be set at anywhere from 20 minutes to three hours. It has Scandi-stylish looks too.
Anti-allergy heated super king mattress topper, £40, Dreams
Rather than huddling beneath a blanket, heat up your whole bed with this mattress topper. We got the best results by setting the controls to level three around an hour before getting into bed, while levels one and two were okay to leave on all night. We would have liked a timer, in case we did doze off with it set to 3, but the topper did heat evenly and the controls were simple to use. It’s also machine washable, as you can detach the controls, which is a big win.
Beurer HD75 taupe heated throw, £64.99, Amazon
Snuggle up on the sofa under this heated throw. It has six temperature settings and the controls are easy-to-use. While it heats up evenly across the throw, it would have benefited from being a bit hotter (even on the highest setting, it felt a little underpowered). It can be machine washed, if you detach the controls, and we love the way it turns off automatically after three hours: ideal if a snooze gets serious.
Cosy and warm double electric blanket, from £22, Dunelm
Costing only 2p per hour to run, this basic but effective blanket is an inexpensive way to keep warm at bedtime. Elastic corner straps make it easy to fit onto a mattress and stop it from moving around, and it has three heat settings – although it doesn’t include a timer function, so you have to manually switch it off. You can make your bed irresistibly cosy by leaving it to heat up on either setting two or three for around half an hour before you jump in to catch some zzzs.