electric blankets

Agusya

is using electric blanket expensive? I have no idea how to calculate it. One website mentioned that it costs per hr as much as one kWh costs, would that be correct? Im trying to figure out what to do about heating and cost of it. I live on my own and it never been a problem for me to pay my bills by my self , until now . This winter I put my thermostat down to 18.5/19 degrees and only keep heating on in a room Im currently in . Ive been using electric blanket throw as its cold when I sit down to watch telly etc (I also have bed cover electric blanket to warm up my bed)  . What are your thoughts? What do you do? Better to have this blanket on, or put gas heating up or wear more clothes? 

QrizB

Agusya said:

is using electric blanket expensive?

It depends on the blanket. Is there a label on your throw that tells you the wattage?

We've got three bed underblankets (me & the kids) and they're all around 30-40 watts. Even on the new price cap that's barely a penny an hour for each.

I've also got a heated pad on my working-from-home chair. That's closer to 20 watts, so half a penny an hour.

I would have thought that any electric blanket that uses more than 100 watts - three pence an hour - would quickly become uncomfortably hot.

[Deleted User]

Our electric blanket is rated at 70W so costs me 1-2p per hour to run (max 1 hour at night).  I also have an electric throw rated at 120W and that uses a bit more obviously 2-3p per hour but has kept us nice and warm this winter applying heat just to where it is needed on days where the ambient temperature within the house is kept at about 18C for much of the day with the gas central heating.  Our thermostat has gone down 2-3 degrees since we started using the throw on December 24th (maybe for 3-4 hours or so per day) and this had made a huge difference in our CH gas consumption. (last month gas was 24% lower than a year ago)   Electric bills are also lower in spite of using these electric blankets/throws but we don't use an electric shower in our newer bungalow compared to last year (last month was 23% lower than the previous year).  Both of these blankets have the wattage clearly marked on the label.

Bexie1989

I've got a heated throw for in the living room and a heated blanket on the bed (aldi special buy for £20!) 

I love them both and according to my smart meter cost 3p an hour to run at 22.9p a unit. I don't put on the heating anymore as we're electric only and it's costs a fortune for not much heat. If I'm chilly I'll just put my blanket on.

Elisheba

Okay - to work it out you need to look at an appliance's wattage.  An electric blanket is normally about 70- 200 watts.

Then you need to know your Kilowatt cost (KW).  It will be on your bills if you look online.  If you aren't on a deal will will be about 21p per kilowatt hour for electricity.  So that's 21p for every 1000 watts of energy you use an hour.

So to make things simple, say your blanket is 100 watts. That means it runs at 0.1 kilowatts an hour. If it was 200w it would be 0.2 kw.  350w would be 0.35 kw.  1500w would be 1.5kw

So multiply your KW cost by that, so 21p x 0.1kw  In this case its easy as its 10% of 21p an hour, so 2.1p an hour to run.

So 'appliance wattage (in a decimal form) x kilowatt an hour cost = cost to run an hour'.

That will work for every appliance you have.
  
Hope that helps 

wild666

I've never used an electric blanket, I put a throw over my quilt and most mornings the throw is on the bedroom floor because I have being too warm during the night even in winter with a 4.5 tog quilt and outside temperatures at below zero. I have two throws that cost me less than the cost of one electric blanket.

PennyForThem_2

Concur that extra and separate duvets / throws do it as far as warmth in bed and sitting on sofa watching TV go.   Easy to throw off if too warm.   

If it is really freezing then stick a beanie on your head (woolen or polyester hat).  You lose 30% body heat via your head!

Swipe

I put my electric blanket on the highest setting (100W) for 10 minutes and switch it off when I get in bed. In winter I use 2 thin duvets. My bedroom is normally between 14 & 17C. If it's really cold when there's a cold snap, I sometimes switch it down to the lowest setting but often wake up in the middle of the night too hot and turn it off.

Elisheba

Agree that blankets, and a hot water bottle are cheaper than an electric blanket.  However if you can afford an electric throw for putting over yourself when sitting down in winter instead of putting on the heating it would be a lot less faff and keep things like feet warm as well.  It will eventually pay for itself if its something people prefer to use.  I'm thinking of putting one on my list to buy as a treat for myself at some point. I'll make do with my sleeping bag and a hot water bottle for now 

Agusya

QrizB said:

Agusya said:

is using electric blanket expensive?

It depends on the blanket. Is there a label on your throw that tells you the wattage?

We've got three bed underblankets (me & the kids) and they're all around 30-40 watts. Even on the new price cap that's barely a penny an hour for each.

I've also got a heated pad on my working-from-home chair. That's closer to 20 watts, so half a penny an hour.

I would have thought that any electric blanket that uses more than 100 watts - three pence an hour - would quickly become uncomfortably hot.

thank you for an answer!
Ive checked and my Lidl throw is 110 Watt and Silentnight bed blanket 90 watt .are you sure it would only be few pence an hour? Thats good

Agusya

Elisheba said:

Okay - to work it out you need to look at an appliance's wattage.  An electric blanket is normally about 70- 200 watts.

Then you need to know your Kilowatt cost (KW).  It will be on your bills if you look online.  If you aren't on a deal will will be about 21p per kilowatt hour for electricity.  So that's 21p for every 1000 watts of energy you use an hour.

So to make things simple, say your blanket is 100 watts. That means it runs at 0.1 kilowatts an hour. If it was 200w it would be 0.2 kw.  350w would be 0.35 kw.  1500w would be 1.5kw

So multiply your KW cost by that, so 21p x 0.1kw  In this case its easy as its 10% of 21p an hour, so 2.1p an hour to run.

So 'appliance wattage (in a decimal form) x kilowatt an hour cost = cost to run an hour'.

That will work for every appliance you have.
  
Hope that helps 

very helpful !!! Explained very well