We’ve reviewed heaters and electric blankets (member content), so you can discover the best products to keep you warm in winter. We also have a neat electric blanket buying guide and electric heater buying guide (free) to help you navigate the available options.
Do you have a question about heaters or electric blankets? Ask us in the comments below.
What’s winter…haven’t had a decent one in Brisbane for decades. Still waiting as I enjoy the cold.
Back a few years ago, we used our electric blankets to keep out home brew at temperature during cooler nights…expect that this is not a recommended use for the blankets but we no longer used them and thought was a good way to reuse them until they gave up the ghost.
There are some mattresses that do not recommend electric blankets be used at all - my gel mattress for one.
Most people wanting an electric blanket would probably not pay attention to their mattress tags and I did not notice a note about that in the buyers guide.
Just something to keep in mind…
Good advice, thanks for highlighting this important safety factor 
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I suspect it is less about safety and more about degradation of the gel layer from the heat, but could be both 
Watch out for this K-Mart heater, it’s one of the worst we’ve tested.
Renters take note, you don’t need your landlord’s permission to install these heating options:
Don’t be tempted by this Kmart heater, it bottomed out in our lab tests:
Has anyone used the Econoheat panel or the Goldair Eco-Panel heater that you attach to the wall, they are less than 500 watts and supposed to be very economical to run (Used in smaller spaces like the bedroom). I don’t think Choice has ever reviewed them. My father (now deceased) used to have one in his bedroom and it certainly kept it warm?
Sorry, I have not. I’ve gone for broke this year and bought an expensive oil heater in the form of the DeLonghi Dragon4 (not electronic, though I was briefly tempted). My winter bill is going to be massive. I decided that going cheap as I did a few years back, was probably not the best option. It gets a poor rating in the Choice review, which I did not read beforehand, silly me. However I am happier with it than the testers were 
I have it in the lounge area (which is only separated from the rest of the house by a heavy curtain, so the heat escapes) and I find it warms the entire house well enough. I can leave it on if I need to go out for a short time, and the temp difference between outside and inside even in the areas not heated, is quite noticeable. I have it plugged into a smart plug so I can see what the dials are doing in terms of electricity usage, and the thermostat, whilst working as an on/off thing, does not reduce useage at all. The “speed” dial works well. Set on 1 it uses over 900w (supposed to use 850), on 2 it uses 1200 or thereabouts (supposed to be 1500) and on 3, around 2100… supposed to be 2400). In terms of maintaining a comfy temp, I leave the thermostat on full until the room has heated a bit beyond my comfort, then turn it down to about half. and set the heater to its “2”. Seems to work well, though as the temp outside drops to single figures, I boost the thermostat to full again.
A big negative: the dials are all but impossible to read, and I think the castors are too small for the weight of the heater, it does not roll easily.
A positive (for me anyway) is that the heat is much gentler than that of a radiator, which I have as a backup and which was the main source of heat last year and the year before.
I havent tested draping clothes over, because I would never be daft enough to do that. I may find that the winter quarter bill is greater than I am really prepared to deal with, but that is yet to come.
I noticed can buy column heating without oil in them now must be a new thing.
