With increasing power, Gas and Electricity, charges I would like to use an electric blanket for very cold nights. The temperature range should possibly be in the 18°C to 38°C range. So far everything seems to start too high and finish way too high. Makes me wonder if they ever test their Electric Blankets on real people. Would also like the foot area to be warmer too.
Does anyone know of an Electric Blanket that has say an 18°C to 38°C range for temperature and is safe to run all night. Please and thank you.
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Hi @WallyDraigles, welcome to the community.
Choice has tested electric blankets in the past (member content)…
It is worth noting that the temperatures recorded by Choice are maximum temperature measured at the highest setting. Lower settings would have lower temperatures.
Some electric blankets have separate foot and body settings, so feet can have different temperatures to the body.
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Haven’t used an electric blanket since I set my bed on fire when I was doing HSC. You may have a great reason to have it on all night. If not, it can save electricity if you heat it up then jump into bed and turn it off. The temperature of your body and the blanket should soon come to a comfortable agreement.
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I’ve been wondering why Choice keeps recommending that we don’t leave electric blankets on all night - do they often catch fire?! I can’t see the point of one if I can’t use it all night. I live in Canberra and with overnight temperatures usually below zero in winter there isn’t much point warming up a bed before I go to sleep only to wake up freezing a couple of hours later. I don’t (can’t afford to) heat the house overnight any more and the 3 occupants of 3 separate bedrooms have been counting on electric blankets to keep us warm in winter while we sleep. There are a zillion warnings on my blanket’s hefty warnings label but none of them suggest it can’t be used overnight.
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The Choice recommendation is consistent with warnings from various fire authority and electric blanket manufacturers. The general advice is to turn them off when you go to bed.
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All the fire authorities warn not to leave the blankets on overnight, because electric blankets do often cause fires. Here’s the ACT ESA’s advice: Electric blankets are neat until they overheat (PDF).
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This Is some general advice:
and
which is consistent with Choice’s advice.
Living in Tassie, we follow the above advice. If we start to feel cool during the night, we add another cover (blanket or doona).
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There have been safety recalls of some products and accidents including fires attributed to electric blankets. Some makes and product versions may be a greater risk than others.
P.S. the short answer is no one other than some manufacturers and retailers are prepared to risk saying any electric blanket or throw product is safe. The alternate point of view.
One might read the Choice advice similar to how one considers the safety of a new car. Some makes and models are likely less likely to have safety defects than others. How one uses a motor vehicle is also a factor in whether one might have an accident. If one only ever starts the car up in the carport once each evening, to not drive it anywhere is sound safety advice. A rather pointless experience, one could imagine owning an electric blanket that is only used to preheat the bed as equally rewarding.
To note Choice does review electric blankets some of which advise they are not suitable for continuous overnight use.
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“Keep clear of material and layers of blankets.”
Am I the only one who sees a slight problem with this advice?
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No. 
There is much advice from authorities on how to safely use electric blankets. Some is quite sound and fairly obvious: don’t wet it, fold it, pin (spindle or mutilate) it. Also check regularly for wear, there are a number of recommendations to replace them regularly as wear and damage is a major cause of problems. Several sources say 99% of EB fires are caused by blankets over 10 years old, though I cannot find the source of this. Various countries publish numbers of EB fires per year but the exact mechanism in each case is not so clear.
Then there is advice such as, keep the EB clear of piles of blankets. What are you supposed to do it your bedroom is near zero Celsius and there is frost on the inside of the windows? This advice has some basis but is often obscured by poor explanation. This is why.
A location will reach an equilibrium temperature which depends on how fast heat is fed in and how fast it is removed. If you have your EB on at a given setting with five woollen blankets over it it will reach a temperature higher than if you only have one. Taken to extremes, say if you unload the contents of the linen cupboard on to the bed, in time it can get hot enough to burn as the heat cannot escape.
The advice is not to avoid blankets altogether but to avoid having far too many piled up in any spot. But how many is that?
Another concern to me is the advice to only heat the bed with your EB and to turn it off when you get in. How can it be safe to use with nobody in the bed but it becomes unsafe as soon as a person gets in?
There seems to be two possible explanations of this advice. One is that lying on an EB while it is on is inevitably dangerous, if this is so they ought to be banned.
The second explanation is that the risk stays the same but the advice is given because a sleeping person may not wake to save themselves if there is a fire.
About here we need to note that the human body produces heat all the time and that the amount is similar to an EB at full power, around 100 w. So if you have a living body in a bed with an EB on full power the bed will equilibrate at a higher temperature than the EB alone. Everyone knows this and knows the solution, turn down the EB. But why do you have to turn it off?
The only conclusion I can come to that makes any sense is that the reason you are told to turn it off is that if one of the risks (age, damage, water, pins) for fires is present you needs to be conscious so you can be aware of the fire and act.
Shouldn’t the advice be more practical as is given for other electrical devices? We are told not use power tools that have frayed cords as they might electrocute you, we are not told to never use power tools just in case the cord is frayed.
We cannot eliminate risk in this life only manage it.
I think the advice ought to be don’t use an old or damaged EB or mistreat it; not, don’t use it to keep warm in case it is damaged. Which would make the advice consistent with how millions of people use these devices. If you can’t understand or act on the warnings to ensure the EB is safe to use will you listen to the advice to turn it off and have cold feet?
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I already sleep with a double layer of pyjamas and warm socks, a thick quilt and 4 blankets (plus 2 quilt covers) so adding more layers is going to make my bed so cumbersome it will disrupt my sleep as much as the cold does. Given that my EB’s manufacturer is willing to take the legal risk of me using their blanket overnight (but not if I do a dozen other things with it), I have to assume that EB fires are usually caused by people who misuse their blanket or have one past its safe use-by date. Never underestimate the potential for human incompetence, is my motto.
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Possibly. Generally an electric blanket shouldn’t be use if the heating element has been creased, through removing the blanket, storage or say children jumping on the bed (or sitting on the very edge of the bed).
Current advice is also electric blankets should be tested ever 2 years by a qualified electrician and replaced if they last to 10 years of age. Most consumers don’t test their electric blankets as the testing cost will far exceed the replacement with a new blanket.
If one choses to ignore the advice, they might be lucky all their life without any problems. If only once they are unlucky, they might not get a second chance to test their luck.
I would be checking your insulation. If your current coverings aren’t keeping you warm in bed it might mean the house temperature is dropping significantly during the night.
We have a somewhat leaky 1850s house with good ceiling insulation. Even with many mornings around -6°C last week and maximums in single figures, 2 wool blankets and a doona, along with flannelette pyjamas was sufficient in bed. We turn the electric blankets off when getting into bed. We also don’t heat the house for about 16 hours per day (usually only heat from about 2-4pm to 10pm) and the downstairs of the house still stays above 10°C at its coolest.
Is it realistic to suggest that there is only one way to arrange our bedding, winter night time warmth and sleeping attire?
Does each of us in our own way make the most of what we have? Considering some have more than others.
I’d not go back to multi layers of heavy wooden blankets and a cold 6” foam mattresses. We have a light weight summer doona ( synthetic fibre fill) and a medium weight similar for winter. We have the luxury of reverse cycle air conditioners in each bedroom. If it was a colder climate hydronic heating (panel and underfloor) might be the go.
If unable to budget for luxury, or one of those expensive feather down quilts, there is appeal in the lower cost of a good quality electric blanket. Would one leave the EB on all night? I’d suggest if it is not safe to do so the product is not fit for purpose. It’s a frustration that those sources advising against sleeping with the EB turned on are not adopting a more constructive campaign for safer electric blankets that can be left on when in bed.
I’ve not used an electric blanket for some years, since I was woken to a “fffffzzzzt” sound at my shoulder, as the blanket shorted out at the connection to the bed…
My feet are the biggest issue. I used to be a cold frog but ageing has changed all that. I do have a hot water bottle or three, and a small heat pad which switches itself off after 2 hours not all at the same time. I bought the heat pad initially for my back, i now use it as a heat pad for my feet. When its time is over (approaching fast) I have also got a “HotPod” which is electrically heated and which last for 4 hours but not plugged in during use. My wool duvet is in a plastic holder now, its been 3 years since that was on the bed.
I have two fake mink fleecy blankets acquired from Aldi, I pretend one is a sheet and the other is the blanket. Only for winter when the house temp goes down to 10 or 11 (my house is leaky too).
Exactly. If you have a newish EB of an approved brand, which is undamaged and correctly used how is it possible that the product is fit for purpose and at the same time it is not safe to lie on while it is on?
@BrendanMays could Choice please find an answer to this question and/or contact an industry rep or product safety authority about it.
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I don’t preheat my bed with the EB as it’s usually a pleasant temperature when I get into it, since we run the reverse-cycle A/C 7-8 hours a day to heat to about 20 degrees. The temperature inside overnight varies greatly from room to room, but my room sometimes gets down to about 8 degrees despite the R3.0 ceiling insulation and heavy pelmetted curtains (ironically, the uncurtained room next to mine is much warmer). Perhaps you sleep with another person in the bed? Built-in heating.
Yes, but the other half is a frog. Cold sleeper. I am a hot sleeper.
We prefer sleeping when air temperatures are cool, without heating on.
Don’t have built-in heating. The only heating is from a wood fire heater for about 8 hours each winter’s day.
We have R4.1 and R5.0 in the ceiling. R4.1 is the minimum recommended for our location. R5.0+ is preferred.
In Canberra, R5.0 is recommended:
Ceiling insulation - Climate Choices.
If your room’s bigger than the other bedroom and the house walls aren’t insulated, your room would be losing more heat through the larger expanse of uninsulated wall. That could explain why it gets so much colder.
Gaps around windows can also let in a lot of cold air. Heavy curtains help, but there’s only so much they can do if the windows are leaky. Plugging any gaps could make a big difference.
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This is one of those interesting crossroads where people want efficient and effective heating, but the need for safety is also present. Often we hear from people who have been leaving on electric blankets overnight, even before modern safety standards became the norm, which is not a good thing.
The important part here is that in our testing, modern blankets have been proven safe and obviously some even have ‘all night’ or timer settings and the safety features to cut the device off should things go wrong. This basically makes them fit for purpose under the consumer law to leave on all night.
However, we still advise people to err on the side of caution and switch them off before going to sleep. While the risk is very small, if there was a fire, the concerns will very likely outweigh the typical consumer focus under the ACL. We base our advice on the communications from other authorities in this area (fire safety groups for example), the potential of recalled devices in circulation and complacency with older blankets. Since people might be in deep sleep if a problem occurs, it’s also a factor.
As an aside, do people feel they need the EBs on all night? Just relating this to some of my personal experiences of living in areas with regular sub-zero temperatures, we would often go out winter camping and sleeping in a swag and suitably rated sleeping bag, the campsite would freeze over and the biggest problem was still getting too hot! Same would go back at the house where you’d often de-layer over night to stay comfortable. You defintely needed the EB to avoid the feezing entry into bed though. Interested to hear more of people’s thoughts.
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