Through my teenage years and all through college, I used to sleep with an electric blanket.
Why? Because it’s always been hard for me to get warm once I catch a chill. And there’s nothing more uncomfortable than going to bed when you’re chilly and not being able to get warm enough to fall asleep.
Well, I recently read an article entitled “Will Using An Electric Blanket Save Energy?” and I think I might be going back to an electric blanket once again!
Here’s why…
Who knew that using electric blankets could have such a drastic effect on your heating bills?!
Here are some highlights from the article by James Dudley in The Tennessee Magazine:
3 Simple Ways To Lower Your Heating Bills
Generally, for each degree that you lower the thermostat setting at night in your home, you can reduce your heating bills by 1% to 2%, depending on your climate.
That said, here are a few ways to lower the temperature inside your home at night, while still remaining warm, and make sure that your mornings (once you get out of bed) leave you feeling just as toasty warm.
1. The best way to do this is with a programmable clock thermostat. You would want to program it so it doesn’t start to lower the temperature until just after you are in bed, and then program it to raise the temperature just before you wake in the morning. The earlier you can set the thermostat lower, the more you will save in heating bills.
On the other hand, with a typical thermostat, if you simply lowered the temperature before you went to bed, then the entire house would be very cold when you awoke in the morning.
2. Using an electric blanket or mattress pad on your bed will keep you comfortably warm all night long. Some even prefer to use an electric mattress pad beneath their body while sleeping, and an electric blanket on top. This enables you to keep your entire body at a comfortable temperature, perhaps warmer underneath and cooler on top, or vice versa.
My queen-size mattress pad uses only 220 watts, and it cycles on and off to maintain a steady temperature. The average electricity usage is less than 100 watts, about as much as a standard light bulb uses. When you compare this to cutting your heating bills by up to 10%, the overall electricity savings are significant.
— James Dudley, The Tennessee Magazine
3. Increase the thermal mass in the bedroom by adding ceramic planters or other masonry items. It may sound strange, but when the air temperature starts to drop in the room, the thermal mass transfers its heat content to the room.
The Best Electric Blankets
Lullabeds For Kids — You’ve gotta check these out! They’re blankets that light up and blink to a built-in soundtrack or they can be set to gently fade until your child falls asleep. Kids of all ages love ’em!
Simmons Beautyrest Electric Blanket – One of the softest and most elegant automatic blankets ever! It also has the highest cotton blend of any heated blanket available today.
SoftHeat King Electric Blanket – Wireless heating means no more lumpy blanket. That’s right no more wires!
Sunbeam Electric Blanket – This is the one I used for so many years. Warm & toasty, the Sunbeam is your all-around basic electric blanket. Very durable and easily washable.
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We’ve gone through the entire process of designing and planning every single detail of our dream log home! We have the blueprints… and the land… and the contractor… and the goal for our log cabin home to be our retirement home. Before you build (or buy) a log home, I have a slew of helpful tips for you — to plan, design, build, decorate, and maintain your very own rustic modern log home. When I’m not fine-tuning the log home of my dreams, you’ll find me at the corner of Good News & Fun Times as publisher of The Fun Times Guide (32 fun & helpful websites). To date, I’ve written nearly 300 articles for current and future log home owners on this site! Many of them have over 50K shares.
