Is an electric blanket cheaper than putting the heating on?

A few pence an hour. Which? measures each blanket on its highest setting and found running costs of 2p to 8p an hour, pricing its tests at 27.69p a kWh. Used three hours a night for six months, it puts a blanket at up to £30 a winter. Ideal Home says most doubles use around 150W and smaller ones as little as 60W: at the average rate under the October to December 2026 cap, 26.32p a kWh, that is about 1.6p to 4p an hour, by our sums.

Makers often quote lower figures. Which? says claimed running costs are usually for the bottom setting, which it found hardly heats a blanket at all.

Far more, because it heats the whole house. Ofgem’s typical home uses 9,500kWh of gas a year, for hot water and cooking as well as heating. At this quarter’s average rate of 7.97p a kWh, that would cost over £750 a year before the standing charge, about 207p a day on average, and more in winter.

Viessmann says a home with one bathroom and ten radiators needs a 24 to 27kW boiler, and that a 24kW boiler uses 24kWh an hour. That is about 191p an hour, by our sum, but it is the maximum: a boiler does not run at full output all the time.

Only if it lets you leave the rest of the house cold. Under the cap a kWh of electricity costs 26.32p and a kWh of gas 7.97p, over three times as much. The 1,500W Dreo Atom 316 costs about 39p an hour at full power, by our sum.

No. A blanket warms the bed or, as a heated throw, the sofa, not the room. The NHS advises heating the rooms you use regularly, such as the living room and bedroom, to at least 18°C if you can, particularly if you have a health condition.

In our view, the saving comes from heating only the rooms you use, at 18°C or more, and letting a blanket or throw do the rest.

No, unless the maker says it is made for overnight use. Which?, drawing on London Fire Brigade advice, says to unplug blankets before bed unless they have a thermostat for safe overnight use. Silentnight’s listing recommends switching all electric blankets off before you go to sleep and avoiding constant use at the highest temperature.