With energy bills reaching record-breaking figures, households across the country are trying to find ways to slash costs. A technique suggested to tackle that is to take a position in an electrical blanket as an alternative of running the central heating overnight, but how less expensive is it?
With an increasing number expected to face ‘fuel poverty’ this winter, campaigns, comparable to Money Saving Expert’s ‘Heat the human not the house’ are on the rise, in a bid to assist people cut down on central heating usage deemed as one in every of the very best contributors to energy bills.
In October, Google searches for ‘electric blankets’ spiked by 1,205 percent in comparison with the typical over the past five years, reflecting the surge in interest amid soaring energy prices.
James Haynes, branch manager at A-Plan Insurance, commented: “The UK has already handled skyrocketing bills over the past few months resulting from inflation and the soaring costs of wholesale oil. Now, we’re having to face the stark reality of the energy price increase in October.
“‘Electric blankets’ seeing a peak in searches in comparison with the past five years shows that many Britons are looking for ways to get monetary savings before the colder months hit.”
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In keeping with Ofgem, in October 2022, the fee per pence/kWh of electricity sits at roughly 52p after the recent energy price increase.
Nevertheless, understanding how much it’ll cost to run an electrical blanket is determined by a number of aspects.
Experts at Sleepseeker explained: “An electrical blanket generates heat by running electricity through wires in the material. Each electric blanket can have a special power rating and the general cost will depend upon the rating in your blanket’s label.”
But to offer an example of costs, Sleepseeker experts have used an approximate power of 100W, as that is commonest for an electrical blanket.
Sleepseeker experts commented: “This is clearly significantly cheaper than having your central heating on all night, and for a smaller 50W or 60W blanket, you’re taking a look at even less.”
Nevertheless, for those looking to avoid wasting as much energy as possible while running an electrical blanket, there are a number of easy things to take into account.
- Timer: Many electric blankets include a timer, which is a terrific approach to save energy. People can simply set it to show off after a set period, so it’s not left running all night.
- Variable power and warmth settings: With a variable temperature setting, people can use simply enough to remain warm and increase or decrease it as needed, as an alternative of keeping it on high.
- Prepare prematurely: Preheat the blanket – somewhat than blasting it on a high heat before moving into bed, put it on a low heat further prematurely to make use of less power.
- Stay low and add heat when needed: Start using the electrical blanket on low heat and if needed, give it a slight increase for a brief time frame.
