I recall some time (years) back there was a discussion here about electric blankets.. However my googlefu is failing me this morning... So does anyone have any recommendations or makes to avoid, etc.
Wifeys started on the hot water bottles already and I think an EB might be a better solution - so the requirments are: washable (I think most are these days) and controllable - preferably separate sides, as I'm happy to live in a fridge while she's not!
Suggestions welcome!
Thanks,
Gordon
I don't like em. I hate the buzzing sensation they give and that the things have to be thrown after five years. Hot water bottles are fine.
Brian
Never felt a buzz and never thrown one out after just 5 years! ;-)
Tim
fwiw they're the cause of several electrocutions a year.
NT
My parents had one that did that, bloody great big control box on either side of the bed. Hummed away and glowed in the dark like great big transformers.
These days though they are much smaller, the size of a remote, and look much safer.
As for your "separate sides" fridge/blanket problem Gordon: what you need is two good single beds, pushed together under a kingsize duvet! Independent warmth environments and best of all: independent suspension! We moved to singles-together about 15 years ago: one of the best domestic ideas we've had!
John
When I worked for an Electricity Board, we had a duty to investigate any deaths by electrocution. Those caused by electric blankets were almost invariably due to mistreatment and/or lack of maintenance. Under blankets were always a higher risk than over blankets.
Personally, I am perfectly happy with a hot water bottle.
Colin Bignell
FWIW: We have a king sized bed with a matteress that has the best part of 3000 springs in it with a separate top "wadding"/"futon" type layer and it's brilliant! No roll-together, and one side doesn't "bounce" when the other side gets out. However my brother has a similar sort of arrengement to what you describe and I can see it's advantages - maybe in 20 years time :)
Gordon
Haven't seen one for decades, but would have thought they'd all be extra low voltage by now, or earth-sheathed.
Or are you talking about people who still use a 60 year old one with a 5A round pin plug on it?
Same here, the best things since sliced bread IMO. We much prefer overblankets, much more cosy. Ours gets set to third degree burns for 30mins or so then down to "1" (lightly browned) when we get in, there it stays, bloody marvellous :)
In terms of avoiding...
IME a feature of the washable ones is that they have to have a built-in plug and socket to connect to the electronic control gubbins, and as this by definition has to be Very Safe, it tends to be quite bulky. We bought one a few years ago, and it had 2 HUGE hard lumps in it on either side, which are about where your shoulder goes. Incredibly uncomfortable, and I literally woke up in pain many times when rolling over on to it in my sleep.
Binned it in the end (I don't know why we never got round to returning it as not fit for purpose, TBH) and bought a different one, which has the same issue but nothing like as bad. Sorry, despite racking of brains I can't remember the name of the original one. Hopefully they'll have changed the design by now, anyway.
Just something to be aware of when buying, anyway
David
I had one like that.
In article , Gordon Henderson writes
The makers used to recommend sending them in for a service every few years or so. Does this advice still stand?
I have a Winterwarm washable double which has been in daily use for 20+ years. Like another poster mentioned, it has a hand control with 3 settings: turbo-nutter warm up mode (Essex girl tan), all-night mode 1 (normal tan) and all-night mode 2 (red-headed stepchild).
I think I have one of those and the connection block does occasionaly becom= em a nuisance, but I quite like the blanket, got it from argos a few years = ago double with 10 setting for heat, thrmostatically controlled with a 12ho= ur timer and 75 minute timer, on each control. I usually sleep with it on s= etting 3 when it's cold. My mother won;t have one she said she's heard they cause womb cancer ..... I googled it at the time and there was a study in the US but seemed vague a= s to not knowing whether it was excessive heat or elecromagnetic problems, = I guess you'd need to pass twice the current in the US.=20 On a related note how come we don't see low voltage ones it it because the = cables would need to be thinker and there uncomfortable. =20 Are there electric hot water bottles as the problem with bottles is that th= ey are cold by about 4am .....
an oil bottle that keeps it's heat for longer or one you could just 'chrag= e' up with heat would be nice you could have 2 on the go.
I think my mum (76 years old) is probbaly more at risk from filling a hot w= ater bottle with hot water than she is from elecricution or womb cancer fro= m a blanket.
=20
Well I've not had any blankets for 10 years or so, maybe they are better now, but I still don't like the idea of sleeping near all that electricity. Do modern ones work on low voltage DC perhaps?
Brian
This old ad rather nicely demonstrates my main objection to twin mattresses.
We used to have electric overblankets, but since we switched to using duvets we haven't needed one. If it is really cold, put one (summer Tog rating) over the matress and under the bottom sheet, and then put another (winter TOG rating) above you in a duvet cover. You are then being very green because you are in a high insulation environment and produce enough heat to keep yourself warm without generating too many greenhouse gasses :-) This set up is a bit like a giant sleeping bag - and your winter expedition types don't have electric blankets or hot water bottles AFAIK.
Alternatively, buy a water bed which comes with a heater and keeps a nice temperature summer and winter.
Cheers
Dave R
Still uncomfortable if you're trying to cuddle across the "no-go" zone. ;-)
Tim
David
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