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5 of the best electric blankets and heated blankets 2020
I reckon there are two types of electric blanket on the market in the UK. I'm sure there are exceptions but let's keep it simple:
It's also worth looking at the material that the electric blanket is made from. Posher ones are made with breathable cotton whilst cheaper ones are manmade polyester.
All of the electric blankets we've picked out can go in the washing machine, so you won't be taking it to the dry cleaners forevermore. You can also buy heated blankets which you sleep under, but this guide just focuses on the traditional style where you lie on top of it.
Anyway, we've picked out five of the best electric blankets available in the UK in 2020 by looking at customer reviews, value for money, specification, warranty length and so on.
Prices are correct at the time of writing and are for a double size electric blanket. Electric blankets also go by the name of 'heated blankets' in the UK, but they do the same thing.
- Simpler and cheaper electric blankets/heated blankets usually have two or three heat settings and not a lot else. They are ideal for a technophobe who doesn't want to be reading an instruction manual at 11pm whilst shivering in bed. You usually leave them on all night or use one of those timer switches which you use when you go on holiday. Simple electric blankets in our top 5 include this one from Silentnight (£30) and this John Lewis & Partners electric blanket (£45).
- More expensive and more complicated electric blankets come with features such as dual controls so you can have one side warmer than the other and different zones so you can have warm feet and a colder body. Some automatically adjust the temperature throughout the night depending on how cold the room is and others can turn themselves off after a few hours. Feature-filled heated blankets in our top 5 include this Dreamland one (£85) and this Slumberdown electric blanket (£50).
It's also worth looking at the material that the electric blanket is made from. Posher ones are made with breathable cotton whilst cheaper ones are manmade polyester.
All of the electric blankets we've picked out can go in the washing machine, so you won't be taking it to the dry cleaners forevermore. You can also buy heated blankets which you sleep under, but this guide just focuses on the traditional style where you lie on top of it.
Anyway, we've picked out five of the best electric blankets available in the UK in 2020 by looking at customer reviews, value for money, specification, warranty length and so on.
Prices are correct at the time of writing and are for a double size electric blanket. Electric blankets also go by the name of 'heated blankets' in the UK, but they do the same thing.
1. Silentnight Comfort Control Electric Blanket - £30
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This simple electric blanket from Silentnight doesn't have all the bells and whistles which you get with some. It won't impress your dinner party friends or give your life a renewed sense of purpose.
However, it's good value, it's simple enough for granny to use, it's hugely popular and it's made by a brand with a strong reputation (Silentnight scores 4.3/5 on TrustPilot). The electric blanket itself scores 4.4/5 from a whopping 8000 customer reviews. It's got a very simple design with three heat settings, which is probably a good thing if you don't fancy wrestling with a complicated digital display at bedtime. It deliberately doesn't cover the whole mattress, so that it lies flats and doesn't overheat - the downside is that you might have cold feet if you're very tall. You can choose from a fleecy version or a less-fleecy version which both cost about the same and are available as single, double or king size heated blankets. If you really want to, you can get one that works with an app and with Alexa so you control it from your phone or shout across the room at it and annoy the neighbours. The standard model comes with just one handset but you can upgrade to a dual control version so that you won't have to argue in bed about what temperature to put it on. It's made from synthetic materials and can be washed in a washing machine. It comes with a three year guarantee, which is quite decent for an electric blanket. If you want a more complicated and cleverer heated blanket from Silentnight, have a look at the Silentnight Easi Heat (£60) which costs about twice as much as their standard electric blanket and allows you to heat up different 'zones'. |
The Silentnight electric blanket has thousands of positive reviews and simple controls
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2. Dreamland Boutique electric blanket/mattress protector - £85
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This electric blanket from Dreamland costs about three times as much as the cheap Silentnight electric blanket above, but it has a number of advantages.
Firstly, it also acts as a mattress protector because it covers the whole bed, whilst the Silentnight model just covers the middle. It's got an elasticated edge to stop it sliding around and getting creased. It's made from cotton rather than synthetic materials like polyester. Cotton is a natural and breathable material which is seen as a posher material for bedding. It's also got fancy features such as an auto switch off after a certain number of hours and five different temperatures to choose from. There's a super-fast five minute warm up setting too, so it should be ready by the time you've brushed your teeth and flossed. The larger sizes also come with two control units so you can get your side of the bed to the right temperature. You can machine wash and tumble dry this one too. Reviews average about 4.5/5. You can buy the Dreamland electric blanket in single, double, king size or super king size (they're listed on separate pages for some reason). |
The Dreamland Boutique heated blanket is made from cotton and has an auto switch off timer
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3. John Lewis & Partners Easy Fit Quilted Electric blanket - £45
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This John Lewis & Partners electric blanket gets rave reviews, with an average score of 4.6/5 from about 50 reviews at the time of writing.
It's similar to the cheap Silentnight heated blanket and doesn't have anything fancy like an auto switch off mode or different zones. In fact, it might be a bit too simple for some people with only two heat settings (high and low) as well as a 10 minute express warm up switch. That's not as quick as the Dreamland electric blanket which takes 5 minutes but it better than most. The advantage, in my opinion, is that it comes with the John Lewis & Partners reputation for quality. You get a three year guarantee and, as with most modern heated blankets, you can put it in the washing machine. One downside with this one is that it is made from a synthetic material (polyester) which isn't as posh or breathable as a cotton electric blanket. |
The John Lewis electric blanket only has high and low settings but customers love it
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4. Slumberdown Perfectly Warm luxury electric blanket - £50
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This Slumberdown Perfectly Warm electric blanket has more features than my first car (a 1990s Fiat Punto, in case you're interested). Customers give it great reviews of about 4.5/5.
It's probably more suited to someone who likes a gadget rather than someone who just wants a simple electric blanket. It's got nine different heat settings as well as an extra setting for your feet and is split into four zones so you can pick different temperatures for different parts of your body. It cleverly adjusts the temperature depending on how warm the room is during the night and you can tell it to switch off after a certain number of hours. The bigger sizes have dual digital controls to avoid arguments. The downsides with this one are that it is polyester rather than cotton which is a bit more breathable (the Dreamland electric blanket mentioned earlier is cotton). It's also a bit slower to heat up than the Dreamland electric blanket (15 minutes compared to 5 minutes). The description says it comes with a one year guarantee but there's a great big sticker on the front which says it has a two year guarantee. Either way, it's not as good as the three years you get with the John Lewis and Silentnight electric blankets but it offers a lot of features for the price tag. It's available as a single, double, king size or super king size electric blanket. You can machine wash and tumble dry this one too. |
Slumberdown's electric blanket comes with loads of options and features
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5. Slumberland Easy Fit electric blanket -£55
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The Slumberland electric blanket is another simple to use model from a brand that you've actually heard of.
We've included it because of its positive reviews and the fact that it covers the whole bed (like a fitted sheet) rather than just lying in the middle, which is what the Silentnight heated blanket does. That's a big advantage if you're very tall and don't want cold feet. In fact, it calls itself a 'heated mattress cover' rather than an electric blanket or heated blanket. It's got a few more heat settings than most simple models but isn't complicated to use. You pick a heat level from 1-9 and then switch it to all-night use once it's heated up. There isn't an option for auto switch off but the king size version does have two controls so you can just turn on one side if you want to. Customers score it an average of 4.4/5 after more than 700 reviews. It's got a long warranty (3 years) and goes in the washing machine/tumble dryer. The main downsides with this one are that it's slow to heat up (15 minutes) and that it is made from polyester rather than breathable cotton. It's also much more expensive than the Silentnight electric blanket without offering the fancy features of the similarly priced Slumberdown Perfectly Warm electric blanket. |
The Slumberdown electric blanker covers the whole bed and has had hundreds of good reviews
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