I want to know how much cheaper it is to use an electric blanket than to turn on the central heating, please.
I have an electric blanket, which is like a blanket with a heating element. When I turn it on and wrap it around me, it’s so cozy I don’t need to turn on the central heating.
Out of curiosity, how much cheaper will my energy bills be if I just use my blanket and don’t turn on the heat? I will provide details of both my flue and my boiler.
This Is Money’s Sam Barker responds: As the mercury drops, so do reader queries about heating.
Energy bills are high and will only increase in the short term.
Ofgem’s energy price cap, which is now £1,717 a year for average energy use, will rise by 1.2 per cent to £1,738 on 1 January 2025.
Blanket Rule?: Most electric blankets are designed to lie on, but some wrap around your body.
However, as I said in an answer to a similar question I had recently, it’s very difficult to give a straight answer to heating questions like “what’s cheaper, X or Y”.
This is because every home and person is different, and factors such as boiler efficiency, thermostat setting and insulation all help to complicate the answer.
That said, on paper it is much cheaper to use an electric blanket to keep warm than to turn on central heating.
Your 160 watt (0.16kw) electric shot costs 4p to run for an hour, assuming you’re on the typical price-capped power deal where electricity unit rates are capped at 24.5p per kilowatt. hour (kWh).
By comparison, your 25kw combi boiler should cost £1.56 to run your central heating for an hour, assuming you pay 6.24p per kWh for gas at capped rates and your boiler has an efficiency of 90 percent.
That £1.56 cost could end up being less, as once the temperature in your house reaches that of the thermostat, the boiler will turn off, and that could take less than an hour.
But whichever way you look at it, the electric blanket clearly costs a small fraction of the cost of turning on the central heating.
However, the easy comparisons end there.
You may feel very warm (and frugal) using your electric blanket, and they are undoubtedly great devices, with dedicated fans.
But the blanket only warms you, so as soon as you take it off you will feel the full force of the cold.
You can’t leave it on forever, so I suspect you may have to rely on a combination of draft and heating.
Having a cold house is also bad for the house.
Not heating your home can mean mold and damp build-up, which can lead to a repair bill that dwarfs the cost of simply running the central heating.
There is also the initial outlay for the electric blanket. They typically range between £50 and £70, depending on the brand and retailer.