# Are elctric Blankets apt to shock or electrocute the user? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2008, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582 "2008-10-19T00:29:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/21 "2008-10-20T17:29:14Z")
I bought the Throw EB this morning at… > **[Amazon.com: Sunbeam Tan Plaid Fleece Electric Heated Warming Throw Blanket :...](https://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-Fleece-Electric-Warming-Blanket/dp/B000ZM1MWI)** > > 9Automatic Warmth Wherever You Are. Nap, watch TV or read under the cozy warmth of our cuddly soft Sunbeam Cuddle-Up Heated Throw. Advanced ThermoFine warming system senses and adjusts to body temperature, sending more heat where you need it the... …and got the answer recommended by the Mfr. It might surprise you: "# Soft Comfortable Fleece ``` * Easy care fabric** * Machine wash and dry" ``` \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/22 "2008-10-20T17:41:52Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I’d have dreams of being barbecued on a giant grill. > > What’s the best way to clean an electric blanket? Can it go to the dry cleaner? You just unplug 'em and throw them in the washer. I think you can even machine dry them, but read the label. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/23 "2008-10-20T19:58:26Z")
> [@Dripping](#): > > I’ve always wondered which is cheaper…heating my bedroom\* with a baseboard heater, or totally turning that off and just using the electric blanket on my bed at night… All electrical resistance heaters (including your electric blanket,baseboard heater, and toaster oven) are 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat\* However, your baseboard heater has to heat up the entire room in order for you to feel anything, while the electric blanket only has to heat up a thin layer of fabric. Obviously, using the electric blanket is going to be lighter on the pocketbook, if you’re only concerned about personal heating. \*if this doesn’t make sense to you initially, ask yourself, what form of energy would the “waste” portion be made up of if the process WASN’T 100% efficient? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/24 "2008-10-20T20:03:01Z")
> [@YamatoTwinkie](#): > > All electrical resistance heaters (including your electric blanket,baseboard heater, and toaster oven) are 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat\* > > However, your baseboard heater has to heat up the entire room in order for you to feel anything, while the electric blanket only has to heat up a thin layer of fabric. > > Obviously, using the electric blanket is going to be lighter on the pocketbook, if you’re only concerned about personal heating. > \*if this doesn’t make sense to you initially, ask yourself, what form of energy would the “waste” portion be made up of if the process WASN’T 100% efficient? The downside is awakening and putting your feet on the floor - unless, perhaps you keep your “wicked good” slippers under the covers, too! (You might want to get new ones, though.) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/25 "2008-10-20T20:18:57Z")
What I do is program the thermostat really low in the winter at night, but half an hour before the alarm clock rings it turns on and warms the place up. It helps me wake up, and I’d never be able to get out of bed otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/26 "2008-10-20T22:40:19Z")
This is a little late for the OP, but a concern to _some_ people is the electromagentic fields from an electric blanket and their potential effect on the body. Cecil addressed it [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2699/electrifying), although the article is more about power lines than electric blankets. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/27 "2008-10-20T22:45:35Z")
> [@TroutMan](#): > > This is a little late for the OP, but a concern to _some_ people is the electromagentic fields from an electric blanket and their potential effect on the body. Cecil addressed it [here](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2699/electrifying), although the article is more about power lines than electric blankets. Thanks, **TroutMan**. Not at all late, in my mind. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/28 "2008-10-20T23:17:15Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > The downside is awakening and putting your feet on the floor - unless, perhaps you keep your “wicked good” slippers under the covers, too! (You might want to get new ones, though.) Odd. I keep my slippers on the floor next to the bed. I never have trouble finding them, even in the middle of the night. Where do you keep your slippers? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/29 "2008-10-20T23:20:13Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Odd. I keep my slippers on the floor next to the bed. I never have trouble finding them, even in the middle of the night. Where do you keep your slippers? Same as you,. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/30 "2008-10-20T23:31:19Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > Same as you,. 😛 You keep your slippers on the floor next to **Exapno** ’s bed, too? ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/31 "2008-10-20T23:48:27Z")
Lol!!! ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/32 "2008-10-21T04:06:49Z")
I haven’t been killed by electric blankets, but I’ve been shocked by two. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/33 "2008-10-21T15:00:49Z")
> [@BarnOwl](#): > > I bought the Throw EB this morning at… > > [Amazon.com: Sunbeam Tan Plaid Fleece Electric Heated Warming Throw Blanket : Home & Kitchen](http://www.amazon.com/Sunbeam-Fleece-Electric-Warming-Blanket/dp/B000ZM1MWI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1224523519&sr=8-3) > …and got the answer recommended by the Mfr. It might surprise you: > > "# Soft Comfortable Fleece > > ``` > * Easy care fabric** > * Machine wash and dry" > > ``` > > \*\* There’s usually a cover. You’re supposed to wash the cover, not the actual wired parts. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/34 "2008-10-21T15:10:04Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > There’s usually a cover. You’re supposed to wash the cover, not the actual wired parts. Maybe they’re different in Europe - here the wires are an integral part of the blanket, but you can wash the whole thing (well, not the cord - you take that off.) ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/35 "2008-10-21T15:44:10Z")
Apropos of nothing, when I was 4 my parents’ bed was set on fire by an electric blanket. My dad dragged the mattress outside while my mom called the fire department. Being four, all I remember is my dad poking the smoldering mattress with a stick, causing flames to erupt higher than the roof of our house while my mom screamed at him to stop, and the overwhelming thrill of actual firemen! at my house! I wanted so badly to talk to them and ask them if I could help them but my mom wouldn’t let me. They had been given the electric blanket as a wedding present 10 years before, and had never opened it. It had sat in a closet until that night, when for some reason they decided to pull it out and use it. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/36 "2008-10-21T15:47:20Z")
> [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](#): > > They had been given the electric blanket as a wedding present 10 years before, and had never opened it. It had sat in a closet until that night, when for some reason they decided to pull it out and use it. So…did your parents have any secret enemies, a friend or relative who seemed strangely disappointed when they survived their first winter after the wedding? Some electricity-age Nessus, gifting them with an object meant to _kill_?! Did any of your aunts or uncles ask them every year, “So, did you use that electric blanket we gave you yet? Gonna be a cold snap tonight, weatherman says…” Probably not, but it would make a great story! Not that the one you actually posted isn’t! ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582/37 "2008-10-21T16:18:00Z")
I loves my electric mattress pad. I don’t have any issues with feeling the wires, although I have it under another fairly fluffy mattress pad. I love turning it on when I get home at night, then by the time I’m ready for bed, it’s toasty warm inside. I hate crawling into cold sheets in the winter. It has a built in timer that goes off in 10 hours, so I don’t have to worry about leaving it on all day either. I’ve had electric blankets before too, and much prefer the mattress pad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-elctric-blankets-apt-to-shock-or-electrocute-the-user/468582.md?page=1)