# Electric blanket, where have YOU been al my life? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 19, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523 "2009-02-19T07:15:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![grayhairedmomma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/47e85d/32.png) [@grayhairedmomma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grayhairedmomma)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/41 "2009-02-21T06:12:01Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > I am a 47 yr old male and my feet are usually very cold at bedtime. But nothing else is. I used to have an electric blanket when I was a kid, and I would love to have one now if it only worked at the foot of the bed. Here’s a mattress pad that’s designed to cover only the foot of the bed: [Sunbeam Electric Foot Warming Pad](http://www.comforthouse.com/el2.html) ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/42 "2009-02-21T06:23:25Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > I’m the complete opposite. The idea of getting into a pre-heated bed almost makes me shiver. I love getting into a cold bed and have it slowly heat up. This greatly heightens the coziness factor. Same here. I can’t stand being hot in bed, and that happens a lot more often than being cold. In fact, I can’t ever recall being too cold in a “real” bed, i.e. not outdoors in a sleeping bag or something. Now, on the other hand, it _can_ be too cold to get up out of the bed again in the morning, though. This might have something to do with the fact that I can’t sleep without a thick comforter; I just feel exposed if I try to sleep with only a sheet. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ETA: I’m reminded of the time I went to Paris in the summer and stayed in a relative’s apartment without air conditioning, ugh. It was miserable trying to go to sleep in that heat. I’ve never had that kind of problem with cold. ---
**Author:** ![Bravo\_Romeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bravo\_Romeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bravo_Romeo)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/43 "2009-02-21T07:06:21Z")
I’ve just realised that what I’ve called an electric blanket my whole life is in fact an electric mattress pad. It never struck me that my EMP in no way resembles a blanket. So is a real electric blanket… a blanket? That goes over you? With a heating element in it? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/44 "2009-02-21T19:15:00Z")
> [@Hyper Aware](#): > > So is a real electric blanket… a blanket? That goes over you? With a heating element in it? That depends. If it goes _over_ you, that’s a heated throw. They even have them in a smaller 12 V version for your car, where you plug the cord in the car’s cigarette lighter. What I got, was something like [this](http://www.global-b2b-network.com/direct/dbimage/50198350/Electric_Blanket.jpg). A thin, stiff blanket with thin wires in it. The rest of the blanket is there to make the feel of the wires less noticable. It goes _on_ my mattress, and _under_ my fitted sheet. the cord with the controller dangles by the side of my bed. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/45 "2009-02-21T19:53:47Z")
> [@TroubleAgain](#): > > If I had an electric mattress pad, I’d _never_ get the cats off the bed. 😃 We bought a small chair-sized heating pad for our rickety, arthritic old cat. As he approached 20 and began sleeping about 23 3/4 hours every day, the heating pad became his bed of choice. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/46 "2009-02-21T20:08:44Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > And why do guys never seem to have problems with frozen feet? As I understand it, men in general feel warmer than women because their bodies lose more heat. Men have less subcutaneous fat, and more blood vessels near the skin. So women tend to feel colder than men in the same situation, despite actually being less vulnerable to cold - you feel cold primarily with your skin, after all. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/47 "2009-02-21T20:17:24Z")
I have a heated mattress pad which is divine. I also have a usb heated throw for my lap when I’m using the computer. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/48 "2009-02-22T02:07:12Z")
> [@Hyper Aware](#): > > I’ve just realised that what I’ve called an electric blanket my whole life is in fact an electric mattress pad. It never struck me that my EMP in no way resembles a blanket. > > So is a real electric blanket… a blanket? That goes over you? With a heating element in it? That’s what mine is like(eta:a blanket with wires in it which provide heat). In fact, for years, my parents had a thin blanket on their bed which used to be an electric blanket but it died and Mom pulled out the wires and kept using it–generally in conjunction with an electric mattress pad. I’m not sure why Mom bought me an electric blanket rather than mattress pad, but I’m not looking a gift horse in the mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/49 "2009-02-22T07:42:56Z")
Love my electric blanket - Nothing better than pre-heated bed. Hmmmmmm. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Myrrajh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/87869e/32.png) [@Myrrajh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrrajh)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/50 "2009-02-22T08:14:37Z")
I’ve had an electric mattress pad for a little over a year. I’m generally really warm but wow, on some of those -30 nights when your toes just can’t get warm, it’s nice to be able to click a button and feel some gentle heat coming up. I just have it set on 2, but a timer would be good, too, since I usually wake up through the night to turn it off. I’d never heard of these things until I accidentally discovered it while I was house-sitting for a month. Somehow I bumped the switch through the night and woke up feeling really warm and cozy. Bought one as soon as I got back home. Got one for my mom, too, as she gets older she finds she’s cold all the time. She has hers on every night. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/51 "2009-02-22T12:10:23Z")
> [@Stan\_Shmenge](#): > > Hate to throw a damper on the love fest, but I think they are dangerous. I used to use one, years ago, and started waking up with bizarre numbness in my legs. I don’t know if it is the emf or the heat, but when I discontinued the blanket, the problem went away. I wonder how common that is. At least you got a warnign and were able to reverse the usage. Also, it is kind of scary to google the words “electric blanket” and “house fire” together. But I tell myself that all kinds of heating are unsafe if you use them without care. Fire remains fire, even when tamed so superbly. I suppose most of those fires were started when people used old blankets, blankets that were washed incorrectly or folded wrong. Or by people (very old, very young, or fleeble) that couldn’t tell when there went something wrong with the blanket. But then again, my saved sleep is a huge health benefit to me, and one I profit from every day. I’ve also heard (reviews on Amazon) of people sleeping much more relaxed, not curled up, and so how their blanket did wonders for their back pains or other joint pains. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/52 "2009-02-22T13:01:54Z")
When I was a teen, I somehow came into posession of my grandfather’s electric blanket. He was still alive, but didn’t need it anymore. This thing was from probably the 40’s or 50’s and the joy of it was if you sat on your blanket, that area would never be warm again. I know technology has vastly changed since then, but I am amazed that I didn’t just combust under that thing at any given moment in my teens. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/53 "2009-02-22T23:09:16Z")
I don’t use my electric blanket much anymore since I got a down-alternative comforter and some warm pajamas, but I do use my heating pad all the time. I just like to lay with my back against it for comfort. My Korean roommate used to call me “old lady” for doing this, because apparently in Korea only old people use heating pads. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/54 "2009-02-23T16:29:29Z")
> [@Hyper Aware](#): > > I’ve just realised that what I’ve called an electric blanket my whole life is in fact an electric mattress pad. It never struck me that my EMP in no way resembles a blanket. > > So is a real electric blanket… a blanket? That goes over you? With a heating element in it? Electric blanket, goes over your bed on top of you like a blanket (wires running through polyester blanket): [![](https://slimages.macys.com/is/image/MCY/products/3/optimized/290223_fpx.tif?bgc=255,255,255&wid=327&qlt=90,0&layer=comp&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.7,1.0,0.5,0&fmt=jpeg) ](https://slimages.macys.com/is/image/MCY/products/3/optimized/290223_fpx.tif?bgc=255,255,255&wid=327&qlt=90,0&layer=comp&op_sharpen=0&resMode=bicub&op_usm=0.7,1.0,0.5,0&fmt=jpeg) Electric Mattress Pad, goes on your mattress like a mattress cover/pad: [http://i10.tinypic.com/62yh92q.jpg](http://i10.tinypic.com/62yh92q.jpg) Electric throw, smaller than a blanket, use it on the couch (wires running through fleece throw): [http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/02/70/45/67/0002704567733\_215X215.jpg](http://i.walmartimages.com/i/p/00/02/70/45/67/0002704567733_215X215.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Bravo\_Romeo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@Bravo\_Romeo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bravo_Romeo)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/55 "2009-02-23T22:39:09Z")
This is such a revelation. Thanks to all contributing to the Essential Manual for Owners of Electric Blankets/Mattress Pads/Throws. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/56 "2009-02-24T15:39:25Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > That depends. If it goes _over_ you, that’s a heated throw. They even have them in a smaller 12 V version for your car, where you plug the cord in the car’s cigarette lighter. > > What I got, was something like [this](http://www.global-b2b-network.com/direct/dbimage/50198350/Electric_Blanket.jpg). A thin, stiff blanket with thin wires in it. The rest of the blanket is there to make the feel of the wires less noticable. It goes _on_ my mattress, and _under_ my fitted sheet. the cord with the controller dangles by the side of my bed. Maybe this is a translation issue? The picture you show I would consider an electric mattress pad, since it fits under you and around the mattress. Over you I would an electric blanket, like any other blanket. ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/57 "2009-02-24T16:57:15Z")
**Gigi** , yes I think so. I thought the difference would be that an matress pad would be more heavily padded, so, at least an inch thick, so all wires and controls would not be noticable any more. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523/58 "2009-02-24T22:27:38Z")
Ah, gotcha. When I first got mine I slept right on it, on high, and it was truly HOT. I didn’t mind, except maybe for the sweating! but it was a little excessive so it’s better with the thick mattress pad on top. I have the Sunbeam one with almost no padding. [![](https://mattresszine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/image12.png) ](https://mattresszine.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/image12.png) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-blanket-where-have-you-been-al-my-life/486523.md?page=2)