Lately my feet have been very cold at night, and I’ve had an electric blanket since my father stayed overnight at my old apartment 2 years ago, so last night I figured it was time to check it out and see if it might help. And it did! It was so nice and toasty under there! All I needed was a flat sheet and the electric blankie! It even has a “preheat” setting, which I plan to try tonight: I think it will be very nice to get into a bed that is already warm.
The only thing I don’t like about it is that I tend to move around a lot in my sleep, twisting and turning the bedding with me, but I’m afraid to do so with the electric because of the cord. If I decide that I really like the heat, I might have to look into getting an electric mattress pad . . .
Oohh…I’d love to get an electric blanket. I have a really nice down blanket, and I sleep with a comforter on top of that. That keeps me warm, but it is bulky. The thing that keeps me from getting an electric blanket is my cats…they like to pluck and I’d hate for them to get a shock because of that.
Are electric blankets safe to use with cats? My cats have their claws.
Pfft. Electric blankets have not “gone out of style,” at least in the U.S., and there is very little evidence to link EM fields and health problems. Here’s a much more exhaustive (and properly documented) list of references on EMFs and cancer.
The much more significant safety risk is fire caused by overheating or faulty insulation on the wires in the blanket. The risk can be decreased by turning off the blanet when it is unattended, not piling things up on top of blanket, not wadding the blanet up in a ball when it’s on, and inspecting the blanket regularly for signs of wear.
We have an electric mattress pad, a thick down comforter, and a drafty old house. The mattress pad’s a lifesaver!
I recently brought my electric blanket out of annual storage and added it to the winter bedding arrangement (flannel sheets, heavy comforter with flannel cover). I don’t keep it on all night; I turn it on half an hour before going to bed (right before Jon Stewart, generally), and I turn it off when I climb into the nice toasty bed.
My cat has quickly learned to recognize the distinctive spinngggk sound of the switch being flipped on, and he jumps right onto the bed to enjoy the incipient warmth. Very cute.
Mmm. I’m so jealous. I’m living in a drafty, poorly-heated dorm room. Flannel sheets and fleece blankets and warm sweats at night don’t begin to do enough.
We have an electric mattress pad and it is a real treat every night to crawl into a warm toasty bed. I turn it on 1-2 hours before going to bed and turn it off once we’re in bed for the night, so we should be avoiding those pesky EMF’s.
I find I need to turn off the blanket anyway before I go to sleep, or I will get too hot during the night. And, if I get too hot when I’m sleeping, I have really weird dreams. I’ve not heard of other people having that sort of reaction, but it’s the same as when I’m sick with a fever–they’re troubling and border on nightmarish. Then I wake up feeling drained and very lethargic. Go figure.
Living in a warm weather state, we rarely have occassion to use an electric blanket. There is one week of the year though that’s spent up in the mountains at about 7500 feet and in the Fall it does get more than chilly. Those nights, with the window cracked and the sound of the stream coming in and all snuggly under an electric blanket, we do in fact sleep the sleep of kings. Heavenly.
Our house is old and drafty, and the furnace is old, too. The heating vents in the master bedroom work none too well, even after spending more than $500.00 a couple of years ago to get the system fixed. Last fall, hubby was at a flea market, and he called me to say that someone was selling a dual-control queen size electric blanket, new in package, for $15.00, and should he buy it? Of course I told him to buy it! We love it! We don’t leave it on when we’re not using it, and we find that a lightweight comforter on top seems to help keep the heat against our bodies.
I don’t know . . . I think Smokey would have loved it (and now I’m kicking myself for not thinking of setting it up for her near the end, when her arthritis was really bothering her), but I would have been afraid to use it with her when she was healthy because of exactly what you say. She had no front claws, but all it would have taken was a little nip or for her to trip on the cord or something . . . That said, Cervaise’s cat seems to have no problem. If you’re concerned, maybe a heated mattress pad would work better for you with the cats, because it would be covered by the fitted sheet?
Good movie, but no: I meant an electric mattress pad instead of the electric blanket. Threesomes ain’t my style.
As Podkayne said: “there is very little evidence to link EM fields and health problems.” The instruction manual (which I read carefully before setting up/plugging in the blanket) even addresses the EM issue.
I turned it off before falling asleep (though I woke up a little chilly – I’ll have to work that out), and unplugged it before leaving for work today. I’m a little paranoid about leaving things like that plugged in while I’m not home: I never leave the iron plugged in, and I don’t even leave the power cord for the laptop plugged in during the week (I usually only have it home with me on weekends; before I leave the office every Friday, I unplug the power cord that’s here).
I’m not usually cold, so I never imagined ever using an electric blanket. We’ll see how tonight goes – but as soon as my feet knock off the “we’re cold!” nonsense, I’ll go back to my regular bedding.
I make it a habit to preheat the bed every night - I have naturally cold feet, so my electric blanket is a lifesaver. Once the bed is warm, I turn it off, or I get over-heated, especially with my random hot flashes these days!
Even if the EMF WAS dangerous, the solution is simple: turn on the heat 10-15 min before getting into bed, then turn it off b4 getting in.
I don’t have one at home, had one when I slept in a mostly unheated 2nd floor, but pretty much used the above method (I have no problem KEEPING the bed wam, just the initial warm-up can be uncomfortable)
Just to be clear, there’s a comforter on top of it. When the whole sleeping arrangement is assembled, it goes futon / pad / fitted flannel sheet / me / flannel top sheet / electric blanket / comforter with flannel cover / kitty.
Dunno if giving the cat direct access to the electric blanket would be a good idea or not. He’s definitely a pointy kneader.
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