It’s often the way that in the search for modernity, older ways are dispensed with, but not always for the good. The truth is, a combination of the old and new is often better, and I’m a big proponent of the principle of heating the person, not the house.
It’s a concept that Victorians would have been familiar with, albeit in a different way. Faced with cold, draughty houses, Victorians would have had thick rugs, deep curtains (around doors, windows, and even beds), and layered up to keep warm.
Modern central heating and relatively low utility prices changed that, making it easier to warm a house, even a relatively poorly insulated one like my Victorian terrace.
With utility prices still so high, it’s no surprise that a lot of us are looking for ways to keep bills down, and the technology to heat the person, not the house, is at a point where that’s easy to do in almost any setting, and I’m a convert.
Direct heat, not room heat
The old way to stay warm would have been lots of blankets and a hot water bottle, regularly refilled as it cools down. Aside from the issue of boiling (or near-boiling) water in a rubber container that slowly deteriorates over time, this solution isn’t particularly convenient.
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But, electric underblankets, throws, and even portable devices, such as the Stoov Ploov heated cushion, are complete game changers. Designed to deliver low levels of heat that will warm a person (typically between 20°C and 57°C), these devices consume a lot less power than an electric heater, which is built to warm an entire room.
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As an example, a typical electric underblanket will use between 40W and 150W, depending on the size and features. That works out at between 1p and 4p per hour on maximum power, assuming the current price cap of 26p per kWh of electricity.
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Actual running costs can be a lot less, as heated blankets tend to be run on lower temperature settings. With the Dreamland Hygge Days Luxury Faux Fur Warming Throw, for example, the company says the blanket uses 301Wh over eight hours, assuming a five-minute heat-up on the maximum setting and then running on setting three afterwards. That’s 8p for a full night’s sleep at the current price cap.
I don’t find that a heated blanket needs to be on for that long. Using the timer setting for an hour on a mid-level setting is usually enough for a heated underblanket to get me warm enough to sleep.
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In comparison, a 2000W fan heater would cost around 53p per hour to run, although an integrated thermostat will turn the heater off when the temperature has been reached. In typical testing, in a regular-sized room, a 2000W heater, such as the Dyson Hot+Cool Jet Focus AM09, might take around six minutes to get a room from 15°C to 18°C, at a cost of around 5p. However, as the room drops in temperature again, the fan heater will have to turn back on again.
Size of room, outside temperature, level of insulation and other factors all have a part to play, but in a typical day or evening it would seem fair to suggest that an electric heater may need to be on for up to two hours to maintain a sensible temperature, at a cost of just over £1.
Not that you shouldn’t heat the house
Electric blankets and throws aren’t a replacement for heating, but more of an add-on. It’s generally recommended that unoccupied rooms and houses have a minimum temperature of 14°C to 16°C (some insurance policies set a specific threshold, so it’s worth checking). Occupied rooms should be 18°C minimum for most people, although slightly cooler at night is generally fine.
To lower my heating costs, I use Tado X, which lets me control the temperature on a room-by-room basis; those we’re not in are colder, and we warm the room that we’re in to minimum levels, with electric throws, pillows and blankets adding comfort.
