What does an electric blanket cost to run?

An electric blanket is one of the smartest appliances for a cold NZ bedroom. At around 100W on high, and far less once it is up to temperature, it is a genuinely cheap-to-run comfort item. The reason it is so efficient is that it heats the bed directly instead of trying to warm the whole room, so almost none of the energy is wasted.

Run it for half an hour before bed and switch it off, or leave it on low, and it costs only a few cents a night. Compared with running a 2,000W heater to warm the same bedroom, the blanket is drawing a twentieth of the power for the part of the room that actually matters, which is where you are lying.

The real savings come from what it lets you avoid. With a warm bed you can drop the bedroom heating right back or turn it off overnight, and that is where the money is. Heating an empty bedroom all night with a plug-in heater is one of the more wasteful things a household can do, and a blanket removes the reason to do it.

It is a comfort tool as much as a cost one. A warm bed on a frosty night is worth a lot for a few cents, and it means you are not tempted to leave a bigger heater running just to make the room bearable to climb into.

The cautions are practical, not financial. Older blankets are a fire risk and should be replaced every several years, and they should not be left switched on high all night. Use the low setting or a timer if you want it on while you sleep, and check the cord and element for damage each winter before you put it back on the bed.

As a cheap-to-run comfort item it is hard to beat, and the calculator makes that clear. Enter its low wattage and the short hours you actually run it at your own rate, and compare that with heating the whole bedroom. The blanket wins comfortably, which is exactly why it is one of the easiest ways to trim a winter bill without feeling colder.