Electric Blanket to help reduce home heating needs?

[diesel_john]

electricity can be be very efficient because it used safely in a very small spot. I turn down the heat pump which draws 19 amps x 240 volts and turn on the mattress pad which cycles on occasionally at 1 amp x 120volts.

[al128]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

Meh, reject.... Electric blankets are resistors.... You come into contact with tons of them every single day. There's likely a bigger effect from local power lines all the time - even the buried ones (electromagnetic field beats ground)

true, but you normally dont spend 10+ hours of holding your body against one ...

(radiation decreases with the square of the distance ... eg double distance, 1/4th of radiation)

i am worried, but dont have sufficent in-depth electric / medical knowledge to confirm/reject this ...

cheers 2 all, al

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by DifferentPointofView

why in the world would you get back pains from a heating pad? don't mean to be harsh but, don't they tell you to use a heating pad on your back when you have pulled or have sore muscles? ice and then heat?

It's for injuries, strain, sore muscles, etc.

You shouldn't be icing or heating more than 20 minutes at a time. That number varies from doctor to doctor though (but you shouldn't be heating an injury for the first day or so - it'll only make it more sore - ice reduces the extent of the injury during the initial few days).... Heat pulls blood to the surface - if you've got a sore muscle, that blood can put pressure on pain receptor/nerves if you're applying heat for too long...

true, but you normally dont spend 10+ hours of holding your body against one ...

(radiation decreases with the square of the distance ... eg double distance, 1/4th of radiation)

i am worried, but dont have sufficent in-depth electric / medical knowledge to confirm/reject this ...

cheers 2 all, al

How many power lines are in/near your home (including buried ones)? Perhaps you're not spending 10+ hours holding your body against them - but you're immersed in them 24 hours a day When you quarter a small amount, it's still a small amount

It's a funny thing to watch... I live in Florida - and whenever the local news brings out the next "dangerous" household product, the parental stupid gene kicks in.... Yet, not one person I know puts sun block on every single day. I mean, it's well known - that radiation will kill you - even through clouds

[Who]

Go ahead and call me a ***** but for a penny a night I'll have to call anyone who ever has to make or purchase a coffee or coffee related product something far worse. Hrmmm... what's a good name?

It's far easier for the electric bedspread to "conduct" a handful of BTUs directly to the body's muscles than have to radiate or convect heat across a room at whatever it can hit. I guess a tightly woven clear nylon mesh mattress pad over a totally silvered acrylic layer would be a very efficient heat trap. Still... I'd rather not wake up looking like a waffle!

[DifferentPointofView]

if it were me, I'd have it on low, or just have it on before I get in bed and then turn it off when I got in. if I woke up from the cold, I'd put it on low again.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by DifferentPointofView

if it were me, I'd have it on low, or just have it on before I get in bed and then turn it off when I got in. if I woke up from the cold, I'd put it on low again.

I don't have one - but my sister and parents do.... They turn their pads on medium or high for about an hour before bed - then turn it off for the rest of the night

Personally, I like a cooler bed with a heavier blanket I mean, I used to have a water bed - and I unplugged the heater Maybe I'm weird that way

[boxchain]

500 W vs 5-10k for baseboard/strip heaters to heat the room(s). Your toaster/microwave pulls 1500W.

Biking at a fast pace produces 200W, so if you're cold and worried about electricity, ride a bike!

[LostCause]

The bicycle analogy is actually a very good one. Some mountaineers do jumping jacks, pushups, and other aerobic exercises right before entering a sleeping bag to raise their metabolism. Blankets aren't warm, but people are...especially those burning a lot of calories.

An electric blanket is the equivalent of a house with poor insulation running the heater constantly to remove the cold. A down comforter is the equivalent of added insulation. Increasing the number/thickness of blankets is essentially free while running an electric blanket is not. Am I missing something.

Maybe I need to spend some time up North...

- LostCause

[DifferentPointofView]

the problem is I don't have more than one blanket. One thing that helps though is totally covering your body, head and all, under the blanket. you feel like your suffocating unless it's a thin blanket, but it warms it up good.

[jonr]

I use an electric mattress pad. I then run into the limitation on my head getting cold. For this, I have a small radiant heat emitter (used for reptiles).

With these two things, I can turn the heat completely off at night.