Electric Blanket to help reduce home heating needs?

[Erdrick]

My electric blanket uses about 60 watts at its highest temp. There is no central heating in my house, just individual heater/air conditioner units. I purposely bought my electric blanket to beat the cold winters w/o spending a fortune on heating the room. Perk is that you actually sleep much better with a cold room. Scientific fact if I remember correctly. hehe...

A friend of mine visited his doctor and was told that sleeping with the blanket on (especially if it is under you) is bad for your back though. Probably the best thing to do would be to only use it to make your bed warm for when you first get into it.

[al128]

hi there,

first post here!!!

i recently saw on tv (was a discussion on cel. antennae radiation emissions) ... an one of the scientist said that the emission from them is actually pretty low compared to the radiation from some household items ...

... like for ex. ELECTRIC MATRESS WARMERS !!!!!

creeped me out pretty good, as i use one in the winter ...

any thoughts (confirm/rejects?) on that???? ... supposedly its due to their resistence - which warms them but also radiates in different wavelengths

thx
Al

[Erdrick]

Best scenario: Use the blanket to warm up your bed, then turn it off after you get in. Electric blankets (according to my friend's Japanese doctor) are bad for your back if you sleep with them on. They can cause back pains.

If you don't have an extra body to keep you warm at night, start looking! We have a good half year until we will be needing them again!

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by al128

hi there,

first post here!!!

i recently saw on tv (was a discussion on cel. antennae radiation emissions) ... an one of the scientist said that the emission from them is actually pretty low compared to the radiation from some household items ...

... like for ex. ELECTRIC MATRESS WARMERS !!!!!

creeped me out pretty good, as i use one in the winter ...

any thoughts (confirm/rejects?) on that???? ... supposedly its due to their resistence - which warms them but also radiates in different wavelengths

thx
Al

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)

[Arminius]

How about keeping cool in the summer? Obviously a fan helps avoid using so much AC, but how about this?

http://www.secure-bedfan.com/The_Bed...j.htm&click=17

[diesel_john]

i think my mattress pad on low under me is more efficient than an electric blanket above me. my back hurt for years until i got the matress pad, no pain since. i use it year round.

[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? cell phones have radiation, I bet your computer has some sort of radiation similar to an electric blanket. reject that statement.

That mattress pad seems like a great idea. what brand/model is it, how much did it cost and where can I buy one?

Scientific fact if I remember correctly. hehe...

That's definitely the opposite for me. If it's cold, I wake up about 12-15 times a night wrapping the blanket as tightly around me as possible. (even worse when camping in a tent without a sleeping bag and just a blanket. Next day I feel like crap and fall asleep in class. Which is bad. If it's warm and toasty, I get really deep sleep and feel energized. I can sleep as much as 14+ hours if it stays toasty.

[diesel_john]

google
automatic electric mattress pad

i like the one that turns off automatically in ten hours in case you forget to turn it off when you get up.

[LostCause]

What is wrong with a normal blanket? I suppose it takes a while to trap heat, but that is only momentary. They can certainly cope with cold weather as mountain climbers use their equivalent in -45C temperatures: down bags.

I'm not sure how cold everyone's home gets, but I would think most would be comfortable breathing air hovering around freezing. If air is colder then that, increased attic insulation would be a cheap and needed addition. If that seems like too much of a hassle, masks exist that trap warmth and moisture from exhaled breath.

Lastly, electricity is an inefficient way to heat. Essentially, burning fossil fuel is converted into electricity, transported through an inefficient power distribution system (where energy is lost as heat), and changed back into heat through an electric furnace. You might as well burn the fossil fuel at home...

I'd close all the vents to rooms other than my bedroom and figure out a way regulate just that area's temperature (another thermostat?).

- LostCause

[Erdrick]

I am with LostCause. Err, rather, I am with myself. We are all a bunch of ***** ass *****es these days. People as far north as Alaska have been living for thousands of years without any kind of fossil-fueled energy sources. We really need to get with the program here. Bunch of sissies if you ask me. Freaking pathetic man!!!