adminIf you are also worried about energy costs this year, you should consider using battery-heated blankets to keep you warm and your energy costs low. Whether chilly mornings make it hard to bear or snowy nights are difficult to manage, electric blankets can keep you warm.
Whether you are an American or British, the energy cost and consumption always hike in the winter months is unavoidable. According to some stats, around 20% of American consumers have to undergo financial struggles to settle their energy bills in full at least once a year.
Even worse, people have to make unhealthy choices regarding thermostat temperatures or skip their basic expenses like food & medicine to settle their energy bills. Therefore, cordless electric blankets can keep you warm as well as allows you to save energy costs.
What Is An Electric Blanket?
An electric blanket or battery-powered heated blanket has an insulated wire or heating element inside the fabric that warms up the blanket when it is plugged in. Generally, battery-heated blankets are made from heavy and sturdy material, having an integrated wiring system to heat up the coils inside the blanket.
Depending on the blanket manufacturing company, you can also set heat levels to low, medium, or high. The fabric is usually made by combining acrylic and polyester to minimize potential fire hazards without compromising on the warmth produced by the blankets.
The electric bedspreads have interconnected coil wires insulated with heat-resistant plastic coating. Once you plug in the blanket wire, the coil series becomes a sturdy source of heat. Therefore, you can use it as a bedspread or blanket depending on your preference.
Why Are Energy Costs Rising?
Most people wonder why energy costs are rising too abruptly. One of the reasons is the colder-than-average winter months. As the temperature drops, it is unavoidable to use the heating system to keep the indoors warm. However, there are certainly other reasons why consumers worldwide should expect a hike in energy costs in 2022 and beyond.
Overall Increase At Global Level
The world experienced an increase in energy costs in the early months of 2022. This increase is estimated to be more than 26% of what it was last year. The global increase in energy prices is reflected in consumer bills. Therefore, you should expect a spike in your energy costs even if your consumption is the same as in the previous winters.
Geopolitical And Strategic Aspects
Let’s look at the political and strategic aspects of energy costs. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, lack of stockpiles after the COVID-19 lockdown, and lower supply of natural gas and crude oil are contributing to the high costs of energy in Asia and other regions of the world.
The Russian gas supplies are constrained, which has increased the wholesale price of electricity and natural gas. Besides, a sudden surge in natural gas demand also increased after COVID-19 restrictions ended around the world.
Lack Of Natural Gas
Natural gas is considered one of the world’s low-carbon transition fuels. However, due to a lack of storage and insufficient transportation, natural gas is currently constrained for energy usage. The supply issues are adding to the problem and resulting in higher natural gas prices in Europe and worldwide regions.
How Can You Reduce Energy Consumption?
Due to the general trend of energy costs surging, the most important concern of every household is how to reduce energy consumption. The reduction in energy consumption might not help reduce your bills compared to last year, but it can surely help you avoid paying more this year.
You can reduce your energy consumption in different ways, some of which are as follow:
- Annual maintenance of your boiler and heating/cooling system to increase efficiency resulting in reduced energy consumption
- Better insulation of your home walls can also save you from unprecedented heat and automatic energy consumption.
- You can wear more warm clothes to keep your body warm; this way, you won’t have to rely more on your home’s heating system.
- Find and seal any air leakages in your home before the winters arrive. These can be real culprits that increase your energy consumption and bills consequently.
- Using alternative and organic ways of warming up yourself instead of relying on thermostat temperature –cordless electric blanket.
How Do Electric Blankets Help You Reduce Your Energy Costs?
When we say that electric blankets are a good way to keep you warm, many questions come to mind. The first one is:
Do electric blankets help to save money?
The answer is yes! You can reduce your electricity consumption and, therefore, energy costs.
How?
Here is the detail of how cordless electric blankets can be a good choice for energy cost savings:
1. Direct Target Heat
Unlike a central heating system, the electric blanket provides direct targetted heat. It implies that you can achieve your temperature goals for your bed or living room couch faster than in the case of a central heating system. Once you have got enough warmth in your bed, you can turn the blanket off. Even if you keep it on, it will cost you as much as the central heating system working to warm up your whole house.
2. Uses Electric Power
We already talked about the energy crisis resulting from natural gas supply chain issues. The natural gas cost has spiked, resulting in higher consumer energy bills. When you rely on the battery-operated heated blanket, it will result in no natural gas consumption. The electric blankets use electricity to power them and provide warmth.
3. Running Costs Are Low
Maintenance and running costs of our homes’ HVAC can be very high in every season. However, you can get an electric blanket at almost the cost of maintenance for your HVAC. It doesn’t require regular maintenance and will work for months with no additional expenses.
4. Easy To Control
An electric blanket allows you to have targeted control over when to give heat and when to not. The latest technology in these blankets has just the perfect features you need. Unlike the thermostat, working to heat up your whole home, you can use the electric blanket’s responsive thermostats that are efficient and cost-saving.
Adjusting the settings allows you to set when to turn the blanket on and when to turn it off. Even some of the latest models do have adjustable temperatures on different sides of the blanket.
Many people wonder, ‘can electric blankets be left on all night?’ The answer lies in the targeted control technology of these blankets. The ease of targeted controls allows you to keep your HVAC idle and use the electric blanket that consumes less energy, and you can also control when to turn it on or off.
5. Flexible Use
Whether you enjoy your favorite show on your sofa on a chilly evening or want a warm feeling when lying in bed, the battery-powered heated blanket will work well. You can comfortably prefer to keep your HVAC off and use the electric blanket instead.
6. Economical To Buy
Electric blankets are a sure way to save your energy bill on natural gas and electricity. But another good thing about these blankets is that they are economical to buy. The average maintenance cost of HVAC can be 100 pounds. But you can get one blanket for the same price. Maintenance lasts for a season, but the blanket is an investment of years.
How Much Does It Cost To Run An Electric Blanket?
Many people think that it is true that electric blankets cost is low, but how much will it cost to run one electric blanket? Other doubts include questions like ‘do electric blankets consume a lot of electricity?’ and more.
So here is the answer to this question.
Most brands commonly sell 100W electric blankets. And if we do the conversions, one electric blanket running for one hour will cost £0.03. If you run a battery-heated blanket for 24 hours, it will consume electricity worth £0.70. So if you are running a blanket for 30 hours a month, it will cost you £0.90.
So even if you wonder if electric blankets can be left on all night, you know the answer. From a cost perspective, it will not hurt even if you keep the electric blanket running all night. However, if we talk from a safety perspective, it is safe to use the blankets for short periods. It is better not to keep it running all night.
Other Ways To Save Money On Heating This Winter
Besides battery-heated blankets, you can save money on your heating bills in many other ways. Here is a list of different ways you can use to save money this winter:
- Installation of smart thermostat with WiFi as these thermostats are powerful enough to adjust temperature settings according to your home for the best efficiency
- Seal up air leaks before winter arrives, as they can be the real culprit behind your surging energy bills.
- Sun is the best source of heat for winter. Therefore, open your curtains and blinds on good sunny days to warm up your home with natural heat.
· Make smart decisions to control your energy costs, like closing inactive fireplaces, temporary insulation on windows, insulated curtains to retain heat, and saving money for winters.
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