There are basically two types of electric blanket on the market in the UK.
I’m sure there are exceptions but let’s keep it simple, since this is not the most exciting purchase you will ever make.
Option 1: Simple electric blankets
Simpler and cheaper electric blankets/heated blankets usually have two or three heat settings and not a lot else. They are ideal for a technophobe who doesn’t want to be reading an instruction manual at 11pm whilst shivering in bed. You usually leave them on all night or use one of those timer switches that you use when you go on holiday. Some people just use them to pre-heat the bed and then switch it off before they go to sleep. Simple electric blankets in our top 5 include one from Silentnight (£30 – see #1).
Option 2: Complicated electric blankets
More expensive and more complicated electric blankets come with features such as dual controls. That means you can have one side warmer than the other and different zones so you can have warm feet and a colder body. Some automatically adjust the temperature throughout the night depending on how cold the room is. Others can turn themselves off after a few hours. Feature-filled heated blankets in our top 5 include two Dreamland ones (£90 see #2 and £125 see #3) and a Slumberdown electric blanket (£65 – see #4).
It’s also worth looking at the material that the electric blanket is made from. Posher ones are made with breathable cotton whilst cheaper ones are manmade polyester.
Our selection of electric blankets
All of the electric blankets we’ve picked out can go in the washing machine, so you won’t be taking it to the dry cleaners forevermore. You can also buy heated blankets that you sleep under, but this guide just focuses on the traditional style where you lie on top of it.
We’ve picked out five of the best electric blankets available in the UK in 2024 by looking at customer reviews, value for money, specification, warranty length and so on. We’ve also got a guide to standard blankets, if you’ve stumbled on this one by mistake.
Prices are correct at the time of writing and are for a double size electric blanket. Electric blankets also go by the name of ‘heated blankets’ in the UK, but they do the same thing.
1. Silentnight Comfort Control Electric Blanket – £30 for a double
This simple electric blanket from Silentnight doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that you get with some. It won’t impress your dinner party friends or give your life a renewed sense of purpose.
However, it is good value, it’s simple enough for granny to use, it’s hugely popular and it’s made by a brand with a strong reputation (Silentnight scores 4.2/5 on TrustPilot). The electric blanket itself scores 4.4/5 from a whopping 45, 000 customer reviews.
This is the electric blanket we have at home and we’ve had no problems with it.
It’s got a very simple design with three heat settings. That is probably a good thing if you don’t fancy wrestling with a complicated digital display at bedtime. It deliberately doesn’t cover the whole mattress, so that it lies flats and doesn’t overheat. The downside is that you might have cold feet if you’re Richard Osman or Peter Crouch.
A choice of models
You can choose from a fleecy version or a less-fleecy version which both cost about the same and are available as single, double or king size heated blankets. If you really want to, you can get one that works with an app and with Alexa. The idea is that you control it from your phone or shout at it from across the room to annoy the neighbours.
It’s made from synthetic materials and can be washed in a washing machine. It comes with a three year guarantee, which is quite decent for an electric blanket. You can choose from single, double, king and super king.
If you want a more complicated and cleverer heated blanket from Silentnight, have a look at the Silentnight Easi Heat (£77). It allows you to heat up different ‘zones’ and costs about twice as much as their standard electric blanket.
There’s also a version called the Silentnight Yours and Mine electric blanket, which gives you the option of having different temperatures on different sides of the bed. Needless to say, this option is more expensive and more complicated but might avoid marital arguments.
Pros: it is much cheaper than most other electric blankets and there are several variations and upgrades available. The blanket is also machine washable and has a three year guarantee.
Cons: it’s made from synthetic materials and the cheap option has limited settings. This blanket is also not available in super king size.
2. Dreamland Cosy Dreamer Electric Blanket – £94
This electric blanket from Dreamland costs three times as much as the cheap Silentnight electric blanket above (see #1), but it has a number of advantages.
Firstly, it’s made from cotton rather than synthetic materials like polyester. Cotton is a natural and breathable material, which is seen as a posher material for bedding.
It’s also got fancy features such as an auto switch off after a certain number of hours and six different temperatures to choose from. There’s a super-fast five minute warm up setting too, so it should be ready by the time you’ve brushed your teeth and flossed.
The larger sizes also come with two control units so you can get your side of the bed to the right temperature. You can machine wash and tumble dry this one too.
Reviews average 4.1/5.
You can buy the Dreamland electric blanket in single, double or king size. It sits on top of the mattress rather than stretching round it.
Pros: good range of sizes, multiple heat settings, dual controls, warms up quickly, switches off with timer, breathable cotton
Cons: may be a bit complex for some, expensive
The Dreamland Boutique heated blanket is made from cotton and has an auto switch off timer
3. Dreamland Organic Cotton Electric Blanket – £125
This second Dreamland electric blanket comes in single, double, king and super king size. It goes onto the mattress like a fitted sheet rather than just covering the top. That helps keep it in place despite your incessant shuffling.
It heats up in 5 minutes and is made with 200 thread count organic cotton which makes it warm in winter and cool in summer. It’s got 6 heat settings, as well as the quick-warm up setting. There is a single control and a dual control version to choose from.
Clever features include Intelliheat+ technology which respond to temperature changes as you sleep. It also switches itself off after one, three or nine hours (not sure when I last got nine hours sleep but that’s not particularly relevant).
Customer reviews for this one were averaging 4.5/5 at the time of writing.
Pros: several different heat settings, warms up quickly, switches off automatically, breathable cotton
Cons: expensive
4. Slumberdown Perfectly Warm Luxury Electric Blanket – £65
This Slumberdown Perfectly Warm electric blanket has more features than my first car (a 1990s Fiat Punto, in case you’re interested). Customers give it great reviews of about 4.6/5.
It’s probably more suited to someone who likes a gadget rather than someone who just wants a simple electric blanket.
It’s got nine different heat settings as well as an extra setting for your feet and is split into four zones so you can pick different temperatures for different parts of your body. It cleverly adjusts the temperature depending on how warm the room is during the night and you can tell it to switch off after a certain number of hours. The bigger sizes have dual digital controls to avoid arguments.
The bad news
The downsides with this one are that it is polyester rather than cotton which is a bit more breathable (the Dreamland electric blankets mentioned earlier are cotton – see #2 and #3). It’s also a bit slower to heat up than the Dreamland electric blankets (15 minutes compared to 5 minutes).
It has a two year guarantee, which is decent but not as good as the three years you get with the Silentnight (see #1). It certainly offers a lot of features for the price tag.
The Slumberdown Perfectly Warm Luxury Electric Blanket is available as a single, double, king size and superking size electric blanket. You can machine wash and tumble dry this one too.
Pros: low price considering the multiple settings, dual controls, heats in zones rather than all the same,
Cons: some people will struggle with multiple settings, synthetic materials
5. Slumberdown Sleepy Nights Electric Blanket – £35
The Slumberdown electric blanket is another simple to use model from a brand that you’ve actually heard of.
It’s a very similar design to the Silentnight Comfort Control Electric Blanket (see #1). They are both polyester (i.e. manmade materials) and both have three heat settings.
One minor difference is that the Silentnight model offers a three year warranty, whereas the Slumberdown electric blanket only offers two years.
Customers score it an average of 4.4/5 after more than 3000 reviews. It goes in the washing machine/tumble dryer.
The main downsides with this one are that it’s slow to heat up (10-15 minutes) and that it is made from polyester rather than breathable cotton.
Pros: simple design, positive reviews, good value, good choice of sizes including single, double, king size and super king
Cons: doesn’t cover whole bed, relatively slow to heat up
Which electric blanket is best for you?
Our comparison grid below should help you make up your mind when you’re looking for an electric blanket.
All of our top five come in a double and king size. Your choice is limited if you are looking for an electric blanket for a super king size bed. Similarly, if you need an electric blanket for a single bed then the Slumberland Easy Fit is no good.
The benefits of cotton
Two of our top five electric blankets use cotton rather than polyester (Dreamland Boutique and Dreamland Organic Cotton). That might be the clincher for you, as cotton is naturally more breathable than polyester. Of course, we associate breathability with keeping cool which is not a priority with an electric blanket. However, breathability also helps to regulate your temperature rather than just making you feel colder. A study called ‘Sleep and the temperature field of the bed’ by Bischof, Madsen et al found that ‘larger fluctuations of temperature in the bed are connected to a shorter deep-sleep time.’ In other words, if you feel hot and then cold during the night, then you won’t sleep as well.
If simplicity is what you are after, then I would certainly avoid one of the designs with multiple zones and settings. The Silentnight Comfort Control is probably your best bet.
| Electric blanket name | Features | Material | Sizes available | Price (double) | Our value rating |
| Silentnight Comfort Control | Three heat settings | Polyester | Single, Double, King | £30 | **** |
| Dreamland Cosy Dreamer | Six heat settings, dual controls, quick warm up, timed switch off | Cotton | Single, Double, King, Super King | £94 | **** |
| Dreamland Organic Cotton | Single/Dual control option, auto switch off six heat settings, quick warmup | Cotton | Single, Double, King, Super King | £125 | *** |
| Slumberdown Perfectly Warm | Nine heat settings, auto temperature, zonal heating, dual controls | Polyester | Single, Double, King, Super King | £65 | ***** |
| Slumberdown Sleep Nights | Three heat settings, | Polyester | Single, Double King, Super King | £35 | **** |
Our value rating is out of five and is our opinion of what the product offers for the money. A five star rating is the highest possible and represents a product which we think offers a lot for the price.