Your Guide to Electric Bed Warmers

Finding a way to add extra heat to our beds is something men have been doing since we stopped sleeping on the ground. From the earliest days of putting hot coals at the foot of the bed to today's modern electric devices, we're always looking for new ways to avoid having to climb into a cold bed at night. In the modern era, electric blankets have been the bed warming standard for about 40 years. But thanks to new technology and more durable materials, the electric bed warmer is taking center stage.

What's the difference between the two, you might ask?

An electric blanket lies on top of the bed with you underneath it. The electric bed warmer lies on top of the mattress with you and your sheets on top of it. And although you may think it probably doesn't make a big difference, it really does. Keep reading and we'll explain why.

Warm Air Rises

All of us know from our junior high school days that warm air rises. Therefore, does it make a whole lot of sense if you're trying to add heat to your bed to put your heat source above you? Certainly not. When you use an electric blanket the vast majority of the heat it produces dissipates into the air. That means you must turn up the temperature fairly high in order to get any real benefit on extremely cold nights. This is inefficient and somewhat unsafe.

With the electric bed warmer on the other hand, it is underneath you. As the heat rises through the mattress pad and the sheets you are the direct recipient of it. You will stay warmer while being able to keep the device at a lower temperature than a blanket. It is a much more efficient way of providing extra heat in the bed. In fact, it's very similar in operation to radiant floor heating. As the heat rises off the bed warmer it gets trapped under your blankets and provides a toasty warm cocoon. With good blankets on top, you will probably be able to shut off the bed warmer after 30 minutes or so and remain warm all night long.

Wear and Tear

Something we need to be careful of when dealing with an electric blanket is wear and tear. Electric blankets are notoriously flimsy and easily damaged. The heating coils are nothing more than narrow-gauge wire wrapped in a bit of insulation and connected to the power transformer. Therefore, they can easily fray and break just through normal use. Whenever you have that type of situation you have the potential for a dangerous fire.

An electric bed warmer is made of thicker material which is much more durable than the electric blanket. Heating elements are contained within a "framework" designed to withstand the punishment of your weight and your movements in bed. There is a much lower risk of breaking heat elements and thus, a much lower incidence of fire with these units.

Electrical Concerns

Electric bed warmers come in a variety of sizes, voltages, and amperages. Obviously, the two easiest things to deal with are voltage and size. Obviously, if you have a queen or king bed it would be useless to purchase a blanket that only fits a twin. When it comes to voltage, we are limited to the current already in our houses - for most of us it will be a 120V system. That only leaves you with amperage; a choice that you should allow a salesman to help you make.

In simplest terms, amperage is the amount of "force" used by an appliance as it draws electricity from a circuit. If you think about, this is why a 9V car battery has enough kick to start a car engine while a 9V flashlight battery does not. Car batteries have more amperage than flashlight batteries. With that knowledge it becomes clear that the amperage you choose for your electric bed warmer is important in relation to the circuit in your house that it's on.

Since electric bed warmers tend to be very powerful appliances you need to know what the amperage of the circuits in your home are. You also need to know specifically which line you'll be plugging it into and what else is on that line. If you select a bed warmer with amperage that's too high you could, at the very least, continually blow your circuit. A worst-case scenario could mean you start a fire. If all of this is confusing to you a local electrician can probably figure it out pretty cheaply.

Fitted Versus Non-Fitted

When it comes to how snugly an electric bed warmer holds to your mattress you really have two choices: fitted or non-fitted. A fitted model is similar to a fitted sheet in that it has a "sidewall" that drapes over the side of the mattress and corners with elastic that grip. A non-fitted electric bed warmer simply has four flaps at the corners that fold over, and sometimes under. Personally, I would prefer a fitted type so that I know the bed warmer will not move around, bunch up, or have me sliding off the bed.

Regardless of which model you choose you will most likely find it a much better alternative than using the old electric blanket. In fact, maybe it's time to retire that blanket or put out with this summer's garage sale. You never know; you might get a couple bucks for it.