By Jodie Gray at Good Energy

My bedroom, though lovely, can get a bit chilly – especially in the extremely cold weather we’ve been having recently. Luckily, The Good Energy Shop came to my rescue (or possibly just couldn’t stand my whinging anymore!) with an early Christmas present: a new heated blanket from Morphy Richards to test over the festive period.  

The blanket comes with all the instructions in a neat little zip-up bag – handy to tuck at the back of your cupboard until you want to put it away when it gets warmer. The blanket itself is very lightweight and surprisingly thin, plus it’s reversible so it doesn’t matter what side of the bed your nearest socket is on. The control and tie tapes are all attached so you literally just whip it out of the bag and it’s ready to go.

It’s relatively straightforward to attach to the bed – there are tapes that tie round each corner and one that goes underneath the middle of the mattress. I reckon this could be a bit tricky to tie if you don’t have help – especially on a double bed – because you have to be able to lift the mattress up to pass the tape underneath it. Once it’s firmly in place though, you just put your sheet over the top. One downside is that if your bed isn’t right next to the wall, you might end up with the lead trailing across the floor to the nearest socket.

The instructions recommended that, for the most energy-efficient operation, you should have the blanket on the MAX setting for the first hour to warm up the bed then switch it to the eco setting for a steady, low heat input through the night. I lost track of time so probably left it on the MAX setting for a bit more than hour, but I’d still only used 77W when I checked the energy monitor. By that point, the bed was a nice, comfortable temperature for me to get to sleep, so I didn’t really need it on after that. I have to admit that it wasn’t as hot as I’d expected but I think that’s because I’d never used an electric blanket before. I thought it would be like getting into a hot bath, but on reflection, that sort of temperature all night would be far too hot. Also because it’s so thin you don’t notice a difference compared to any other mattress cover.

Overall, I really liked the blanket and it can definitely be very economical - even if you were to keep it on all night at the lowest setting. 

The Eco Blanket is avaiable at the Good Energy Shop - £29.99 for a single and £34.99 for a double.