Hot Electric Mattress Pads
If you are concerned about today’s heated blankets not being warm enough for you, we
always recommend considering a heated mattress pad. ANY HEATED MATTRESS PAD WILL BE WARMER THAN ANY HEATED BLANKET. So the consequences of having an electric mattress pad with a lower level of heat are not nearly so important.
Why? With an electric blanket, unless you add something like a comforter or spread on top of the electric blanket, roughly 1/2 the heat generated will travel up toward the room ceiling. But with an electric mattress pad, the heat will remain around your body since it is trapped by the mattress itself on the bottom and whatever bed covers you use on the top. This means that you can be significantly warmer with any heated mattress pad.
Sunbeam produces the absolute warmest mattress pad sold in America, at least at the start of its life. However, Sunbeam's mattress pads will lose warmth each year due to their unique design. The other brands start out about 70-80% as warm as the Sunbeam but do not lose heat over the years due to different heating technologies employed.
Although electric blankets can save substantially on your heating costs, you will use somewhat less electricity with the warming mattress pad. For detailed information, see our Actual Energy Use page. Within the past few years the percentage of heating mattress pads sold in the United States seems to be increasing somewhat as more and more people learn of their existence and learn of their superior therapeutic value too.
If you feel that your mattress pad may not be heating properly, perform this easy test. Turn it ON (one side only if a Dual Control model) with the pad in a FOLDED UP condition. After about 5 to 7 minutes, carefully place your hand within the folds. If it doesn't feel quite warm at that time, your pad is not working properly. THIS IS ONLY A TEST. DO NOT LET IT HEAT FOR A LONGER TIME WHILE FOLDED SINCE IT COULD OVERHEAT.
What are your experiences with electric mattress pad heat?