How much does it cost to run an electric blanket?
Work out what any appliance costs to run per use, per month and per year on your own electricity rate — including what it draws on standby.
Using the UK average of 26.32p/kWh — Ofgem, 1 October to 31 December 2026.
The cheapest way there is to be warm in bed, and the comparison that makes the point is not another blanket but heating the whole bedroom.
Common cases
What drives the cost
An electric blanket is the clearest example on this site of a principle worth internalising: heating a person is enormously cheaper than heating the space around them. A blanket draws 60 to 100 W and warms the one cubic metre that actually matters. Heating the bedroom to the same felt comfort means warming the air, the walls, the furniture and the ceiling, and replacing the heat all of that loses to the outside all night.
Compare this page against the room heating calculator with a bedroom in it and the gap is usually a factor of ten or more. That is not a marginal saving, it is a different order of magnitude, and it is why heated throws, heated chair pads and hot water bottles all keep reappearing in cost-of-living advice. The sensible pattern is to heat the bedroom just enough to keep surfaces above the dew point — so it does not go damp — and heat the bed properly.
How this is worked out
Electricity is billed per kilowatt hour. An appliance's kilowatt hours are its power in kilowatts multiplied by the hours it runs — so a 2,000 W appliance running for 30 minutes uses 1 kWh. Multiply that by your unit rate and you have the cost. The standing charge is not included here because you pay it whether or not you switch anything on.
What this assumes
- The appliance draws its rated power for the whole time it is on. Anything thermostatically controlled — ovens, heaters, fridges — cycles on and off, so the real figure is lower.
- Your unit rate stays flat all day. On a time-of-use tariff the same appliance costs materially different amounts depending on when you run it.
- A year is 52 weeks of identical use, which overstates seasonal appliances and understates ones you use in bursts.
Questions
Is an electric blanket cheaper than heating the bedroom?
By a very wide margin, usually ten to twenty times. A blanket at 80 W for eight hours is under a kilowatt hour; holding a bedroom at a comfortable temperature overnight is several. Heating the person rather than the room is the cheapest physics available to a household.
Is it expensive to leave one on all night?
No, and it is the normal way to use an underblanket. At 60 to 100 W on its lower settings, and with a thermostat that cycles rather than running continuously, a full night is a matter of pennies. Overblankets and heated throws draw more, but are usually used for an evening rather than a night.
Does this include the standing charge?
No, and deliberately. The standing charge is a fixed daily fee for being connected at all, so it does not change when you run an appliance more or less. Including it would make every appliance look more expensive than it is.
Where do I find the wattage?
On the rating plate — usually a sticker on the back, base or inside the door — or in the manual. It is written as W or kW. If it only quotes amps, multiply amps by 230 to get watts.
Why is my bill higher than the total this gives?
Because this prices one appliance. Heating, hot water and the constant background draw of everything left plugged in usually make up more of a bill than the appliances people think to check.
Related tools
Sources
- Ofgem — price cap unit rates — checked 2026-08-21
- Energy Saving Trust — quick tips to save energy — checked 2026-08-21
Rates from Ofgem for 1 October to 31 December 2026. Last reviewed 3 September 2026.