Electric Blanket or Heated Matress Pad

Elizabeth24 wrote:
Yes most of the time we are in RV parks so additional cost for electricity would not come into play.

It's not the cost it's that if you're running it on an inverter you want to make sure it's a pure sine, not el cheapo.

We've tried both. The mattress pad got way to hot, might be cause it's between us and a memory foam topper. We found the top of us got cold while the mattress side got too hot. It was okay to pre warm the bed, not so much if you tried to turn it on after you were in it.

We have no problems with an electric blanket. We turn it on for an hour before getting into bed to warm it up, then turn them off when we get in. Also works well if you wake up cold. We do use a blanket on top of it.

Pad

We have used a mattress pad for years. One on bed at home and one in motorhome. Wonderful camping early spring and fall in Connecticut. Caution do not use them on a modified sine wave inverter it does fry them.

Over the years, we've had both heated mattress covers and electric blankets. I think we like the electric blanket better.

The advantage of the heated pad is so you lay on the heat. It's great for warming up a very cold bed. The advantage of an electric blanket .... you can use it to wrap in while watching television from the couch! There is the difference!

6 of one, half dozen of the other. I put a mattress pad UNDER the mattress. It modifies the heat to a gentle warmth so we aren't jiggling the control all night. Heat does rise and the thermal mass of the mattress distributes the warmth.

Another note: if you have a window at the head of the bed, your head will be chilled in cold weather. We created a "headboard" with rigid foam insulation and covered it in quilt batting and a matching fabric. Then we wedged it in place over the window. Other cold weather campers have copied that idea and found they sleep better.

We use a dual control heated mattress pad. My wife likes her side warmer. It uses a small amount of electricity. We power it using the inverter when dry camping.

Heat rises, so a heated mattress pad is more efficient than an electric blanket. Neither draws enough current to worry about. The annual cost of operating is about 1/2 that of a TV (about $10/year). My wife prefers the heated mattress pad, so that's what we use.

Rob

Heat rises. An electric blanket heats and the bulk of it goes up into the air. An electric mattress pad heats and the bulk goes up and gets trapped by the blankets. So, with an electric mattress pad, you get more warmth for the same energy.

Electric blanket