The Cheapest Way to Keep Warm in Bed

Mon, Jan 27, 2025 02:24 CET

To get a good night’s sleep, you need a warm bedroom with a temperature somewhere between 16°C and 18°C. For older people and some people with health conditions, a slightly warmer environment between 20°C and 25°C is more beneficial.

But leaving the heating on all night can be expensive. Typically, gas central heating costs between 50p and £1.50 per hour, depending on the size of your home and boiler, how well your home is insulated and whether you make good use of your thermostatic controls. Even if you’re using your heating efficiently, leaving it on all night could cost you £4 to £6. For many of us, that isn’t an affordable option.

A bed with a pillow and a lamp

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So, what is the cheapest way to keep warm in bed? Is it an electric blanket or throw, a hot water bottle or something else? Heating expert Matthew Jenkins at MyJobQuote.co.uk explores our options and weighs up the cost and effectiveness of each.

Electric Blankets

Electric blankets have seen a bit of a resurgence in popularity over the last few years, thanks to their cost-effectiveness.

Although electric blankets do use energy, they’re low power – typically between 100W and 150W. Most also have heat settings and timers to help you keep costs down. This means they usually cost between 1p and 3p per hour to run. The downside is the purchase cost. Electric blankets cost from £20 to £100 to buy.

If you combine the purchase and running costs, you’re potentially looking at spending somewhere between £30 and £125 to keep warm in bed over one winter.

Heated Throws

Heated throws work in the same way as electric blankets, but instead of going over your mattress, they go over the top of you or your duvet.

Heated throws can be a little pricier than electric blankets, costing from £30 to £150. But at around 2p to 3p per hour, they use a similar amount of energy. This means that, in total, staying warm in bed over one winter with a heated throw is likely to cost you between £45 and £175. That said, the following winter, you’ll only have the running costs to worry about. So, this is still a cheap way to keep warm at night.

Extra Warm Duvets

The downside to electric blankets and heated throws is that they consume energy. This means your bills will go up slightly every time you use them. You also need a plug socket that is available near your bed. Some people also struggle with electric blankets as it’s possible to feel the wires through the sheets with some models. So, they’re not always the most practical choice.

Could using a warmer duvet be a better and cheaper option? To keep you nice and toasty through the colder nights, it’s recommended you choose a 10.5 to 15 tog duvet, but extra warm duvets go up to 18 tog.

The cost of a new duvet depends on the size and material you go for, but you can pick up a king-size synthetic duvet for as little as £15. If you prefer a down duvet, this will cost you around £25, and a wool duvet costs around £50. But even with the more expensive option, this would still be a more cost-effective option in the long term than an electric blanket or heated throw.

Extra Bedding Layers

Electric blankets typically come with three or four heat settings, enabling you to stay warm without getting too hot or too cold. It’s not as easy to find that sweet spot with a duvet. So, you might not get as restful a night’s sleep.

However, there is another option – to layer your bedding. Being able to add and peel off bedding layers will help you control your body temperature at night and you won’t need to use any electricity aside from when you need to wash your covers.

The cost of adding extra layers to your bed really depends on the type you go for. For instance, a duvet and quilt combo could cost you a few hundred pounds, but a cheap duvet and a couple of basic blankets could cost you less than £50. This makes layering up one of the most cost-effective and practical ways to stay warm in bed.

Hot Water Bottles

Not everyone likes the weight of a chunky duvet or lots of blankets when they’re in bed. It can feel too restrictive. But there is another low-tech option for staying warm in bed – the hot water bottle.

A hot water bottle should only set you back between £5 and £8, and for the price of boiling your kettle, it will keep you warm for up to five hours.

Depending on the type of kettle you have and your energy tariff, a single boil costs between 7p and 30p. If you combine this with the purchase cost of a hot water bottle, it might cost you between £11 and £35 to stay warm in bed over a single winter. So, if you have an efficient kettle, it’s much cheaper to use a hot water bottle than an electric blanket.

The main problem with a hot water bottle is that it can cool down after a few hours. So, it may not keep you warm for long enough.

Using a rechargeable hot water bottle could solve this issue. These cost around £15 to buy, so slightly more than a conventional hot water bottle, but they can be fully charged for around 12p and should give you around five hours of consistent warmth. This works out at a reasonable cost of around £26 to use over one winter.

Microwaveable Wheat Bags

If you’re keen to minimise energy use, a microwaveable wheat bag may suit you better. One of these costs between £10 and £15 to buy, but as it only takes one to two minutes to heat in the microwave, you can heat it up for as little as a penny. This means you can use a wheat bag over a whole winter and use no more than £1 of electricity.

Microwaveable wheat bags are also considered to be safer than conventional hot water bottles as there’s little chance of scolding. However, they do cool down a bit quicker. So, you’re unlikely to get more than a couple of hours of warmth out of one each time.

One of the big issues with hot water bottles and microwaveable wheat bags is that they can’t warm your body evenly. Therefore, you could end up with a warm torso and cold feet or vice versa.

Other Cost-Effective Ways to Stay Warm in Bed

Electric blankets and hot water bottles don’t appeal to everyone, so what other cost-effective ways are there to stay warm in bed?

Perhaps the most straightforward answer is to wear fleecy PJs. For around £20, your whole body should stay nice and warm throughout the night.

Although it’s not the most obvious solution for adding warmth, using a mattress topper is another affordable option. Their insulating properties can help to increase your body temperature by a degree or two overnight. Depending on the thickness and quality, a mattress topper typically costs between £20 and £100.

Cold draughts not only stop bedrooms from feeling warm, but they can also prevent us from reaching the REM stage of sleep. So, using cheap draught-proofing measures such as thermal curtains, woolly rugs, and draught-proofing tape can help us stay warm in bed and sleep better.

What to Avoid

There are a few things you should avoid when you’re looking for cheap ways to stay warm in bed. The first is using a portable electric heater. Leaving one of these running in your bedroom overnight can be a fire risk.

Another trick some people use is to drink something warm just before bedtime. However, caffeinated drinks like tea and coffee are likely to keep you awake.

Final Thoughts

In terms of upfront costs, a hot water bottle is the cheapest way to keep warm in bed, but if you only look at the running costs, then using warmer bedding is the cheapest way to stay toasty.

However, electric blankets shouldn’t be discounted. When they’re used efficiently with a timer, they’re still very affordable to run and provide a more consistent warmth than a hot water bottle – potentially giving you a better night’s sleep.

As we can see, the cheapest way to keep warm in bed isn’t always the best way to keep warm. So, you need to weigh up what's the most practical or suitable option for you rather than simply considering the cost.

MATTHEW JENKINS

Matthew Jenkins has worked as a self-employed tradesman in the domestic heating industry for over fifteen years. Matthew is a gas-safe engineer specialising in heating and plumbing. He also works closely with MyJobQuote to provide expert knowledge to homeowners and tradespeople and has been featured in a range of established news outlets.

MyJobQuote is one of the UK's top trades matching sites that helps individuals find a reputable tradesperson in their local area.

MyJobQuote also has a wide range of experts with extensive knowledge in interior design, cleaning, gardening, property, construction and more. MyJobQuote's experts have been featured in over 700 publications, including Woman and Home, The Times, House Beautiful, BBC News and more.