Heated throws and electric blankets vs heating the room: running costs at the October price cap

With the energy price cap up 4% since 1 October, lots of us are wondering whether to sit under a heated throw instead of putting the heating on. The answer comes down to simple arithmetic: how many watts an appliance uses, multiplied by how long it's on, multiplied by what you pay for each unit of electricity.

We've done the sums for five appliances on sale now at Dunelm and John Lewis, using the wattages on the retailers' own product pages and Ofgem's unit rates for 1 October to 31 December 2026. We've shown our working so you can do the same with your own appliances.

The unit rates we've used

Under the current price cap, the average unit rate for people paying by Direct Debit in England, Scotland and Wales is:

• Electricity: 26.32p per kWh, with a daily standing charge of 54.83p.
• Gas: 7.97p per kWh, with a daily standing charge of 29.68p.

Ofgem says there's no VAT on electricity from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, and the gas figure includes 5% VAT. Your own rate depends on your region, how you pay and your tariff, so check your bill. The standing charge is the same whatever you use, so we've left it out of the running costs below.

How to work out the cost

A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is 1,000 watts used for one hour. So the cost per hour is:

watts ÷ 1,000 × unit rate = pence per hour

For a 100W throw, that's 100 ÷ 1,000 × 26.32p = 2.63p an hour. The wattage on the product page is the most an appliance draws. Many have thermostats or lower settings, so they'll often use less, which makes our figures a worst case.

At a glance

Heated throws and electric blankets

• Dunelm Teddy Electric Blanket, 70W: 70 ÷ 1,000 × 26.32p = 1.84p an hour. It's £28 to £40 depending on size in the current sale (was £35 to £50).
• Dunelm Fleece Electric Throw, 100W: 100 ÷ 1,000 × 26.32p = 2.63p an hour. It's £30, measures 130cm by 160cm and has six heat settings.
• Dreamland heated throw at John Lewis (model 16707), 150W: 150 ÷ 1,000 × 26.32p = 3.95p an hour. It's £69.99, measures 120cm by 160cm and has six settings and an auto shut-off after 1, 3 or 9 hours.

Dunelm's own pages quote about 2p an hour for the blanket and 3p for the throw, based on an older rate of 26p per kWh, which matches our sums.

Electric heaters

• Warmlite 2000W Flat Fan Heater at Dunelm, £16: two settings. At 1000W, 1 × 26.32p = 26.32p an hour. At 2000W, 2 × 26.32p = 52.64p an hour.
• Warmlite 2000W Oil Filled Radiator at Dunelm, £49: settings of 800W, 1200W and 2000W, with an adjustable thermostat and timer. That's 21.06p, 31.58p or 52.64p an hour.

So on full power, a 2kW heater costs about 20 times as much to run as a 100W throw (2,000 ÷ 100 = 20).

An evening and a whole winter quarter

Illustration: suppose you sit in the living room for four hours every evening for the 91 days of the current price cap period (October to December), on full power the whole time.

• 100W throw: 0.1kW × 4 hours × 91 days = 36.4kWh × 26.32p = £9.58 (about 10.5p an evening).
• 150W throw: 0.15kW × 4 × 91 = 54.6kWh × 26.32p = £14.37 (about 15.8p an evening).
• Heater on 1kW: 1kW × 4 × 91 = 364kWh × 26.32p = £95.80 (about £1.05 an evening).
• Heater on 2kW: 2kW × 4 × 91 = 728kWh × 26.32p = £191.61 (about £2.11 an evening).

An electric blanket used for an hour a night to warm the bed costs 0.07kW × 1 hour × 91 days = 6.37kWh × 26.32p = £1.68 for the quarter.

What about gas central heating?

Gas costs far less per unit than electricity: 26.32p ÷ 7.97p means each kWh of electricity costs about 3.3 times as much. But central heating warms the whole house, so it burns much more energy per hour than a single throw.

How much gas your heating uses depends on your boiler, your home and your thermostat, so here's an illustration only. If your heating burned 5kWh of gas an hour, that would be 5 × 7.97p = 39.85p an hour, or £1.59 for a four-hour evening, and £145.05 over the 91 days. A smart meter's in-home display, or your meter readings, will show what yours really uses.

Where each wins and falls short

• Heated throws are the cheapest way to keep one person warm on the sofa, from about 2.6p to 4p an hour. They don't warm the room or anyone else in it.
• Electric blankets cost the least of all, at under 2p an hour, but only help in bed.
• Oil-filled radiators warm the room and the 800W setting and thermostat help keep costs down, but they still cost 21p an hour or more.
• Fan heaters are cheap to buy and suit small and medium rooms, but on full power they're the dearest thing here to run.

Your questions answered

Does the price cap limit my bill?

No. Ofgem says it caps the unit rate and standing charge your supplier can charge, not your total bill. The more energy you use, the more you pay. It doesn't apply if you're on a fixed tariff.

Is it safe to leave an electric blanket on overnight?

Electrical Safety First advises unplugging blankets when you get into bed. If you do keep one on overnight, it says it should have temperature controls and safety features such as automatic shut-off and overheat protection. It also says not to use a hot water bottle with an electric blanket, to avoid second-hand blankets, and to replace them every ten years.

How do I work out the cost for my own appliance?

Find the wattage on the label or product page, divide by 1,000, then multiply by your unit rate from your bill. A 60W blanket at 26.32p costs 0.06 × 26.32p = 1.58p an hour.

Ways to save

Dunelm's Teddy Electric Blanket is 20% off at the moment, and Dunelm is offering 10% off your first app order when you spend £20 or more. See our Dunelm voucher codes and John Lewis voucher codes before you buy. Whatever you choose, use the lowest setting that keeps you comfortable and the timer if it has one.

Sources: Ofgem: energy price cap unit rates and standing charges, Ofgem: energy price cap explained, Dunelm Teddy Electric Blanket, Dunelm Fleece Electric Throw, Dunelm 2000W Flat Fan Heater, Dunelm 2000W Oil Filled Radiator, John Lewis: Dreamland heated throw, Electrical Safety First: electric blankets

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