SOARING energy bills means millions of households are trying to stay warm while keeping their costs down.
There are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to use less energy, from turning the thermostat down by one degree to using cheap draught excluders to keep out the chill.
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Some homeowners are using a log burner instead of turning the heating on, or prefer to turn on an electric fan.
A cost of living crisis is forcing many Brits to come up with innovative solutions to staying warm this winter.
Households are set to see their energy bills rise by a record £693 in April when a new energy price cap comes into effect.
And bills are expected to reach an average of £2,000 or more by the end of the year.
That makes it more important than ever to make savings where you can.
So when you’re trying to get cosy on a chilly evening, ask yourself: hot water bottle or electric blanket?
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These are two of the most popular ways to stay warm, but which is the cheapest?
We’ve run the numbers.
How much to run an electric blanket?
Many people use an electric blanket to warm their beds before they get in, popping them under the sheets just before bedtime.
Under the current energy price cap (which is in place until April) the average cost per kWh of energy is 21p.
An electric blanket typically uses around 100 watts of energy, which is 0.1kWh.
The average kWh charge is currently 21p, so that means an electric blanket will cost around 2.1p for each hour you use it.
If you use it for an hour per night for the coldest four months of the year, that’s 91 nights and a total cost of £1.91.
If you used it for seven hours a night over that period of time, the annual cost would be £13.37.
Of course, every extra hour you use it increases this cost, and the exact cost will depend on your energy tariff.
How much to run a hot water bottle?
The average hot water bottle has a capacity of 2 litres, and will stay warm for hours.
But you will need energy to heat that water up in the first place.
It’s not advisable to put boiling water into a hot water bottle, as this can corrode the rubber and cause leaks.
However, you can put nearly boiling water in there – so by all means fill the kettle up, but leave it to cool slightly before transferring the liquid to your hot water bottle.
Using a hot water bottle cover or simply wrapping a towel or blanket around it will help keep the heat in for longer, and ensure it’s not too hot to touch.
A standard kettle uses around 0.04kWh of energy to boil.
With an average unit cost of 21p per kWh, that means it’s about 0.84p to boil the kettle, according to Energyhelpline.
If you do that once a day for your hot water bottle, for the same four months of the year, that’s just 75.78p in total.
And if you top your hot water bottle up once in the day and again at night, that’s just £1.51 if you do it for 91 days through the winter.
Electric blanket vs hot water bottle: which is the cheapest?
The hot water bottle comes out considerably cheaper, with a kettle much less expensive to boil than having an electric blanket on for an hour.
Of course, which method you choose will depend on your individual preference.
Don’t forget to factor in the cost of buying the item in the first place too.
When we looked, we found the cheapest electric blankets for as little as £25 but hot water bottles can cost just a few quid.
And remember, the actual cost of energy will depend on your tariff and how long you use your appliances for.
Elsewhere, we’ve looked at how much it costs to use an electric heater for an evening and how much it costs to run an oil-filled radiator.
Plus, here are five energy saving myths that could actually be adding hundreds to your bills.
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