I always dread the first few nights of new winter season as
the sudden cold is shocking. After 4 or
5 nights, you get used to the cold and go after your day to day affairs
oblivious to the chillness.
I once used snuggle under an electrically heated blanket but
I quickly got out of the habit of keeping myself warm and started enjoying the
cold. I now only use cotton blankets during winter.
Yesterday, the temperature dipped to 11.5 degrees that
forced me to dig out my electric blanket.
I have read that electric blankets
sometimes injure the users, by causing electric shocks, burns or even fires.
Older electric fires are still causing thousands of fires a year today, and
people who can’t feel heat can still be burned even by safer modern electric
blankets.
Used carefully, however, electric blankets can be safe, as
long as you make sure to buy a new one (never buy one second hand) and check
that you are sensitive enough to heat to feel if it gets too hot.
You may also
consider simply using the electric blanket to warm the bed up before you get
into it, but not actually sleeping underneath the electric blanket, instead
unplugging and removing it before you go to bed. Make extra sure that the
blanket never gets wet, and that you don’t use it together with any other
blankets. Finally, you should replace the electric blanket every few years, or
sooner if it starts to look like it is in bad condition.
For many people, though, having to deal with all these risks
to use such a simple thing seems too much trouble. The best and most common
alternative to the electric blanket is probably the hot water bottle, as hot
water bottles cool down rather than getting warmer over time, and can be fitted
with special soft covers to avoid burning you. They are also much cheaper.
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