I bought heated mattress pads and electric blankets for our family to reduce our energy use and so we could sleep more comfortably. It made sense to me that by using the thermostats we could turn it down at night, saving us more than the cost of operating an electric mattress and electric blanket.
Then the battles began. My children never remembered to turn away from them when they got up in the morning. I would go into the laundry rooms in the late afternoon and find the electric mattress still had pads. I warned. I explained. After a few weeks I went to the trips and read the mistakes. I didn’t work for anything. The electric mattress pads were constantly running. They loved cats.
What’s more, my husband never remembered to turn on his electric blanket. I was getting daily about his failure to give this more simply about their lot.
Then today I opened a utility bill. It was much higher than I expected. I knew that leaving the bed warmer was not only at fault for the prince’s utility bill, but I decided to do some research anyway. Here is what I found.
In our house there are two twin size electric mattress heated pads. Each one is 18-watt. 1000 watts to one kilowatt (kWh). That means they each use .18 kWh per hour. Where I living kWh costs about 6 cents.
.18 kWh x 6 cents = 1.08 cents
This means that each mattress pad costs about a penny per hour to make, which doesn’t sound like much.
There are 24 hours in a day. For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume that there are 30 days in a month, every month.
24 hours X 30 days = 720 hours
That means 720 hours in a month.
720 hours x 1 cent = $7.20
This means that if a double-sized heated pad heats for 24 hours, it stays on for 30 days in a month; 7.20 per month will be at risk.
Remember, we have 2 of these courses.
2 x $7.20 = $14.40
We also have a queen size electric heated blanket. It uses 135 watts per side. That’s 270 watts in total, which means it costs 11.66 per month if it stays on 24 hours a day, 30 days a month.
$14.40 + $11.66 = $26.06 per month for all three devices.
Four years need 10-12 hours of sleep per night according to most experts. My 800 year old needs 10 hours sleeping through the night same experts. Adults need 8 hours according to almost all sleep through the night.
Conclusion: We were able to save about 15 dollars per month by turning on the electric blanket and heated mattress pads when not in use. The timer can be set to the time of the hour used to turn it on and off 8, 10, or 12 hours later, eliminating the need to remember anything. They cost 4.98 at my local Lowe’s Timers. They fear that they will pay for themselves in one month from a financial point of view. The benefit was taken by me, not arguing with my kids and husband every day and not getting angry. the standing matter is also valid; perhaps even more than savings in dollars.
I went out and bought three times this evening.
I get my utilities from the city of Springfield. They have many rates lower than the national average between 10.65 cents per kWh.
(Source: Register / Vol. 72, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 21, 2007 / Notices)
Your savings mean more than mine if you live in an area with a higher utility market.
I would recommend that anyone with a forgetful spouse or child, or both, buy an inexpensive timer for your electric bed or mattress.
