I'm paid to test electric blankets - this winter's best only costs 2p an hour to run

Ramping up the thermostat when the days and nights turn chilly can soon see your bills spiral, and most people these days like to hold on for as long as possible before putting the heating on.

More than half of a typical household's fuel bills go on heating and hot water, but there are more energy-efficient ways to keep warm that don't involve exercise, alcohol, or wandering around with a hot water bottle strapped inside your dressing gown.

Consumer expert and journalist Emily Peck, who is an expert on mattresses and bedding, has been testing the latest electric blankets (and heated throws) on the market. and as she writes in The Guardian, "Heating the person, rather than the whole home, is always a good idea."

She says, "Whatever I'm testing, I'll find practical and useful ways to rigorously measure the product's value and dig deep to go beyond the marketing jargon.

"Many of the best electric blankets and heated throws cost about 2p to 3p an hour to run, so it's hard to ignore their potential energy and money-saving benefits."

She concludes that the most convenient electric blankets have timers and auto-shut-off features for peace of mind, and dual control panels to keep both sides of the bed happy.

After testing nine different electric blankets she concludes Fogarty Wonderfully Warm, which retails at £60 for a double from Dunelm, or the kingsize is £66.64 on Amazon, is the best on the market and costs just 2p an hour to run!

She said: "This Fogarty blanket has a generous nine heat settings and a one-to nine-hour timer. The soft fleece cover has a thermally bonded fibre wadding filling, giving it a plush feel, and its cushioned surface adds an extra layer of comfort.

"Dual controls mean it's easy to adjust the temperature on each side of the bed independently. You can have both sides on the same setting, one side on and the other off, or both sides set at different temperatures - so that's one less thing to argue about with your other half."

"Heating up the king-size I was testing took a little longer than anticipated, but my bed felt comfortably warm after an hour. The maximum setting was more than hot enough, so I opted for a cooler setting for an hour before bed. I like that this blanket has a nine-hour timer so that you can set and forget it."

The machine-washable blanket reaches 27.1C after an hour and costs 2p an hour to run. It has a two-year guarantee. She concludes that the only small fault is that the sides of the blanket don't heat up as effectively as the middle.

According to Peak, the best heated throw on the market was the Beurer heated snuggle blanket, which costs £109 from Curry's but just £84 from Amazon.

Peak said: "Ideal for the sofa, this Beurer blanket has a very soft and sumptuous fleece finish. Its six heat settings are all adjustable via the central control panel. I tried the XXL design - a little oversized on my three-seater sofa, but ideal for sharing comfortably with another person. It also comes in a smaller size.

"The surface of this heated blanket is wonderfully soft to touch, so it was easy to get cosy underneath it while on the sofa watching Strictly. Its structure feels padded enough to disguise the heating elements inside the blanket - not something that can be said of all heated blankets."

She said it heated up super fast and was in the low 20s in just 10 minutes using surprisingly little energy.

" I like that you can switch on this blanket and forget about it, thanks to its three-hour automatic switch-off timer" she said adding "it didn't heat up as evenly as I would have liked though.

"While the middle was warm, sections around the edges didn't feel it at all. That may create a problem if the person beside you on the sofa is trying to hog the blanket......"