An electric heated blanket adds comfort and coziness to your living room, bedroom, car, RV, truck, boat, and even your tent.
Heated blankets are available for multiple power sources such as regular 120-volt wall outlets, a 12-volt car battery or a rechargeable battery pack. Battery operated heated blankets can be brought outside for use at a soccer game, on a picnic, or practically anywhere you can imagine.
The best heated blankets offer a wide range of temperature settings and safety features, making them a great purchase if you struggle to keep warm during the cold months.
After thoroughly reviewing the best options, we believe the Sunbeam Cozy Feet Heated Blanket is the best heated blanket.
Identifying the best electric heated blankets
Heated blankets can either be battery operated, powered by a 12-volt outlet or any regular 120-volt wall outlet.
Being experienced outdoor enthusiasts ourselves, we know how important it is to stay warm in any situation. No matter what environment you’re in, there’s an electric heated blanket that fits your needs.
In order to identify the best heated blankets, we’ve considered these factors:
- Comfort and coziness
- Quality of the fabric
- Performance
- Safety
- Ease of use
- Maintenance
From the tremendous amount of field research and theoretical research we’ve conducted over the years, the above factors weigh the most when shopping for a new heated blanket. First and foremost, we want to feel comfortable and cozy when using the blanket, and we also want the fabric to be of a proper quality.
Since it’s a heated blanket, we want it to perform well for a long period of time. We want it to get as warm as promised, and we want to feel the heat. We also want it to have proper safety features such as automatic shutdown after a couple of hours.
Last but not least, we want it to be user friendly and easy to maintain. By maintenance we mean keeping it clean, but fortunately most heated blankets are machine washable.
Best overall: Sunbeam Cozy Feet
Sunbeam Cozy Feet Soft Velvet Heated Blanket
- Dual heat zones (torso + feet)
- Incredibly soft velvet fabric
- Premium look and feel
What we like: The Sunbeam Cozy Feet has a lot of things going for it. The thing we’re most excited about though, is the dual temperature zones (and quadruple zones for the Queen- and King-sized blankets). You can adjust the temperature for your body and feet individually, making you even more comfortable just the way you need it. And for the Queen- and King-sized blankets you’ll get two sides that are controlled with individual remotes.
This blanket comes with 10 heat settings for your torso, and 15 heat settings for your feet. It also offers a preheat-setting to warm up the blanket prior to using it, and a 10-hour auto-off safety feature gets you through the night and turns off the blanket automatically.
It isn’t the cheapest heated blanket on the market, but on top of all the things we’ve already mentioned it’s also incredibly soft and comfortable making it worth every penny.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The blanket itself isn’t very thick, and if you’re using it on its own you can slightly feel the wires when running your hands over it. This is not a common use scenario though, and we haven’t had any issues with this. The auto-off feature, although it’s nice to have, cannot be changed and you have no other choice besides 10 hours.
Best on a budget: Serta Reversible Micro-Plush/Sherpa Heated Blanket
Serta Reversible Micro-Plush/Sherpa Heated Blanket
- Reversible – micro-plush/sherpa
- Choose between many stylish colors and patterns
- 4-hour auto-off safety feature
What we like: This extremely popular heated throw blanket measures 50″ x 60″, and offers a reversible design with polyester brushed micro-plush on one side and a fine, cozy sherpa lining on the other side.
We’re in love with the sheer amount of colors and patterns available for the Serta Reversible Micro-Plush/Sherpa Heated Blanket, and we’re almost 100% certain that you’ll one that fits your style.
As a throw blanket it works great for any purpose, and you can either use it in your couch or in your bed. The five heat settings provide plenty of options to keep you warm, and the 4-hour auto-off is a great safety feature.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Although it’s nice to have an auto-off safety feature, we wished for more than just one option of 4 hours. This isn’t enough to get you through the night, but fortunately this heated throw blanket still serves many purposes and is a great heated blanket at an affordable price.
Best heated blanket for king-size beds: Biddeford Comfort Knit Fleece Electric Heated Blanket
Biddeford Comfort Knit Fleece Electric Heated Blanket
- Dual controllers (for Queen- and King-size blankets)
- Multiple colors to choose from
- Very soft and comfortable
What we like: The Biddefort Comfort Knit Fleece Electric Heated Blanket is a nice, soft, and comfortable heated blanket. As the product name suggests it’s made from a knit fleece fabric, and this fabric provides high comfort and plenty of warmth on its own. With the heating turned on you’ll quickly feel the warmth, and it has a total of 10 heat settings.
With the Queen- and King-sized heated blankets you’ll get two controllers: one for each side. That’s a great addition for a couple with different heat preferences, as the blanket can be adjusted individually to your exact liking.
Of course there’s also an automatic shut-off feature for added safety, and all in all we thought this heated blanket is among the best and most comfortable ones we’ve ever tried.
It’s a great heated blanket with a high level of comfort, and as an added bonus it’s also machine washable.
Make sure you click the link and discover the sheer amount of colors to choose from.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: Although the automatic shut-off feature provide a nice layer of added safety, we were disappointed to find out that it only has one setting: 10 hours. We’d like to see more than one setting, but unfortunately it’s a common thing for heated blankets to have just one setting.
Best 12-volt DC heated blanket: Sojoy 12V Heated Travel Blanket
Sojoy 12V Heated Travel Blanket
- Works in cars, RV’s, trucks, and boats
- Adjustable auto-off feature
- Soft and comfortable fleece fabric
What we like: The Sojoy 12V Heated Travel Blanket is your best buddy on any travel by car, boat, RV and truck. There are multiple reasons why you’d want to keep one of these heated blankets in your vehicle, but its main purpose is to quickly warm you up and make you comfortable.
What we appreciate the most about this heated blanket, is its ability to work practically anywhere, and with a power converter you can even use it inside your house as well. Or if you’re in a tent, you can plug it into a battery and enjoy the warmth on a cold night outside.
The Sojoy 12V Heated Travel Blanket offers a high, medium, or low heat setting, as well as a 30-, 45- or 60-minute auto-off setting. You can also activate a fast warm-up setting, if you want to heat up the blanket quicker than normal.
This heated blanket is a great purchase for anyone living in the cold, but it’s also a great choice for anyone taking a nap in their car once in a while.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: While this isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker, the blanket only offers auto-off setting for up to 60 minutes. That means it will shut itself off after only an hour, and if your trip is longer than that you’ll have to manually switch it back on.
With a size of just 55″ x 40″ it isn’t the biggest heated blanket either.
Best cordless battery operated heated blanket: The Cozee
The Cozee Battery Operated Heated Blanket
- Battery operated, but works with 12V DC and plugs into the wall too
- Up to 5 hours of operation on a single charge
- Doubles as a charger (2 x USB ports)
What we like: If you’re shopping for a fully portable heated blanket, the battery operated The Cozee is a great purchase.
Although it’s a little more expensive than other heated blankets, we believe it’s worth it. Most outdoor settings do unfortunately not provide any electricity, so you’ll have to bring your own. The Cozee comes with a rechargeable battery pack, granting you up to 5 hours of operation to keep you warm through the soccer game, fishing trip, and practically any outdoor activity you can imagine.
We also like the corner pockets where you can stick your hands, because that way you can keep your hands warm while keeping your heated blanket wrapped around you.
This heated blanket was clearly designed to be used in an outdoor setting, as it has an exterior water resistant shell. Though it isn’t 100% waterproof, it does withstand the wind, snow, and light rain. The interior of the blanket has a soft, micro-plush interior that will keep you warm for hours.
With the option to plug The Cozee heated blanket in or bring it with you using the battery, you get an extremely versatile blanket that can be used for multiple purposes. Make sure you recharge it for your next outdoor event, and never feel cold anywhere again. Measuring 60″ x 60″, this heated blanket is great for one or two persons.
Flaws but not dealbreakers: The price is probably the biggest issue, but we’ll leave it up to you to decide whether you think it’s worth it or not. It does run out of battery after just a few hours use, so it won’t last you through a cold night in a tent either. You can get an extra rechargeable 12V battery though, if you want it to last throughout the night.
How to find the best heated blanket for your needs
The best heated blankets are of course flawless, but if you want one that fits your needs you’ll have to know what to look for in a heated electric blanket.
Comfort and coziness
Fortunately most heated blankets are quite comfortable, as they’re usually made of a synthetic fabric such as polyester fleece, micro-plush or brushed sherpa. We want our blanket to be as soft and comfortable as possible, but actually we want them to be breathable too.
With a breathable heated blanket you’ll stay warm and cozy, without feeling sweaty at the same time.
Most heated blankets have wires that are slightly rounded, and you’ll be able to feel them if the fabric is thin. This isn’t necessarily an issue, but it can be if you don’t like the feeling.
You also want a heated blanket that’s big enough to cover you properly, otherwise it’s better used as a throw that you’d either wrap around your torso or cover yourself with while seated.
Quality of the fabric
We don’t like heated blankets with a fabric of a bad quality. We want them to be durable, and we really don’t want them to shed any fibers as we use them.
The quality of the fabric is often what sets apart the expensive blankets from the cheaper ones, so if you’re shopping for a cheap heated blanket we recommend that you pay extra attention to the quality of the actual fabric.
Performance
The purpose of a heated blanket is to produce heat and keep you warm. However, different heated blankets have different settings and perform differently.
If you want one that gets piping hot, you’d have to look for the temperature settings available. Some heated blankets are able to reach temperatures above 110 degrees F, but the warmer they are the more energy they consume too.
Make sure you opt for one with plenty of heat settings. Some blankets have only 3-4 settings, while others have more than 10.
Some heated blankets even have different zones for feet and torso, as well as dual remotes (one for each side of the blanket).
Safety
Generally speaking, heated blankets are quite safe. The electricity going through the wires is usually a low voltage DC current, which is similar to what you get from a battery. They also offer additional safety features such as automatic shut-off after a given period of time, so if you forget to shut it off it will do so automatically.
Some blankets do get quite warm though, and according to Tuck.com it could become a safety concern for some people with conditions such as diabetes, pregnant women, as well as adults with mental disabilities. Pets, especially ones that like to chew on things, pose a safety risk too.
Ease of use
Of course we want our heated blanket to be as easy to use as possible. We don’t want to have to read through a large manual just to figure out how to adjust the temperature and turn it off, we want it to be as simple as possible.
Heated blankets aren’t rocket science after all, and we wouldn’t want to spend a whole weekend trying to understand how they work.
One way to understand whether a heated blanket is easy to use, is to look at the controller. Do the buttons look intuitive? Are there any lights to indicate whether it’s on or not? Is there any text or indicators of what each button means?
Maintenance
Most heated blankets are washable, which is great. This is an important detail, perhaps more important than most people think, because any blanket attracts dust, hair and dirt as we use them.
And since heated blankets are more expensive than most regular blankets, we want them to last longer.