Electric Blankets - Good idea or not?

[Sheena13]

My airbnb is so expensive on the electricity front. It's electric heaters and guests are not shy about using them. I think they must leave them on even when they are out. Even though it's occupied maybe 1/3 of the time the costs are over twice as much as in my own larger home. ( which is heated the same way - wood burner and electric heaters )

So I was wondering if I put in an electric blanket into the double bedroom would that help? Do you think guests would like that and do you think they might not need a heater on high all night? Or would they put the heater on and just put the blanket off/open the window if they got too hot?

I was thinking it would be nice in the winter when the place can take a while to heat up if no-one's been in for a while. 

I want guests to be comfortable. But I don't want to give them another way to cost me money:)

Your thoughts please?

[Dimitar27]

I have one of these el. blankets in my home.

The most common user is...the cat. 🙂

[Laylee0]

@Sheena13 I wrote a reply but it’s disappeared. Have you thought about raising your prices during winter? I can imagine the mentality of guests is that they’re paying the same money either way so probably won’t care about leaving the heating on, they’ll want to come home to a warm house! Most people aren’t used to sleeping with an electric blanket so I think they might prefer the heater over that. As again most people like waking up to a warm room otherwise it’s hard to face getting out of bed! I think an electric blanket might raise bills for you even more though but maybe someone else can weigh in who has more experience with these things! 

[Anonymous]

@Sheena13  Back in the olden days, electric blankets were associated with a lot of fires and injuries. There have been a lot of technological improvements since then, so younger folks might not be so wary of them, but they're still not the norm in warmer countries and those with better insulation and central heating. 

So I read your post, and I was thinking, maybe if you're offering a budget private room and competing with hostel dorms, an electric blanket might even be enough! After all, it's Scotland, not Bali. But then I looked at your listing (which looks like a really sweet place) and thought, that's not really your market. With an entire cottage, at an off-season rate comparable to a hotel, your guests are generally people who are on holiday and don't want to have to think about their host's utility bills - they just want to be as comfortable and "cozy" (to quote your listing title) as they can get.

Intuitively they know they're paying more per night than a long-term residential tenant would be, so they expect a greater degree of creature comfort in exchange for that. They might appreciate an electric blanket, but they won't want to be told not to use other heating implements to make the cottage feel as nice and toasty as it can, because they're visiting to have fun and not just muddle on through like the locals.

Unfortunately, a lot of people have a daft sense of thermodynamics. Just like the ones who want to keep the windows open all day in a 39 degree heat wave, you'll get those who keep heaters on all day while they're out and then open the windows for "fresh air" when they get home from their daytrip. My suggestion to this would be to give clear instructions at check-in about how to maximize the impact of the heating systems, and offer the electric blanket (placed visibly near the bed) as a supplement. But also, to maintain nightly prices that make it possible to absorb the cost of guests who ignore your advisory altogether. I'd also suggest emphasizing environmental concerns about fuel usage, if only to drive home the fact that this is not just about your personal costs but also the planet's.

[Jeff158]

@Sheena13  its surprising how many of the guests appreciate our electric blanket, I've even had it praised in reviews, lots of folks are like me and prefer a cold bedroom and to snuggle into a warm bed. We take it off in May & put it back late September.

Buy a good one with separate controls for each side, controllable zones for feet/body and a timer.

[Emiel1]

@Sheena13 

Some of my listings also have electric heating.

By monitoring energy use during longer period (couple of years)  a know what the average amount of energy consumption is for each room in certain seasons . In winter i opt only for guests who go to work or education institute etc. during weekdays. If they do not, i charge them extra for heating (it is mentioned in the listing). But in practice such guests do not book. BTW my min. stay is 3 nights. If the energy used dring the stay is much higher then my statistics tell me, i simply talk to the guest to find out the reason. It has never been a problem.

There are also technical solutions: heaters with buid in (or external) clockthermostats who  automatically go to "low level" at night.

I would not think of electric blankets or sheets, i assume total energy consumption will be even higher  level, as people who waste energy will do the same with the elec. blankets: leaving them on 24 hours....

Best regards,

Emiel

[Si-Yuan0]

Frankly, not quite helpful

Guests prefer a warm room more than a warm bed, so they can take off their coats and wear as short and as comfortable they wish. People enjoy wearing little cloth when inside, truely, and most would expect that. A cold room would really put guests down, I think that 's why your electric bills are so high as they all intend to turn the heating at full on for the full day, and when rooms are cold, warmth in bed compensate not so much. 

I would not recommand heating blancket, first for safety issues. My experience with heating blanket is that its reliability last little more than 5 to 6 years, then eithen becoming inefficient in heating, or energy comsuming, or in worst case self igntionable. Another issues with these blankets is the smell. They, like bed sheets, will absorb body fluid and smell from your guests, and unlike bed sheets, heating blankets are hard to clean. After one to two years of heavy usage, your blankets will end up unpleasantly smelly and can not be put on bed any longer to accommodate guests. 

 I would suggest that you replace better newest generation of air tight windows and intall addtional layers of insulation in walls and roof, the investment will reduce energy cost in long run. I am running a flat in Scotland and after insulation upgrade I dont even need to turn on heating! hot air from my neignbors usually do the work for me, to the level my guests need to open windows for cool breese!

[Sheena13]

Thanks for your reply. Our cottage is well insulated and with new double glazed windows. We did it ourselves aware that the more insulation we packed in the less heating would be required. I find it heats up really well, much better than our home. Often it is unbearable hot when we go in. For example the small back bedroom - the other week the heater in there had been set to 26.5. This is in summer when in our home next door we have not had to use any heating since about April. Not because we're tough. Just because it's been so mild.

[Rich-and-Yan0]

@Sheena13 It must be really tough for you, as the temptation to raise your rates during winter is there, but competitors with better heating and insulation may not do that and may take a bite out of your own business.

I agree with @Anonymous about how electric blankets used to be associated with fires and such. I used to think the same, but my wife has turned me around on this. Here in Hong Kong, where temperatures are mild for about 80% of the year, practically none of the homes are insulated or have built-in heating--and that's fine for the warmer months, but there are times when it can get down to around 0 Celsius or, on occasion, even lower. Heaters (which we run constantly) just don't warm up the place.

Electric blankets are another story. Two winters ago, my wife bought one similar to the one @Jeff158 described above, with separate controls for each side of the bed, and now on those cool winter nights, I almost can't wait to get into bed. 

So yeah, it might be a worthwhile investment. Now, I'm not sure if the guests will use the heaters any less--I probably wouldn't, were I in the same situation--but I'm sure they will appreciate the gestures, and you might get some good reviews because of it.