[jeff5may]

I survived my childhood in Colorado with one of those electric blankets. My parents were not big fans of insulation and kept the thermostat high in the summer and low in the winter. I believe I caught strep throat or pneumonia every winter before I learned to talk. Once my caretakers figured I was freezing all night, an electric blanket appeared to save me.

Obviously these devices are very economical. If the thing cost much to run, my parents would have made rules or would have been invading my privacy to turn that dad blame money sucker down. That never happened, except some occasional fire safety speeches, so the blanket could not have had much impact on the electric bill.

For off-grid solar homes, electric blankets are very popular. When combined with a biofuel heater, many owners can make it through a cold night on one load of wood and the blanket if the cold wakes them up late. The next best device is a good down comforter.