This is a review for 3 bed heating products all of which I have used for 6 months+

1st choice:
Biddeford Heated Mattress Pad, Queen Biddeford Heated Mattress Pad, White, Queen

2nd choice:
Soft Heat Electric Blanket, Queen Soft Heat Luxury Micro-Fleece Low-Voltage Electric Heated Queen Size Blanket, Natural

3rd choice:
Sunbeam Electric Blanket, Queen Sunbeam - Queen Size Heated Blanket Luxurious Velvet Plush with 2 Digital Controllers and Auto-off Feature - 5yr Warranty (Blue)

I get cold at night, so I have slept with an electric blanket for most of my life. I used the Sunbeam blanket for 3 years before buying the mattress pad and the soft heat blanket 6 months ago.

I washed the Sunbeam blanket 3 times over those 3 years, and on the 3rd wash it stopped working well. It still puts out heat, but the heat is patchy and inconsistent.

I was also cold when I slept over at my boyfriend's place, so I bought him the soft heat electric blanket which was great. He begrudgingly used the blanket for 6 months before getting fed up with the cords. I had bought myself the Biddeford mattress pad, to supplement my inconsistent sunbeam blanket, so I swapped my boyfriend's blanket with the mattress pad. The hidden cords made him much happier.

Here are my comments about each product:

Biddeford mattress pad:
Wow, I had no idea how great a mattress pad is. It doesn't move around or slide off the bed and you don't have to deal with cords at the end of the blanket. They're also much cheaper.

Pros:
Doesn't slide off the bed or move around
Fewer cords (you can hide the cords under the mattress)
Affordable

Cons:
The Biddeford one feels cheap, I might recommend one that is more expensive

Soft heat electric blanket:

Pros:
Soft
Wires are very small and almost imperceptible
Uses an adjustment dial that can be adjusted easily

Cons:
Expensive
Cords are annoying
Doesn't get very hot

Sunbeam blanket:

Pros:
Extremely soft
Gets really hot
Has a preheat function that puts the blanket on high for the first 10 minutes or so

Cons:
Did not survive its 3rd wash
Cords are annoying
Uses a push button electric controller that requires you to be somewhat awake to adjust

There's a lot to like about this blanket. The wires aren't very noticeable. It wears well. We love that the two sides have separate controls! There seem to be cool spots here and there now that we've washed it, but it's still enough to keep us warm. When we read the paper that came with the blanket, it said that laying on top of the blanket wouldn't feel very warm, that you had to be under the blanket. Strangely enough, that's true. I plugged it in the first time and came back 20 minutes later to see if it was warm"¦ and it wasn't. So I wrapped up in it and sure enough, it was toasty warm. Weird.

This is my Christmas gift this year. I have asked for one for many years, but they are pretty expensive! So, this year we decided to make the splurge and get one. This is not a decision we regret! I have read many reviews on Amazon and researched all heated blankets. This one was the one I decided to go with and one reason is the company seems to be great about replacing them if they break and the way they are made.
I actually bought the 2 year extended warranty on this blanket because I did see many people say they had problems with it over time. But, the company is good about it.
The technical thing I like about this is it has a transformer in the controls to step down the voltage. I am not 100% sure if all electric blanket manufacturers do this but it was that one review after doing some off-Amazon research that sold me.
Now, performance and look:
I would have no clue this blanket had any wires in it. That is pretty awesome. We have the natural one and the color is not my favorite, but the dark brown was way more expensive and I can deal with it. The fleece is a little less nice than I expected, honestly. A little rough to me. But not anywhere near a deal breaker.
My husband sleeps with his side on 5 and I do 5 or 6. They recommend high the first night and I was dying. Yet, it is not hot to the touch on the outside! The ONLY time it gets warm to the touch is if you take a leg out and throw it over the covers and fold them over one another. Any major folding of the blanket over itself does cause it to get warm. Not warm enough to burn but you can feel it.
All things considered we are very happy with this blanket and it is a 5-star product that we recommend!

I am a fan of this blanket, but after two years of use in the winter the transmitter began emitting a high pitched beep, low volume but very annoying, which made it impossible for me to use the heating unit. The product advertises a 5 year warranty but I couldn't find contact info for the manufacturer on Amazon or Google. After a more comprehensive search, I learned it is made by the same company that makes sunbeam products- Kaz. The email address online for questions is [email protected].

I will have to update later about how Kaz deals with my inquiry, but I wanted to make it easier for others to find contact info than it was for me.

Apart from this issue, the blanket is great. Good Housekeeping dinged it for long heat up times, but it never takes more than 10 minutes to warm my bed (even at our ski cabin, where it gets below 0 at night). I use it on 3 or 4 at home in Los Angeles, and all 7 or 8 at the cabin (my husband refused to use it st our main home, but loved it at the cabin in winter- the dual temp controls are key for this). Turning it on high enables my husband and I to sleep without a fire or the central heat at our cabin, which our very fluffy Siberian huskies appreciate. I will also confess to running the AC at home sometimes so I can use the blanket at night- it is just so nice to snuggle into a warm bed in a cold house.

Blanket is very soft, and I use I even when it's too warm to heat. Washes very well, I just toss it in on delicate and tumble dry on low. It does attract dog fur, because it is fleece, but I only really notice that when I wash it and the furs are trapped in the lint screen, and the fur comes off easily enough with a lint roller.

I'll update the review when/if Kaz responds to me. This is a 5 star product if Kaz makes it easy for me to do the warranty return. If not, I'll have just drop my review to 3 stars because we only use it about half the year, so the transformer shouldn't have malfunctioned after 2 years, but I will still probably replace it. We have other electric blankets throughout our house, but I just can't bring myself to use them when the wires stick out, knowing how much more comfortable this one is.

This is one of the best electric blankets I have ever owned. It heats very well at the feet as well as all over. It has thin wires which make it very comfortable.