These top-rated electric blankets are warmer (and cheaper) than a heater

Best for: a luxury, fitted electric blanket

Sunbeam has designed this electric blanket to be easy to use and incredibly comfortable on your bed, with fully fitted top layer made of 250gsm quilted cotton and polyester fabric for ultimate comfort. It has a quick, five-minute heat up, six heat settings and auto-off settings for one, five and nine hours.

“It’s comfortable, extra long tucking right under the mattress preventing movement and the remote is simple to use,” one customer shared in a 5-star review on the Myer website, where it has a 4.8-star average from over 185 customers. Another said it was “just what I was looking for ready for winter.”

Sizes: Single, queen, king, super king

Key features:

• Five-minute heat up
• Six heat settings, with dual controls for each side of the bed
• Auto-off settings for one, five and nine hours
• Safety overheat protection
• 250gsm quilted cotton and polyester fabric with antimicrobial treatment
• Machine washable
• Three year warranty

Also available at:

• $279 from David Jones
• $249 from The Good Guys
• $223.20 (usually $279) from Myer

Best for: luxurious wool warmth

With a thick Australian wool pile and four multi-zone heat controls (top and bottom for each side of the bed), this electric blanket offers you cosy comfort to last all through the night. In fact, it has 9 heat settings and a timer for up to 12 hours. Its 50cm fitted skirt is also designed to to fit over larger, modern mattresses and it’s machine-washable.

“Very easy to use ,so plush it feels amazing,” one customer shared in a 5-star review with Myer, where it has a 4.5-star average from a handful of customers. It also has a 4.6-star average from over 23 reviews on Google, with one customer sharing: “I brought a queen size & it’s a perfect fit for my bed. It makes my bed so cosy & soft. Took a minute or 2 to work out the heat settings but now that l know the correct temp for me it’s great.”

Sizes: Queen, king

Key features:

• Australian wool top layer, with polyester skirt
• Nine heat settings and four heat zones for ultimate heat control
• 50cm fitted skirt to fit over modern mattresses
• Machine washable
• Two year warranty

Best for: an electric blanket under $100

This bestselling electric blanket (it was #1 on Amazon when we checked) has controllers for both sides of the bed, with three heat settings and ergonomic controls. It’s also made with a soft, 450gsm padding and a generous 50cm skirt to fit just about any mattress.

“Great quality. Have used this for 2 winter season now and still works so well,” one Australian customer shared in a 5-star review on Amazon, where it has a 4.4-star average from over 1150 customer ratings. “Pro tip buy the next size up (super king for a king size mattress), then the ethical cord won’t stick and and tucks nicely to the side,” the customer added.

Sizes: Single, king single, long king single, queen, king, super king, split king

Key features:

• Three heat settings
• Dual controllers
• Electronic overheat protection
• Advanced overheat protection

Best for: wool-blended warmth

Made from 70 per cent Australian wool and 30 per cent polyester, this electric blanket’s insulating properties to keep you toasty warm all through the night. It has a simple control with nine heat settings and dual controls so you can keep your side of the bed at just the right temperature.

“Very easy to use ,so plush it feels amazing,” one customer shared in a 5-star review with Myer, where it has a 4.5-star average from a handful of customers. It also has a 4.6-star average from over 23 reviews on Google, with one customer sharing: “I brought a queen size & it’s a perfect fit for my bed. It makes my bed so cosy & soft. Took a minute or 2 to work out the heat settings but now that l know the correct temp for me it’s great.”

Sizes: Queen, king

Key features:

• Nine heat settings
• 70 per cent Australian wool and 30 per cent polyester blended fabric
• Fully fitted elastic skirt
• Removable dual controllers for easy maintenance
• Machine washable
• Three year warranty

Also available at:

• $299.95 from Amazon
• $239.99 from Temple & Webster

Best for: top-to-toe customisation

Tailor the temperature of your bed with this electric blanket that has six heat settings across both upper and lower body zones for ultimate customisation. So if your feet tend to get cold, for example, you could turn up the heat there without overheating the rest of your body.

In fact, one customer who reviewed it on David Jones praised it for just that, writing in a 4-star review: “Good blanket, as the dual zone heating works well for me as I always have cold feet. An annoying feature is the excess cord for each heating unit – it’s very annoying and we haven’t worked out what to do about it other than tying up with plastic wire.”

Another customer, who left a 5-star review said it was great “having the ability to turn just feet or body or both sections on together or individually, control the heat of both sections and being able to set the timer”.

Key features:

• LCD screen illuminates when programming settings and then dims when set
• Six heat settings across both upper and lower body zones
• Auto setting remembers the last heat and auto-off settings programmed
• Auto-off safety timer can be set to turn blanket off from one to nine hours
• Three-year replacement warranty

Also available at:

• $269 from Breville

Best for: big beds

With dimensions of 200 x 203 centimetres, this bamboo-blend quilted electric blanket is ideal for luxuriously large beds. Its dual controls have simple-to-use, ergonomic sliders so you can easily choose between the three heat settings on both sides of the bed.

“Great quality, love the texture and feel of the bamboo quilting,” one Australian customer shared in a 5-star review on Amazon, where it has a 4.4-star average from over 139 global ratings. “Has totally transformed bedtime in a poorly-insulated Aussie home.”

Key features:

• Luxurious 240gsm filling, made with 35 per cent bamboo rayon and 65 per cent polyester jacquard knitted fabric
• Three heat settings
• Dual controllers
• Overheating and overcurrent protection
• Machine washable

Also available at:

• $180.45 (usually $189.95) from Myer

Best for: zoned heating

Silentnight are one of the most trusted sleep brands in the UK, with over 70 years’ experience in creating products to help the whole family sleep better. As well as dual controls, this electric blanket is designed to sit neatly away from the edges of the bed and remain flat for safety, with elasticated straps to fit it in place.

It’s also a best-seller, with over 46,000 customer ratings on Amazon giving it an average of 4.4-stars. “Overall, this is a good, reliable product, and I have not had any problems with it over the past four years of use. I would happily recommend it, so a full five stars from me,” one customer in the UK shared in their detailed review after four years’ using it.

Key features:

• Three heat settings
• Ultra fast heat up
• Cheap to run
• Overheat protection
• Machine washable
• Three year warranty

Best for: a classic electric blanket

With a price that’s more at the budget end of the scale, this electric blanket from Jason has all the features you need for a more comfortable bed when it’s cold outside. That includes a smooth, polyester cover, deep and fully-fitted skirt to make it easy to put on your bed and a simple, three-heat setting slide controller.

It has a 4.5-star average from over 310 ratings on Google.

“Very happy to have added this electric blanket to my bed. It fits well on the bed and you cannot feel it when sleeping on it. It doesn’t move or bunch up. Heats up quickly and evenly,” one Australian customer shared in a 5-star review. But it’s worth noting some customers said it stopped working after 1-2 years. So make sure you keep your receipt and check the warranty details, as well as your rights under Australian Consumer Law.

Key features:

• Three heat setting
• User-friendly controllers
• Fully fitted knitted skirt designed to fit all mattress depths
• Safety overheat protection
• Machine washable

Also available at:

• $93.60 from Woolworths