Heated Blanket vs Space Heater: Which Costs Less to Run?

Cost per hour is watts divided by 1,000, times your rate. At 17.3 cents per kWh a 100 W throw costs 1.73 cents an hour, a 200 W queen mattress pad 3.46 cents, a 220 W queen blanket 3.81 cents, a space heater on its 750 W low setting 12.98 cents and a 1,500 W space heater on high 25.95 cents.

For an 8 hour night that is 14 cents for the throw, 28 cents for the mattress pad, 30 cents for the queen blanket with both sides at full power, $1.04 for a heater on low and $2.08 for a heater on high. Over 30 nights: $4.15, $8.30, $9.13, $31.14 and $62.28. The blanket figures are a ceiling. Most people run a heated blanket on a middle setting after the bed warms up, and many models step down on their own after preheat.

A space heater with a thermostat also cycles off once the room is warm, so it rarely draws 1,500 W the whole night. Even if it runs half the time, though, it costs about $31 a month, more than three times a queen blanket on full power. Our space heater cost calculator lets you set your own hours and duty cycle.

Your rate scales every number above. Using EIA's 2025 average residential rates, 8 hours a night for 30 nights with a 100 W throw costs $2.83 in North Dakota at 11.81 cents per kWh, $7.05 in Connecticut at 29.38 cents and $9.74 in Hawaii at 40.59 cents. A 1,500 W space heater running the same hours costs $42.52, $105.77 and $146.12.

In expensive-power states that gap is the whole story. A Connecticut household that replaces one bedroom space heater with a heated blanket for a 5 month winter keeps roughly $490 a year, before counting any thermostat setback. Our electricity rates by state table has your rate, and our heating cost by state study shows what a whole winter of heat costs where you live.

Both draw about the same power. A blanket goes on top and warms you from above, and you can also take a throw to the couch. A mattress pad goes under the fitted sheet and warms the bed from below, and since heat rises, your normal blankets hold it in. Many people who sleep hot under a heated blanket prefer a pad, which keeps the heavy layer off.

For couples, pick dual control on either one. Each side has its own controller, so one sleeper can run warm while the other leaves their side off, and the off side uses no power. Check the size too. A queen pad needs a pocket deep enough for your mattress. Sunbeam's Restful pad fits mattresses up to 18 inches.

A blanket only warms what it touches. For a cold home office, a bathroom in the morning or a room where kids play on the floor, you need warm air, and a 1,500 W heater with a real thermostat is the cheapest way to heat one room without turning up the whole house. Our cheapest space heaters to run guide picks heaters by thermostat and safety features, since every 1,500 W plug-in heater turns electricity into heat at the same rate.

If you heat one room for many hours every day, a ductless mini-split heat pump costs far less per hour than any resistance heater, because it moves heat instead of making it. Our mini-split size calculator sizes one for the room.

Safety is the other difference. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission tells people to keep space heaters at least 3 feet from anything that can burn and to plug them straight into a wall outlet, not an extension cord. Heated blankets carry their own rules: use the auto shut-off, do not fold or bunch a blanket while it is on, and do not use one for an infant or for anyone who cannot work the controls.