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- Soft, teddy bear feel
- Heats up fast
- Budget-friendly
- No timer settings
- Quite thin
True to its name, the Dunelm Teddy Electric Throw definitely reminds me of a teddy bear’s fur, and its ability to heat up fast to impressive temperatures makes it a throw I was happy to use.
While there’s a lot to like about this electric blanket, the material is on the thinner side and the lack of timing options is a real shame. It’s these things that hold the Teddy Electric Throw back from a more enthusiastic recommendation. Read on for my full review…
Dunelm Teddy Electric Throw: What do you get for the money?
The Dunelm Teddy Electric Throw comes in two sizes, 130x160cm and 200x200cm – the latter of which isn’t available at the time of writing. The smaller variant is a similar size to both the Lakeland StaySnug Velvety Heated Throw and the Dreamland Hygge Days Faux Fur Luxury Heated Throw, but it’s cheaper than both at £40 (plus, at the time of writing, it’s discounted to just £20). The larger option cost £75, which is a very reasonable price when you consider that the Beurer XXL HD 150 Heated Throw comes in at 150x200cm and costs £10 more. That said, there is a definite difference in fabric thickness, but more on that later.
It’s made from 100% polyester, with a soft teddy bear feel on both sides of the blanket. It has a 278cm long cable and its single controller is used to turn the blanket on/off and adjust settings simply. You’ve got six heat settings, marked one to five with level six labelled as ‘H’. Annoyingly, there are no timer settings, but the throw has an auto-off feature after four hours.
You can machine wash the throw, but you will of course need to detach the cable and controller first, and it can’t be tumble dried.
Comfort, performance and test results
To ensure consistency across the board, I run the same tests on all the heated throws and electric blankets that I test. Firstly, I conducted tests with a temperature probe attached – with a small piece of tape – to the underside of the blanket, near the wired heating element. On full power (level 6/H) the throw reached 44.8°C after 10 minutes, while repeating this test on half power (level 3) gave a reading of 26.8°C after 10 minutes.
These results weren’t quite as impressive as some other electric blankets I’ve tested: for instance, the Bedsure electric blanket reached 54.8°C after ten minutes at full power. And nothing has quite matched the Stoov Huge Hug 3, which reached 59.1°C. That said, the Dunelm Teddy Electric Throw still offers reasonably fast and effective warmth.
I also took readings towards the top of the throw with a temperature gun, which – unsurprisingly – gave slightly lower results. These were still pretty impressive though, with the temperature reaching 29.8°C in the centre and going as high as 32.2°C in the top left corner. As you might expect, temperatures were lowest in the bottom corners, but it still reached a respectable 21.1°C and 20.9°C respectively. Finally, I ran some power consumption tests to see how energy efficient the throw is. The Dunelm performed really well here, using 18W to heat up on full power and 14W on half power. After 30 minutes on full power, the throw used 0.016kWh, while half power used 0.013kWh.
In real world testing, the throw provided plenty of heat and was comfortable to use on lower settings for longer periods of time. I loved the fact that it’s so lightweight and easy to move around and even the smaller size is more than big enough to cover one person comfortably.
What could be improved?
It’s not all good news though. I did feel the fabric was a little thin, compared to some plusher rivals I’ve reviewed (a problem I also noted in my review of the Bedsure blanket) and it had a slightly synthetic feel to it. It’s worth noting that this is the sort of trade-off you’ll be making for such a budget-friendly electric throw. If you’re after something a bit more luxurious, you’ll need to invest a bit more money.
Another thing that bugged me was the lack of timer functions. The throw has an auto-off setting after four hours but no option to set it for less or more time. It’s an easy-enough matter to just turn the throw back on after it switches off but it does mean that if you wanted to use it on your bed at night, it wouldn’t stay on for an entire sleep. When so many other electric blankets and throws offer a timer function, this is irritating.
Should you buy the Dunelm Teddy Electric Throw review?
There are lots of reasons to recommend the Dunelm Teddy Electric throw. It’s incredibly budget friendly, it heats up quickly and temperatures are pretty impressive across the entire surface of the blanket.
That said, the fabric is thinner than many of its rivals and I do wish that there were timer settings. Again, it’s the inevitable sacrifice you’ll make for such an affordable blanket, so if finding something on a budget isn’t one of your top priorities, consider investing in something a bit more substantial, such as the Dreamland Hunker Down electric blanket.
