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- Quilted cover unzips for easy washing
- Separate controls for body and feet
- Soft and comfortable cover
- Doesn't get as hot as rivals
The Snuggledown Intelligent Warmth Electric Blanket is a well-made and comfortable blanket and I loved the design as well as the clever features. The separate controls for body and feet are a great idea and, at £82 for a double (which is the size I tested), it’s competitively priced amongst its rivals.
However, I did find that this blanket didn’t get quite as hot as some I’ve tested, which could be an issue if you’re of a reptilian nature like myself. However, I think plenty of people will enjoy the Snuggledown but does it deserve among the best electric blankets?
Snuggledown Intelligent Warmth Electric Blanket: What do you get for the money?
The Snuggledown Intelligent Warmth Electric Blanket comes in four sizes – small, double, king and super king – with prices starting at £59 for a single. At £82 for a double, it’s cheaper than the Dreamland Hunker Down Scandi Sherpa electric blanket at £115, but is more expensive than the Slumberdown Wonderfully Warm electric blanket I’m currently reviewing, which comes in at £66 for a double.
The Snuggledown blanket is made with a 180-thread count quilted cotton cover, which can be unzipped and machine washed at 40°C. According to the brand, sustainable cotton is sourced through the Better Cotton initiative, while the blanket is made in the UK at a “Zero to Landfill” factory. In terms of padding, the blanket’s filling is made from polyester and doesn’t feel very thick – perhaps around one or one-and-a-half inches.
Usefully, all sizes of the blanket from double upwards come with dual controllers: if you’re sharing the bed with a partner, each of you can set the heat to your own liking. There are nine different heat settings, and you can also set the heat separately for your upper body and your feet (the logic being that feet are always the coldest part of your body in bed).
The blanket comes with a timer that will automatically switch the heating element off after anywhere between one and nine hours. There’s also a setting to leave the blanket on for 12 hours, marked by an ‘H’ symbol on the controls. The cables for the remotes are long enough at just under 1.5 metres that, whichever side of the bed you have your mains plug, they’ll both be well within reach. During testing I found they easily reached under the width of our double bed.
Comfort, performance and test results
The first thing I noticed when lying on the Snuggledown blanket was how little you can feel the heating element, since the blanket is ever so slightly thicker than many traditional electric underblankets. And thanks to that cotton cover, the blanket is breathable, meaning the colder users amongst you might be able to leave it on all year round with no danger of overheating in the summer. The resident hot sleeper in my house (my husband) refuses to use an electric blanket – even during the one night that saw temperatures plummet to -18°C where we live. Despite this, he felt that the temperature regulation was excellent. The cotton cover is also soft and comfortable to lie on, although it’s not quite as luxurious as those electric blankets with fluffy tops, such as the Dreamland Hunker Down Scandi Sherpa blanket.
That said, it’s unlikely you’d choose this blanket to keep cool throughout the night, so onto the main event. I loved the fact that you’ve got dual controls for yourself and your partner: this allowed me to heat my side of the bed while keeping my husband’s side cooler. And I particularly liked the fact that you’ve got separate temperature controls for the body and feet. My feet are always like blocks of ice in bed, so being able to focus the heat where it’s needed – while turning the heat down for my upper body – was fantastic. The auto-shut off timing settings are great too, meaning you can preheat the bed and sleep the whole night without needing to worry about waking up to reset anything.
I run the same tests on all electric blankets and throws to ensure consistency, using a temperature probe to see how well the blanket heated up. After ten minutes on full power under a duvet, the Snuggledown heated up to 28°C (and 22.2°C with the duvet off). I also used a temperature gun to see how that heat was spread out around the blanket after three hours as I’d noted that the blanket was slower to heat up than some models. By this point, the centre of the blanket had heated up to just under 30°C and results were fairly consistent across the whole surface, with only the top corners a little cooler.
How can it be improved?
My biggest issue with the Snuggledown blanket was that it simply didn’t get quite hot enough for me, particularly when you consider that the Dreamland electric blanket I mentioned earlier reached almost 60°C.
The Snuggledown also takes a long time to reach its full temperature, so you’ll need to remember to turn it on for a good few hours before bedtime. I should reiterate here that I am a very cold sleeper, so my standards of “hot enough” may well be higher than yours.
Should you buy the Snuggledown Intelliheat Premium Heated blanket?
For those who find the wiring in traditional electric blankets too prominent when lying on the bed, this could be the ideal option. It’s comfortable, reasonably priced and the separate foot control is an excellent addition.
However, it just didn’t heat up quite as well as some of the other blankets I’ve tested, never feeling quite as warm as I would have liked. I know this blanket will appeal to plenty of people but, if you feel the cold as acutely as I do, perhaps consider the Dreamland Hunker Down blanket.
