This past weekend when the boyfriend went out for light bulbs he returned from Target with a heated mattress pad, because, you know, it's a necessity.
He couldn't have been more proud and excited to use it. He tends to get cold at night and our new house doesn't have central air, so it can get a little chilly while we're sleeping. So he set it up and turned the dials (separate for each side of the bed). It was nice, like sliding into a hot bath, only it was the bed. But after a while it just got to be too hot for me and I spent the night sweating and tossing and turning.
Clearly this mattress pad wasn't any kind of necessity but for my boyfriend it was something that made a huge difference for his sleeping, even if it didn't do much for mine. He rested better and didn't complain about being cold, it soothed his muscles, etc. But I would also argue (and have) that a hot bath before bed and an extra layer of pajamas could probably accomplish the same thing and not have to be plugged in.
Do you have unnecessary necessities at home, or does your partner/roommate have one?
(For those that are curious, we got the Sunbeam Rest and Relieve Therapeutic Mattress Pad on sale at Target.)
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I think I would like getting in to a heated bed, and then I would turn it off. Sounds cozy!
The heated mattress pad/electric blanket has been a contentious issue for my wife and me. She wants it and I don't. I sleep very hot and when we've used an electric blanket in the past it was very uncomfortable. Besides, she could cuddle up to stay warm. ;)
I have used a heated mattress pad for years. Try turning it on an hour before you go to bed, then turn it off when you go to bed. Any pad for a queen/king size bed should have separate controls so each of you can do what you like. So what's contentious?
I LOVE my heated mattress pad and I've declared it a necessity. But I live in Chicago and if I lived in California, I don't imagine it ever getting cold enough for me to use it there. (Especially with someone else sleeping in the bed.)
What's lovely about it is I can turn the furnace down to 60 at night and be perfectly toasty and I'm not running the furnace all night long.
If it ever gets too hot, you can turn down the setting, or just turn it off altogether. It only stays on for 10 hours at a time, so if I remember to warm it up before bedtime, it shuts off in the wee hours anyway.
Also a necessity: a pet :-)
I sleep hot, and am comfortable in low temps in general, but I live in Minnesota, in a loft with huge windows and high ceilings, and am a cheapskate. So I keep my thermostat set very low, and have an electric blanket on my bed. I turn it on 30 - 60 minutes before bedtime, and then turn it off when I go to bed. It takes the chill off the sheets and makes it so I don't lose body heat warming up the bed.
My boyfriend, on the other hand, is always cold at temps I find comfortable, so when he stays over he turns his side up to high to warm up the bed and then turns it down halfway at bedtime. That's the beauty of two dials -- you can each be happy.
The heated mattress pad I have has temp controls for each side so my boyfriend cranks his up on high and I turn my side off after 5 minutes. This might be the way to go.
Mine is a life and money saver. My rented house, while new, is very poorly insulated. And instead of cranking up the heat at night for the entire 1200 square feet of space, I turn on the heat for my bed. Though on cold mornings it is tough to get out of bed since it's so cozy!
A heated mattress pad is something I've wanted for a good while to help me save on energy costs in the winter. I get enough sunlight from my south-facing windows in the daytime to make it fairly comfortable to keep the heater on quite low during most of the day, and I could turn it completely off during the night if I had such a mattress pad, which would take about 20-30% off of my electricity bill.
In my apartment building in Brooklyn, we cannot control our own heat. The heat swings wildly between too hot and freezing.
We found our electric mattress pad at Macy's this winter and it has been amazing. It gives us the sense that we can control our own heat.
On a Christmas trip in England, we found that these are very popular there, where many of the older homes do not have central heat. Plus the beds get damp there and this is a perfect way to warm things up. There are instructions on the Brit's mattress pads to turn them off before you get into bed.
I dont like electricity on my bed and find if I am really cold, a hot water bottle does just fine, put it under the covers a few minutes before getting in.
"If I lived in California, I don't imagine it ever getting cold enough for me to use it there."
Trust me, San Francisco is cold and this winter it was freezing!! Temperatures in the 30s! I would LOVE this because our bedroom has no isulation (the landlord said that in 1906 they didn't put insulation in) and therefore is no more than 10 degrees warmer than whatever it is outside. Since we don't have central heat (only two wall heaters, one in the living room and one in the dining room) and no heat in our bedroom I slept with two comforters, pjs, socks, and a hat to bed until we could get a spaceheater. But that can jack up your pg&e bill, which it did, and made my boyfriend none too happy.
A heated mattress pad sounds like just what we need :)
OMG no I think the first initial jump into bed would be great but shortly after I would roast. I use flannel sheets and heavier weight duvet this time of year and have and have the window open a crack..I sleep perfectly like this. I do not have any electrical cords near my bed, I am with sassydo on that. I also have a snug bug of a dog that is my hot water bottle.
I would love one of those, not for a warm bed, but for the aches and pains that come from my job. I use a heating pad now, when I'm settling down at night, but it's tiny and I have to keep moving it. I turn it off before I go totally to sleep. It's a great big help - some nights I don't know what I'd do without that half hour of heat. I think I need one of these, actually.
This sounds horrible to me. I need to be cool in order to sleep well and I love getting into a cold bed. It makes me sleepy. My husband could use this though as he is always cold and loves to sleep warm (he likes to turn the heat up to 78 it sleep!)
So, I think I would LOVE this- but my boyfriend would die. That man could cook eggs on his chest at night, I swear to god.
I remember looking up a pad that both heated AND cooled- but it was ridiculously expensive- more than a mattress!
We settle for separate blankets and it works great!
Boyfriends are so Unnecessary...
...especially when they hog the covers or come home w/ electric bed heaters.
A Californian using a heated mattress pad?!
These are useful in England where it's cold and damp, damp, damp in the winter. But I'd be embarrassed to use one if I lived in CA. (unless old or infirm)
I let my dog prewarm my bed. He goes to bed about 8pm under the covers. I climb in a couple hours later. By then it's too hot for him and he gets out of the bed. It really is kind of great. On really cold nights he stays on the bed and keeps it warmer, on warmer nights he stays off the bed. No electricity!
While I can sympathize with SF buildings having little insulation and wall heater, it is not freezing until it is below 32 degrees. In the Midwest our HIGH is going to be 25 degrees, not counting the wind gusts of 20 mph. We have homeless people that live outside in this weather. I don't feel all that sorry for you. I feel a little sorry because maybe your living room is 50 degrees and mine is 68 degrees, but once it warms up during the day, you might get up to 75 degrees and I'm still going to be at 68 degrees. My apt has been at 68 degrees since about November and will stay there until about March. Your cold snap will last a week or two.
One of the ways your body signals the end of your sleep cycle is to elevate your body temperature. In other words, warm wakes you up, cool helps you sleep deeper.
Using a heated mattress pad (especially in LA!) is a bad idea if you want a good night's sleep.
I love my electric blanket. I also have no central heat in my house (well, we do, but something about it jacks the electric bill up by $100 a month so we never use it) and on some of our colder winter nights my down comforter didn't do the trick. I'd literally be shivering in bed. the electric blanket is a lifesaver. a heated matress pad sounds nice too, but with the blanket if it gets too hot I can kick it off in my sleep.