Electric Blankets

 Yeah saw a high of 60 and rain in Dublin yesterday.

I have always used flannel sheets for winter. My guests have liked them and I ues flannel on my bed in winter also. This is a cold house and the flannel sheets make it so much nicer. I will only use the down or fiber-fill comforters for guests. Too many idjit possibilities to have electric blankets upstairs.

We have now had 2 electric blankets. The first one, I bought a king for our queen bed so we would not fight for the covers - the heat was in the wrong places, Then I got a queen size dual control and it was great - except the control unit on HIS side stopped working after a few months so my control moved to his side. I was sooo glad I had flannel sheets.

 Monica I would like to tag along as well.    I want to try that homemade marmalade HJ makes.

I am more sympathetic as I know what the weather is like where JOhn is frequently Damp, dark and Cold to come into my B&B and slide into the bed and the sheets were all warm would make my day. It is just a case of how you manage it. I would go for hot water bottles.

Sorry but it is all sounding more hospital than hospitality to me.  

As an alternative to electric blankets I don't know what you call them (electric pads?) they go underneath the mattress protector and sheets against the mattress so you could still have a down duvet. I hadn't thought about EMF but it is something to consider.

I personally would not go to an inn that advertised electric blankets. I'd be looking for down comforters. And we do use flannel sheets in the winter. Another thing we do in the winter when it's real cold (it snows here) is we have hot water bottles that have pretty cotton covers and we put two in each queen bed for our guests. They just set them outside the door when they're ready to turn in. Very homey. Guests love them.

We also have guests who have EMF issues. (electromagnetic field) An electric blanket is anathema to them. For some reason, perhaps because we advertise as a "green" facility, we get a lot of folks with environmental issues.

We have a couple of flannel sheet sets... we like them and the guests appreciate them in the colder months.

How many of you use flannel (US for flannelette) sheets?  We do personally, but thought guests might not, so high thread cotton is default for the inn.

 If I had my way I would have nothing BUT PRINT sheets.  I have one set from the orig purchase and they keep going strong, nothing shows on them.  I find the high thread count sheets are as hot as the flannelette sheets too (on my own bed).  Too warm for me, even in winter have to have a cool bed and cool pillow.

yes, flannelette

Thanks for all the feedback.

I guess all the comments I'm erring away from the electric blankets. We have 15 tog combination down duvets on all our beds and thick matress protectors which are plush velor on one side for winter, and cotton on the other for summer.

My reason for considering them is that all our sheets are Egyptian cotton and that can feel quite cold when you first get into bed.

We use down comforters in our rooms, given that we are in a more moderate climate, these usually do the job in the winter here. 

After reading a couple of posts from Morticia about finding wet bedding, I would be conserned of these types of issues. 

I got a flannel suit to wear so I can pre-warm the beds before our guests retire at night...........  not!

You could warm a few bricks in the fire and put under the beds.

Just looking at economical green ideas...actually bricks put off fumes, so maybe a rock.  

You can get ones that turn off automatically cos I used to have one that went on between the mattress and mattress protector. It could be part of the turn down service that you put it on but that does make extra work. I like a cosy bed but in the winter I close the curtains for late arrivals and turn on the bedside lights so it looks nice when I open the door for them. |(I see each guest to their room) I think honestly people can barely use the appliances they already have I just don't think they would get used. We are sometimes asked for hot water bottles and we keep a few in as an alternative idea.

I use down comforters in 2 of my rooms and fiber-fill comforter in my feather-free room. Each room has electric baseboard heating that the guest sets to as warm or cool as they want it.

I use down duvets. Not the same as the bed being pre-warmed, but ever so much better than worrying that guests won't 'get' how to use an electric blanket. Given the problems with 'simple' things like thermostats on the wall, not sure I'd trust guests to shut off the blankets before falling asleep. OR, lying down on top of them and causing problems that way.

In Ireland, my cousin uses the bed-warming 'blankets' that go under the sheets. But you really have to be sure the guests shut them off. Not sure how she does that. She TOLD us, but I didn't understand and had the suitcase on the bed. It was completely damp under the suitcase as the moisture in the bed had no where to go. (It's really damp in Ireland, you know!)

I have the dual control electric underblankets and guests love them. I don't have an issue with them keeping them on all night (they have a 10 hour cutoff I think) and they are certainly cheaper than keeping the heat turned up.

Do you have enough outlets near beds and extenstion cords and extra burden of possibility of people tripping etc?

Have you thought about putting a wool beneath the mattress pad, those are super warmies!  Ye r in sheep countreee  

Prob more than ya want to spend though, Ijust saw the prices...unless ye know a couple sheep needin' shearin'?  Clik here

Yes, they'll get abused... but electricity is a cost of doing business.

Be sure to get the new kind that automatically shut off and don't cause fires.

I just keep my house warm all winter... but I added insulation and new windows and a high efficiency furnace so that it would be feasible!

=)
Kk.