Call me Linus
Written: Mar 14 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Dual controls; ten heat level settings
Cons: Could be longer; fabric pills very easily
The Bottom Line: My Bottom Line stays nice and toasty all night, even in winter with the windows open.
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| Penguinlady's Full Review: Sunbeam "IQ3" Electric Blanket |
Don't tell Linus, but I’m a duvet girl. I’ve always loved their warmth and the ease with which I can make the bed - just smooth out the top-sheet, give the duvet a twitch, and voila! The bed is made.
But even though we sleep with the window open all year, including the winter, Penguinman sleeps hot and usually overheats under a good down duvet, even the very thin and lightweight one we got when we bought our Select Comfort Sleep Number bed. I tried various combinations of blankets and bedspreads but they were a pain to deal with; I had to practically strip the bed every morning to be sure each blanket in the stack was smooth.
So when he casually mentioned that he’d like an electric blanket, I rushed out and bought him one for Christmas. There weren’t that many to choose from at Penney’s, so I wound up with the Sunbeam IQ3 Electric Blanket. By the way, the folks at Sunbeam no longer refer to these as “electric” blankets; now they are “heated” blankets. Just so you know.
A note about bedding for King beds: Western or California King beds measure 72" x 84", and Eastern or Standard Kings measure 78" x 80". Most King bedding, unless it says “California King,” are for the shorter, wider Eastern King mattresses. It can be hard to find Eastern King bedding in the American West, but it can usually be special-ordered. The size difference between Eastern and Cal/Western doesn’t matter when you’re buying flat sheets or blankets; it only makes a difference for fitted sheets.
FEATURES
• The Sunbeam IQ3 Electric Blanket comes in four sizes: twin (62" x 83",) double (72" x 83",) queen (84" x 89",) and king (100" x 89".)
• The king blanket fits both King mattress sizes; there will be an overhang of nine inches per side and five inches at the foot for California King beds, and six inches per side and nine inches at the foot for Eastern King beds.
• The blanket can be set to any of ten temperature settings.
• The “blanket with a brain” feature senses your body heat and adjusts itself to maintain a constant level of warmth.
• The Sunbeam IQ3 Electric Blanket has dual controls for the Queen and King sizes, so each person can set his or her own levels.
• It also has an automatic turn-off feature that switches the blanket off after ten hours.
• The blanket is made of a lightweight fabric that’s 90% polyester and 10% acrylic. It has a satin border.
• It comes in several colors: mushroom, navy, willow, and seashell.
• After being unplugged, the blanket can be machine washed on cool or warm settings and tumble-dried on medium to low heat settings.
• The Sunbeam IQ3 Electric Blanket comes with a 5-year limited warranty.
• The King size usually retails at around $200 but it’s almost always on sale somewhere; I got mine in early December for $99.
WHAT I LIKE ABOUT IT
• I turn the blanket on about 20 minutes before going to bed, and it’s nice and warm when I climb in, even on cold nights. I usually set it at level 6 or 7 on a cold night, reduce it to about 4 when I go to bed, and 2 when I turn off the light. That usually keeps me comfortably warm all night, unless it’s really cold outside (and inside, thanks to the open windows) and then I leave it at 5 or 4. Occasionally, now that spring is coming and the nights aren’t so cold, I turn it down to 1, or even off, sometime in the middle of the night when I get up to piddle.
• If you normally leave your furnace on all night, you can save as much as 10% of your annual heating bill by cranking our thermostat down 10% to 15% and letting your electric blankie keep you cozy. We turn our thermostat off at night so it’s not making much of a difference for us, but for people who normally leave it lit overnight, the Sunbeam IQ3 Electric Blanket could make a difference in their bills.
• While the heating wires can be felt through the blanket, they aren’t like the old ones that felt like subway tunnels. I sit on my bed all the time and never feel the wiring.
• It’s a snap to keep clean. Normally, I launder my blankets just before putting them away for the summer, and again in the fall when I put them back on the bed, just to freshen them. (And - here’s my dirty little secret - lately, as energy costs have risen precipitously, I’ve taken to putting them away unwashed and only laundering them in the fall. Shhhhh.) The rest of the time, they’re protected by the top sheet and don’t need laundering. Even so, it’s nice to be able to dump them in the washer and dryer instead of taking them out to be professionally laundered.
• I wouldn’t pay $200 for any blanket, but these are always on sale somewhere, and I think $99 was a good price for a king-sized electric blanket.
• I love the automatic turn-off feature. Penguinman tends to forget to turn his side off. (“Tends” - hell. He never remembers to turn his side off.) So I’m no longer the nagging haridan who bugs him about it; either I turn it off for him, or it turns itself off ten hours after he turned it on.
WHAT I’D CHANGE
• The fabric started to pill within a month or so of my putting it on the bed. Acrylics and polyesters do that, and this blankie is made up of both. The underside of our bedspread isn’t that rough, but I did notice some pilling.
• It could be a touch longer. We don’t have one of those monster 17"-thick mattresses, but even with a normal height one, the blanket only comes up to my shoulders. I find myself burrowing under it, and PM keeps pulling it up and untucked in his sleep. Another foot would be nice and would allow it to stay tucked in at the foot. I can’t imagine how people in California/Western kings beds, with only a 5" overhang, manage.
• The leaflet that came with it says that it is not to be used with any other heated or electric item. I presume that means heated mattress pads. Well, we have one, and we often use them simultaneously. I set the pad to level two or three out of five when I get ready for bed, and then turn it down to level one, or off, when I turn off the light. I don’t know why that restriction is presented as a safety measure; I always figured those stories in the National Enquirer about mummified people being found cooked in their overheated beds were just urban myths. So I figure that the Blanket with a Brain feature, which adjusts the heat to your body during the night, would go kablooey if a heated mattress pad were present. Whatever. I use both in getting the bed toasty and haven’t been fricasseed yet.
SUMMARY AND VERDICT
Linus might not appreciate being tethered to a bed while he hugs his blankie, and Snoopy would be in for a big surprise. But our Sunbeam IQ3 Electric Blanket has proved to be a marriage-saver for us, and for that, it’s worth five stars. And I love how toasty I am all night, especially my feet, which tend to get cold easily - that’s another five stars. But I’m very unhappy about the fabric pilling - one star - and the relatively stingy length - three stars. Let’s see... 14 stars divided by four factors comes out to... 3.5 stars. I’ll be generous and round it up to four stars.
Recommended:
Yes
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Penguinlady
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