Heated blanket or infrared sauna blanket: what's the difference?

Short answer: a heated blanket warms the surface of your skin, so you stay warm while you sit on the sofa or lie in bed. An infrared sauna blanket reaches a higher temperature, closes around you and is meant for a session of twenty to forty minutes in which you sweat a lot. Two products with a different purpose, and you notice that in temperature, time, power and maintenance.

We sell infrared sauna blankets ourselves. Feel free to take that into account, which is why we stick to a simple rule: about other brands we only write what we've checked on their own site, with the link included, and where another product is a better fit, we say so. We leave prices out, for every brand. If you only want to know the difference with a regular electric blanket for the bed, that's already covered in infrared blanket vs. a regular electric blanket.

Three kinds of blanket that get mixed up

In search results, three different products get mixed up, because all three are called blankets and get warm. What sets them apart is their purpose: staying comfortable, preheating a bed, or doing a session in which you sweat.

The last column is the real difference, and everything else follows from it. A blanket you wear all evening shouldn't get so warm that you start sweating. A blanket for a session in which you sweat needs to go higher, and that's why it has a timer that ends the session.

What a heated blanket does, and where it's better

The best known name in the Netherlands is Stoov. On its own Big Hug page it says the blankets have three heat settings up to 58 °C. On the page about technology and safety the brand writes that the heating element sits at the front in the middle, with overheating protection. The blankets run on a rechargeable battery; depending on the model, battery and setting, the site mentions up to seven and up to fourteen hours of warmth.

That's exactly where such a blanket beats what we sell: a battery blanket doesn't need a power socket. If you're standing on the sidelines of a football pitch or sitting on a terrace in October, it gives you exactly what you're looking for. An infrared sauna blanket can't do that, because it's on a cable and you lie inside it. For staying warm outdoors, the battery blanket is simply the better product.

The HEMA page for the 150 by 70 cm electric blanket states that it has three heat settings, that the controller is detachable and that the blanket can go in the machine at 40 °C. For the 180 by 200 cm electric overblanket HEMA mentions nine settings, a timer of up to ten hours and washing at 30 °C. No wattage is given.

Inventum does publish power ratings. For the HB185T throw blanket of 180 by 130 cm it lists 120 watts, four settings, shutoff after a maximum of 180 minutes, washing at 30 °C and a five year warranty. For the HN1312V underblanket of 150 by 80 cm it lists 60 watts and shutoff after twelve hours. That 60 to 120 watts is an order of magnitude lower than what a session blanket needs.

What an infrared sauna blanket does

An infrared sauna blanket has heating film that gives off far infrared heat to the surface lying directly against it. You lie down inside, close the blanket and set a temperature. With our models the range runs from 30 to 80 °C, most people use 50 to 70 °C, the blanket warms up in ten to fifteen minutes and a session lasts twenty to forty minutes. The power is between 300 and 600 watts.

The timer isn't an extra. With a comfort blanket you decide for yourself when to switch it off, with a session blanket you set in advance when it's done. Which temperature makes sense is explained in which temperature to choose for your sauna blanket, and how long and how often in how often and how long to use a sauna blanket.

What each one is meant for, and what it isn't

The fairest comparison doesn't pick a winner, but lists per type what it's made for and what it isn't.

If you recognise yourself in the first row, a sauna blanket is the wrong device for you. If you recognise yourself in the third row, a comfort blanket won't solve your problem. That trade off is also covered in cordless heated blanket or infrared sauna blanket.

The question isn't which blanket is better, but whether you want to stay warm or do a session.

Warm up time, temperature and timer

Hardly anyone publishes warm up times. What is certain: lower power over a larger surface warms up more slowly and reaches a lower final temperature. A 60 watt underblanket over 150 by 80 cm is in a different class from a 500 watt session blanket over 180 by 80 cm. For our blankets we work with ten to fifteen minutes.

With comfort blankets the control is usually a setting switch without degrees; with a session blanket you set a temperature in degrees, because you want to be able to repeat it each time. The timer also has a different function. Inventum mentions shutoff after a maximum of 180 minutes for the throw blanket and after twelve hours for the underblanket, HEMA a timer of up to ten hours for the large overblanket: that prevents it from staying on too long. With a sauna blanket, the timer marks the end of the session. The Slimline 100 has a timer from 0 to 60 minutes.

Cable or battery

A battery gives you freedom of location and a limited amount of energy, a cable ties you to a power socket and gives you unlimited power. A blanket that runs on a battery for hours can't draw hundreds of watts, because then the battery would be flat within half an hour. That's why a battery blanket sits in the low power range and reaches comfort temperatures, while a 300 to 600 watt session blanket can only run on mains power. So if you want to take it outdoors, you'll always end up on the battery side.

What a session costs in electricity

Electricity costs are simple: power in kilowatts times time in hours times your rate. In the table we work with an assumed rate of 0.35 euros per kilowatt hour. Feel free to fill in your own rate. If you'd like to see the comfort blanket side broken down further, per type and with the duty cycle included, take a look at the energy use of an electric blanket.

These are worked examples, not product specifications. They assume maximum power the whole time, while a thermostat switches on and off once the set temperature is reached; actual consumption is lower. There's no row for a battery blanket, because charging is a different story and capacity varies per model. The conclusion is down to earth: none of these products is expensive to use, and the difference in purchase price is much bigger than the difference in consumption. Where that difference comes from is explained in cheap vs. more expensive infrared blankets.

Washing and care

This is where the categories differ most clearly. Electric blankets for the bed usually go in the machine once you've disconnected the cable: HEMA mentions 40 °C for the small blanket and 30 °C for the overblanket, Inventum 30 °C for both models. We found no instructions on Stoov's own site about washing its covers, so we're leaving that open here.

An infrared sauna blanket doesn't go in the washing machine. You wipe the inside clean with a damp cloth afterwards and let it dry open before you fold it up. Because you sweat inside it, most people use a cotton layer in between, for example a towel or a separate inner liner that you can simply wash.

How to choose between the three types

Go through the steps in order. Usually the choice is already made by step two or three.

1. Decide whether you want to stay warm or do a sessionStaying warm while reading or watching TV points to a comfort blanket. A moment of twenty to forty minutes in which you do nothing else points to a sauna blanket.
2. Think about where you'll use itIf the blanket needs to go outdoors or to a place without a power socket, a battery blanket is the only workable option.
3. Check whether it's about the bedIf it's purely about a cold bed that needs to be warm when you get in, an underblanket or overblanket is the right product.
4. Check the temperature you needIf you want to work at a set temperature above 50 °C, comfort blankets drop out. Stoov itself mentions three settings up to 58 °C; our blankets range from 30 to 80 °C, with most sessions between 50 and 70.
5. Look at the care that suits youIf you're going to sweat, count on wiping it clean plus a washable layer in between. If you want a blanket that can simply go in the machine, a bed model is more practical.
6. Work out your use in electricityUse the table above with your own rate. Electricity costs usually turn out not to be decisive, so you can base your choice on how you'll use it.

If you end up with a sauna blanket, the next question is which model. The difference between our three models is in size, finish and controls, explained in Slimline 100, Comfort 150 or Deluxe 310. All models are together in the collection of infrared sauna blankets.

Luxyor Slimline 100

• The entry model, 180 by 80 cm and 500 watts
• Adjustable temperature and a timer from 0 to 60 minutes
• Meant for sessions of 20 to 40 minutes, not for wearing all evening
• 60 days to change your mind and a 2 year warranty

View the Slimline 100

Luxyor Comfort 150

• The middle model, with the same far infrared heat as the other models
• Adjustable temperature and a timer, so the session stops by itself
• More room across the width than the entry model
• 60 days to change your mind and a 2 year warranty

View the Comfort 150

What we could and couldn't check

Because this article mentions other brands, we stick to what we saw at the source itself. At Stoov: three heat settings up to 58 °C, the term infrared warmth, a battery with up to seven and up to fourteen hours mentioned depending on model and setting, a heating element at the front in the middle, overheating protection and a 30 day money back scheme. At HEMA: three settings and washing at 40 °C for the 150 by 70 cm blanket, and nine settings, a timer of up to ten hours and washing at 30 °C for the overblanket. At Inventum: 120 and 60 watts, four settings, shutoff after 180 minutes and after twelve hours, washing at 30 °C and a five year manufacturer's warranty.

Not published or not found: the wattage of the HEMA blankets, the warm up time of all the products mentioned from other brands, and Stoov's washing instructions. We couldn't view the specifications of Lidl's heated blankets on lidl.nl, so we deliberately give no figures for them. Whatever is missing is missing because we couldn't see it at the source itself.

Our own terms are on the page about the right of withdrawal: 60 days to change your mind and a 2 year warranty. What other brands offer changes regularly, so check that on their own site when you order.

To sum up

The difference isn't a technical detail but a difference in purpose. Comfort warmth keeps you warm while you do something else, up to 58 °C with the best known brand, for hours and often on a battery. A sauna blanket is a device for a session: adjustable from 30 to 80 °C, in practice 50 to 70, ten to fifteen minutes to warm up, twenty to forty minutes in the blanket and 300 to 600 watts on a cable.

If you want to stay warm in a cold stand at a match, you're better off with a battery blanket, and we say that plainly. If you want to do a defined session at home, you'll end up with the sauna blanket. You can read more in safe use of an infrared blanket or in the overview in an infrared sauna at home: cabin, blanket or lamp. Still unsure whether an ad for an infrared heating blanket is about this kind of sauna blanket or about a thin comfort blanket? Then infrared heating blanket: is it a sauna blanket or something else will help you further.