Soft Heat Smart Heated Electric Mattress Pad with Safe & Warm Low Voltage Technology®, 233 Thread-Count, Dobby Stripe (King)

Having bought way more than the average number of electric blankets for myself, my family, my guests and more I’m beginning to think I have learned a few things. I hope to share them with you here. I try to stick to facts not opinion but no review would be complete without both. First on my list is that although I have bought this identical heated mattress pad in the past, more than four years ago, things change and for that reason I actually took a couple of weeks to put a lot of thought into whether I want a pad or a blanket and whether I wanted one that used full electrical power or low voltage. If you are swayed by ads that try to make other things important, in my opinion the rest is secondary and most of it is a matter of taste rather than if the product is right for you.PAD vs BLANKETThe first is really important and you a probably looking at mattress pads because you already have at least partially made up your mind. In simplest terms, a pad lays under you and a blanket lays on top. That sounds simple but there actually much more to it. Before even getting into the science of it, there is the question of creature comfort. A pad goes on your mattress and your bottom sheet goes on top of it. It then stays there. So you can’t adjust where the heat is coming from or make changes as you sleep, the heat will always be warming you relatively evenly from underneath from head to toe. If your back is too warm but your toes are too cold there’s nothing you can do about it other than turn the entire pad’s temperature up, down or off. On the other hand, a blanket lays on top of you. It never warms your head or neck and from there down you can push the blanket down or pull it up to expose your toes to give yourself some amount of zone adjustment. Some people like the cozy added weight of a blanket on top of them and some prefer just a lightweight bedspread or comforter, and for them a pad may be a better choice. You can see why this all isn’t an instant decision. The science part is easy - heat rises. A pad’s heat is more efficient because the warming effect rises up and is trapped by your pillow, upper sheet and comforter if you use one. A blanket’s heat rises as well and is lost into the cold room so it MAY take more energy to get the same warming effect. In my opinion, safety is not something that inherently is better or worse between the two choices but with a pad the cord can be safely tucked under the bottom sheet and under the bed while with a blanket there is the matter of the cord hanging down and getting tangled or being a tripping hazard, but I wouldn’t lay awake at night worrying about it.FULL ELECTRIC OR LOW VOLTAGEI have learned to be much more partial to low voltage blankets for many reasons. When they first came out price was the big deciding factor and a good one still can be as much as four times more than an economy full electric blanket or pad. What do I mean by full electric and low voltage? Full electric blankets/pads work like almost any electric space heater, toaster or other appliance - they run electricity at full power (120 volts in the U.S.) through heating wires in the blanket. Because of the higher voltage the wires always have to be thicker and thus stiffer and heavier. That becomes a comfort issue. There is also (to me) the concern of EMF radiation, which has been reduced in modern blankets/pads but can’t be eliminated. And of course if you are running full electric power through wires on your bed you might have concerns about electric shock or fire. Low voltage blankets are just what they sound like, they use a transformer that usually lays on your floor near your electrical outlet and the wires inside the blanket/pad can be ultra thin and only a minimal amount of voltage, enough to be safe to the touch and theoretically less of a fire hazard. The thin wires make them much more flexible and comfortable and usually do better in the wash. The only real negative from some of the very early ones was the transformer made a slight buzz which could be heard by some very light sleepers. Users say that if they put the transformer under the bed or behind a nightstand that usually took care of any hum but the latest models have eliminated any hum.DIGITAL OR MANUAL CONTROLLERThe final decision is whether to choose a digital or manual controller. I have a decided preference for the manual kind. Some people shy away from them because they remind them of the very old electric blankets they grew up with the clicked on and off during the night. Today’s manual controls don’t have any clicking sounds at all they are just as silent as digital controls. I have yet to find a digital control that is well designed, you have to look closely at it while you are using it which means reaching over at three in the morning in the dark to turn the heat up or down by touch is almost impossible. They have no advantages at all and most only operate with preset heating levels - some have five, some have ten and some have twenty. The rotary knob on this one is infinite, so I can find the just right temperature I need. And it does have a lighted display, but not numbers, you look at your temperature setting on a dial. That can be much faster to set. I also like that the power switch is mechanical so I know by pressing it if it is on or off and I don’t have to remember which one it is like on many digital controls, I can do it by touch. Most digital controls you have to wake the controller up before being able to find the power switch and some don’t even tell you whether the power is on or off.IMPROVEMENTSA subtle but welcome improvement of this pad is that the connector that the wire plugs into is not only at the corner of the pad but located on the elastic side. I consider this a major improvement. One of the biggest complaints about both heated pads and blankets is that awful hard and bulky connection which for unexplained reasons they usually put right at your feet (or under your head if you route the wire to the head of your bed). It has kept many people awake during the night. This one locates that connector near the corner and what ends up being the edge of your mattress where it is completely out of the way. Thank makes it far less likely to get caught up in your bedding and if you locate it at the head of your bed it places it closest to your nightstand so you don’t have wires everywhere that can be tripped on.ADJUSTABLE BED OWNERS TAKE NOTEOver the summer I bought an electric powered adjustable bed, which is becoming more and more of a choice now that prices have come down. They can be tricky when using electric blankets or pads because the wires can easily get pinched by the movement of the bed, which could be a serious safety concern. By locating the connector near the corner and at the edge of the mattress I can wrap my fitted bottom sheet over it at the head of my bed so when I raise and lower my bed it is impossible to pinch the wires. If you have such a bed this is an important point to take into consideration and now that I’ve seen it this pad becomes my top choice for use with adjustable beds.IS THIS A GOOD BRANDThere are only a few makers of low voltage blankets and pads and some news sources say that the actual product all might be made by only one or two actual companies. The biggest difference is the controller (see below) being either digital or manual. This brand was the earliest one I ever saw and the first one I bought several years ago and their product is virtually identical to what it looked like back then. The pad is a little fancier looking, not that matters if it is below your sheet) but the controller looks the same. I still have that old one, but it is for a twin bed and I needed one for a full size this time. Oh and by the way, finding heated blankets or pads for full size bed is nearly impossible in retail stores and some online places charge a hefty premium for it because it is not as common of a size these days.YES NO MAYBEIt sounds like this may be the ideal heated mattress pad, but wait, there are two things missing that some people may find to be important. One is a user programmable off time (this one automatically shuts off after 10 hours whether you want it to or not). And the other is a preheat button, which in my opinion is a marketing buzzword, all I have to do to preheat my pad is turn the temperature knob up high to warm the bed then turn it back down to my desired temperature before crawling into bed. Easy. After my most careful consideration this pad comes out as the best choice. I’ve bought it before and I bought it again.

Summary of negatives, queen-size: - two bulky transformers and two 3-pronged plugs - two separate connections to mattress pad itself, on opposite sides of the bed (photo only shows one) - short cord from each mattress pad connector to each controller (I measure 67 inches, and a queen bed is 60 inches wide, plus the cord will wrap back on itself when tucked under your fitted sheet) - short cord from transformer to electric plug - (Adding a negative, after 2 months use) elastic skirt is loose and its material is slippery nylon, so it doesn't hold pad in place well, pad bunches up under sheetsOne positive, after 2 months of use... this pad does heat up well. We turn the pad on an hour or so before bedtime, on regular, not preheat, and the bed is toasty warm at bedtime, no cold spots. Hubby is getting used to turning off powerstrip at bedtime so there is no transformer noise.This pad will work well for you IF you put the mattress pad on so that the connections are at the head of the bed, not the bottom, AND you have two separate nightstands on each side of the bed, one for each controller, AND you have two electrical outlets, one on each side of the bed, that will accept a 3-prong cord, or one outlet near the middle of the head of the bed. However, if you use an outlet near the middle of your bed, it will not be easily accessible, and you will be listening to the high-pitched whine of the transformers because you cannot unplug them easily.If you want to put both controllers on the same side of the bed, so you can turn them both on and off at the same time, it is difficult with this mattress pad, as the cords to the controllers from the pad are barely more than the width of the bed and each controller is attached to opposite sides of the bed. A couple more feet of cord would be REALLY helpful. You cannot orient the mattress pad so its connectors are at the foot of the bed, and try to put the controllers on a nightstand by the head of the bed--the cords between the mattress pad and the controllers will not reach.I have been using electric mattress pads for quite a long time, and am familiar with many brands. This type, with fine wires, is very nice from the standpoint of not feeling the wires when you lay on the bed. Let me say that I am not keen on the idea of regularly sleeping on electric mattress pads when they are on, from a health point of view, plus during the night, I find my own body plus my down comforter heats the bed up plenty--having the mattress pad on would simply be too hot. But it is great to get into a warm bed on a cold night! So I turn the pad on a couple of hours before bedtime and turn it off when I get in bed.As to the noise of the transformers, I have had several brands of low voltage electric blankets and throws (mostly for my cat), and the transformers all whined, either from the beginning or after a year or so of use. Easy solution: plug them into a power strip with an on/off switch, and turn the strip off at bedtime. They will whine for a few more minutes as the charge in the transformer dissipates, and then they'll be quiet.Another downside: both transformers for this pad have 3-pronged plugs to plug into your electrical outlet or power strip. Not everyone has 3-prong plugs in their bedrooms, if they have an older home.There are other mattress pads that also work well for warming, and are more convenient in terms of the plugs and cords, so I am only rating this one 3 stars.

The heated mattress pad works just great! It is comfortable and the wiring in the pad is pretty much unnoticeable.It is nice to get into a warm bed!The only thing that is a little unusual is that we got two different controllers. One is like those shown in the advertisement and the other is completely different and has separate controls for heat level and a timer. I assume this was an error made when the items were being packaged.

Does not heat up except where you are laying. If you turn it up to warm bed it does not work until you lay on it so still crawl into a cold bed.

After extensive research, I decided on this mattress pad. This is the second year using it and I am very happy with it. So much so, I just purchased a second one for another bedroom!My husband is a firefighter. Safety is a huge concern for him. I knew if I didn’t provide him will the safety information, he would not allow it to be put on our bed. Unlike heated blankets (which can bunch up, causing a fire hazard), mattress pads stay flat. I love how snuggly it fits on my mattress. The fabric is also nice and soft. The comfort can be felt right through my fitted sheet.I use it at my Lakehouse, where we do not have central heat (it gets very cold in the winter months). An hour or so before bedtime, I turn the settings on to level three or four. The dual thermostats help for individual adjustment of the temperature. When I get into bed, it is nice and warm. After a little while, I turn it down to 1 (or even turn it off). The lighted dial makes it easy to locate in the middle of the night. The soft blue light is visible but not so bright that it keeps me awake.

I've used heated mattress pads for many years, as a bed warmer for the cold Canadian winters. Mostly it has been the Sunbeam one. I decided to try this because it was low voltage and the ratings sounded good. The thin wires are great, you don't feel them at all. Fabric is soft and a good quality. Previous ones I've used (Sunbeam) usually take 30 minutes on full to have the bed nice and warm before getting in. This model doesn't seem to warm up quickly, I tried full power for 10, 20 and 30 minutes and it only felt barely lukewarm. Getting into bed wasn't toasty. I then tried one hour on full and that gave me a warm bed, though not as warm as the Sunbeam. I don't leave it on all night so cannot comment on that. Wasn't sure whether to keep this or not but my husband said "give it a try". It did come with a warning label, saying it won't feel warm to the touch, even on hi, but of course you only see that after you've purchased it. Should be clearer in the product online description.

Amazing how much this fantastic soft heat keeps you cozy without needing the heat on at night and makes your joints and muscles feel wonderful in the morning. [I live in an apartment] You really cannot feel any wires - I didnrt believe that until I had seen it for myself. It only heats where there is weight on it so if you stack anything elsewhere on the bed it heats those up too. Sleeping alone, this can warm-up the bed so I dont have to get into a cold bed at night, if I turn it on for 15 minutes before. Its wonderful and I recommend it to anyone who has arthritis or fibromyalgia, or both like myself.