[PetrolRider]

Originally Posted by LonelyPlanet

Is it worthwhile picking up Siemens or better to wait for Bosch supply chains to get fullfill the order

Siemens is a group company of BSH, which also owns Bosch / Ness / Veko etc. It is similar to Renault / Nissan / Mitsubishi.

Siemens is a very good company. But what I have seen in India, BSH gives more stress on Bosch brand. Siemens have limited product range and cost higher than similar Bosch products.
Myself and my immediate family have very good experiences with Bosch, but unfortunately, we haven't yet experienced any Siemens product.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Shouldn't you look for a room heater instead ? Maybe along with some humidifier ?

Yes. Good idea!

Originally Posted by Miyata

Doubt you will get any machine washable ones... .

True.

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Parents used to have a heater pad. It was a very good quality large (3'x5') flexible/foldable cloth heating pad for warming blankets & cotton mattresses, it was said to've been used for 30+ years back in my childhood itself!...

That Orpat heater has good reviews from over 13000 customers! Will look into it. Thanks.

Originally Posted by archat68

I have a death in my extended family who were in UK from fire catching up electric blanket. Although that was more than 30 years ago but I'm still weary of this type of product... .

Hmm... No wonder my parents are skeptical.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

... Electric blanket...

Thanks Thad, for the inputs.

Thanks guys!
My parents shot down the proposal as soon as I took it to them
Might look for a room heater as suggested, and my parents are okay with that!

[mvadg]

I found this document while looking for room heaters
http://www.consumeradvice.in/Download/Room-Heater.pdf
Attaching it here because these links have a tendency to point to an error page after a while.
Not sure how much I should trust this consumer advice site, I hope it is not funded by Kenwood or Bajaj - a little wary after the honey certification story.

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

... An electric blanket is something that can apply mains voltage directly to the body.

Sounds scary, doesn't it? But with no-easy-path-to-earth-through-the-body on a typically wooden bed, it is unlikely that there would be danger of electrical shock to the body (unless one decides to step, barefoot, onto the floor with the blanket still wrapped on)! -- We all have seen birds happily prancing on live, unshielded, overhead cables, -- or squirrels scurrying along, safely enough!

More worrisome is the likelihood of poorly made blankets catching fire!

Originally Posted by mvadg

My parents shot down the proposal as soon as I took it to them
Might look for a room heater as suggested, and my parents are okay with that!

That's indeed a better idea. An electric blanket is anyway an overkill in Bangalore, where it rarely falls below 15C outdoors, with indoor temperatures several degrees higher still! It could even get uncomfortably warm under an electric blanket! Multiple layers of blankets/comforters should make one comfortable enough (as it had proved for my elderly mother in Bangalore). In the worst case, the old-fashioned way of placing a hot-water-bag wrapped in a towel under the blanket should be good enough.

Where single-digit (or below freezing) winters in India can get really uncomfortable (much more so than in colder countries with heated homes) is the sharp drop in the ambient temperature when one needs to step outside the comfort of the blankets for any reason. A room heater would surely prove helpful here (but, unfortunately, it won't help if one needs to step inside a cold bathroom next).
.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by meerkat

Sounds scary, doesn't it? But with no-easy-path-to-earth-through-the-body on a typically wooden bed, it is unlikely that there would be danger of electrical shock to the body (unless one decides to step, barefoot, onto the floor with the blanket still wrapped on)! .

There's no need for a path to earth for electrocution. In fact, earthing prevents electrocution since it offers a least resistant path for current other than your body to ground. If there is a return (neutral) and a phase and your body gets between them, poof you go.

Anyways, this is the first time i heard of such a contraption. Good thing that @mvadg's parents shot down the idea. What all can those lab scientist think of ?. A electric back end wiper next? ( or it already exists?.)

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by srini1785

If there is a return (neutral) and a phase and your body gets between them, poof you go.

Could you please elaborate on a plausible scenario you must have thought of where the body can magically get between the phase and neutral (which I had considered as a path to earth) in a faulty electric blanket ?! I couldn't. Thanks.
.

[srini1785]

Originally Posted by meerkat

Could you please elaborate on a plausible scenario you must have thought of where the body can magically get between the phase and neutral (which I had considered as a path to earth) in a faulty electric blanket ?! I couldn't. Thanks.
.

Scenario :

Well, blanket is torn , phase wire is cut, exposing the conductor, you wrap around the blanket while a un clothed part , like say palm or feet touches the exposed conductor and as i said earlier , "Poof".

No magic involved , only chance and fate. Like its case with all electrocution.

Then again , the chances of fire due to shorting is even greater.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by meerkat

Sounds scary, doesn't it? But with no-easy-path-to-earth-through-the-body on a typically wooden bed, it is unlikely that there would be danger of electrical shock to the body (unless one decides to step, barefoot, onto the floor with the blanket still wrapped on)! -- We all have seen birds happily prancing on live, unshielded, overhead cables, -- or squirrels scurrying along, safely enough!

More worrisome is the likelihood of poorly made blankets catching fire

That's indeed a better idea. An electric blanket is anyway an overkill in Bangalore, where it rarely falls below 15C outdoors,...

That's a good explanation on the mains voltage part, I was wondering about that. And every one of you was right about those unsafe blankets. Surprisingly, the reports on blankets catching fire are true even on Amazon dot com with brands like Sunbeam! I wonder why there have been no class action suits. Electric blankets have to be seriously improved upon.

After reading all the reviews on Amazon India on even ISI marked room heaters catching fire, I got them https://www.amazon.in/Morphy-Richard.../dp/B01M265AAK"]this room heater[/url], which seems to be safer because it has a PTC element. (got it cheaper from the local Croma) [ Wikipedia ]
The heater is definitely overkill for people in normal health, but for others it is a blessing - last night I had to quickly move away from the uncomfortably warm area around the heater even as my mom was complaining that it had no effect! Still looking for ideal placement of the heater.

Resistive heaters can be made of conducting PTC rubber materials where the resistivity increases exponentially with increasing temperature.[8] Such a heater will produce high power when it is cold, and rapidly heat up itself to a constant temperature. Due to the exponentially increasing resistivity, the heater can never heat itself to warmer than this temperature. Above this temperature, the rubber acts as an electrical insulator. The temperature can be chosen during the production of the rubber. Typical temperatures are between 0 and 80 °C (32 and 176 °F).

It is a point-wise self-regulating heater and self-limiting heater. Self-regulating means that every point of the heater independently keeps a constant temperature without the need of regulating electronics. Self-limiting means that the heater can never exceed a certain temperature in any point and requires no overheat protection.

[meerkat]

Originally Posted by srini1785

Scenario :

Well, blanket is torn , phase wire is cut, exposing the conductor, you wrap around the blanket while a un clothed part , like say palm or feet touches the exposed conductor and as i said earlier , "Poof".
.
.
Then again , the chances of fire due to shorting is even greater.

Aah ..., possibility vs. probability! If the blanket is still being used in such a condition, would it be too politically incorrect to say that the user was just asking for it? In any case, what you described, is a 'jolt' scenario', -- not a 'poof' scenario, -- which would be the case if one stepped barefoot onto the floor, with such a blanket still wrapped on!

-- And I never said it was impossible, just unlikely!
.

[Eddy]

We prefer not to use fan-based heaters for some reason. Regular eclectic or halogen heaters are much more comfortable.

[s4ch]

Originally Posted by LonelyPlanet

Is it worthwhile picking up Siemens or better to wait for Bosch supply chains to get fullfill the order

Originally Posted by PetrolRider

Siemens is a very good company. But what I have seen in India, BSH gives more stress on Bosch brand. Siemens have limited product range and cost higher than similar Bosch products.

We have had excellent experiences with Siemens Dishwashers. My parents had bought a Siemens Dishwasher about 6-7 years ago way before Dishwashers were even a thing in India, was quite expensive, but it still runs perfectly down to this day. They have literally used it once a day, every day, non-stop for the last 7 years. I think the only issue they had with it was that one of the hinges went loose a year or 2 ago, and this was easily sorted out by their engineer after a call and a 1-2 day wait.

My wife and I bought our own Siemens Dishwasher 2+ years ago from Amazon (I actually paid more for the Siemens by choice even though Bosch was available), and we have had ZERO issues with it so far. We have literally used it once a day, every day, sometimes even twice a day, and it has been one of our best investments ever.

Based on what I have been able to research, Siemens and Bosch are pretty much the same on the inside, just have different front panels. In fact I remember when the guy came to install ours, he tried to upsell us on the cleaning agent and a dishwasher cover (which I absolutely didn't want or get), and the packaging had both Bosch and Siemens written on it. He himself said that he works for Bosch but they also officially service Siemens appliances in India as well.

I think the only thing about Siemens to worry about is their unfortunate name, but let's keep that discussion for another day...

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Eddy

We prefer not to use fan-based heaters for some reason. Regular eclectic or halogen heaters are much more comfortable.

I think fan heaters tend to create an uncomfortable draft if you are at the region where the air is moving but not warm - creating a cooling effect instead of warming you. Radiant heaters on the other hand, tend to warm you only on the side facing the heater. Everything works great once the entire room has been warmed up.

On doing some more research, I found these (expensive at $80):
https://www.amazon.com/SNOW-DEER-Upg.../dp/B07T3TPKLR
Battery operated!

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by s4ch

Based on what I have been able to research, Siemens and Bosch are pretty much the same on the inside, just have different front panels. In fact I remember when the guy came to install ours, he tried to upsell us on the cleaning agent and a dishwasher cover (which I absolutely didn't want or get), and the packaging had both Bosch and Siemens written on it. He himself said that he works for Bosch but they also officially service Siemens appliances in India as well.

Its all under BSH Household Appliances Pvt Ltd which is a part of Bosch Group.
BSH operates with the following brands across the globe. Here in India they have Bosch, Siemens and Gaggenau.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I think it was mentioned by an early responder to the electric-blanket question, but an oil-filled heater is a better way of providing a low level of heat. No glowing elements to break, no fan-directional effect. I'm fairly sure that they are more economical on electricity too.

They do take time to warm up. Ideal job for a timer switch: turn on one hour before bedtime, turn off one hour before getting up. Adjust to suit.

[Lobogris]

Originally Posted by meerkat

Could you please elaborate on a plausible scenario you must have thought of where the body can magically get between the phase and neutral (which I had considered as a path to earth) in a faulty electric blanket ?! I couldn't. Thanks.
.

If a person sits on a wooden bed and plugs in two wires into a socket and touches them both, do you think that person would not suffer electrocution because they are not touching the ground? The blanket, just like all appliances, has two wires connected to it from the mains in addition to an earth wire. One of these is the live or phase wire and the other is neutral. If a person somehow touches both these wires or if they come in contact with some conductive surface which the user touches then the user would suffer serious electrocution. You point about birds is valid only as long as they sit on one wire. If a bird were to touch two wires at the same time with one being positive and the other neutral, the bird would vaporise. Generally speaking, it is a very bad idea to have a live electric appliance on top of you as you sleep. In addition, unless one is living in Kashmir or Ladakh, such blankets are not needed in India at all.