That $80 heated blanket I grabbed on impulse last winter

Bought a cheap heated blanket from a random booth at the county fair for $80 and it worked great for like three weeks until the controller started smoking. Now I'm scared to plug it in but also miss having a warm bed without cranking the heat. Anyone else buy something that seemed amazing at first then turned into a fire hazard?

3 comments

3 Comments

wade87125d ago

Man, $80 for a blanket that tried to smoke you out is a steal of a deal, just not the kind you want. I once got a space heater for $30 at a flea market that worked like a dream for exactly two nights before it started making this clicking noise that sounded like a dying cricket. Third night it just straight up stopped working and popped the breaker in my whole apartment. Now I keep a fire extinguisher in my bedroom just in case my next "amazing deal" tries to finish the job.

stellaperry25d ago

Oh come on, it couldn't have been that bad. A little smoke never hurt anybody, right? Probably just some dust burning off from sitting in storage.

michael66925d ago

Ask you if you've actually seen the video, @stellaperry? Because the smoke was pouring out of the vents like a bad horror movie. That's not just dust burning off. Dust gives you a little whiff and then it's gone. This kept going for a solid minute before they even got the lid open. And the way it smelled, like burning rubber and old wiring. I've seen dryers catch fire in my shop from lint buildup, it starts exactly like that, little wisps that turn into something real quick if you don't act fast.