Freezing temperatures have brought ice and snow to some parts of the UK this week, and while most of us have failed to resist the urge to put our heating on, for many people, using electricity to heat their home simply isn't an option under the sky-high cost of energy bills - especially when money is already tight with Christmas around the corner.
Holding off on the heating, however, means trying to find other ways to keep warm, which isn't always easy to do when every website on the internet claims to be selling the very best snuggly blankets and fleece hoodies, as it can be tricky to know which ones really are head and shoulders above the rest.
When it comes to cosy oversized hoodies that provide maximum comfort as well as warmth, you may have heard people talk about the Oodie - a huge, fluffy, hooded jumper that comes down to your knees and is available in a whole host of adorable patterns and funky colours.
But the Oodie also carries a hefty price tag of between £80 and £100 when not on sale, so it's no wonder that other companies have begun creating dupes of the item for a fraction of the cost. One of these dupes, the Snuddie from Primark, costs just £16 and has been receiving rave reviews from bargain hunters - but is it really just as good?
As a lover of all things cosy, and as someone who lives (and works) in a bedroom that has three external walls and gets incredibly chilly, I was eager to find out whether the Primark dupe really stands up to the Oodie, so put both to the test to see which one I'd be putting my trust in to see me through this winter.
The Oodie
I initially heard about the Oodie from adverts on social media, and succumbed to the desire to buy one back in the summer, as the energy bill crisis rumbled on and I knew I'd need something to stop me from putting the heating on. At the time, they were buy-one-get-one-free, so my mum and I picked up two for around £90 - so £45 each.
Sadly the buy one get one free offer has ended, but the one I have is still on offer, costing £54 when they usually cost between £89 and £99.
I first tested out the Oodie in October when the weather was milder, and I was absolutely sweltering and genuinely thought the double-lined furry hoodie was going to be too warm.
But, as the temperatures plummeted to signal the start of November, and as they continued to drop throughout the month until the December freeze took hold, curling up with what is essentially a wearable duvet has been sheer bliss.
If you want to do anything other than watch TV in your Oodie though, you're going to have trouble. The Oodie is one-size-fits-all and as such, it's massive, meaning there's a lot of excess material to drag around. I work from home and it's virtually impossible to sit at a desk and type with the baggy sleeves of the Oodie constantly getting in the way.
Primark's Snuddie
Primark's answer to the Oodie is known as a Snuddie, and cost me just £16 when I picked it up last month - making it less than a third of the price of the Oodie if bought at £54. But, that reduction in price does come with a reduction in quality too, although not as much as you might expect.
Instead of the double lining found in the Oodie, the Snuddie is just one layer of warm fluffy material, with a double lining found only in the hood.
That does, naturally, make it less warm than the Oodie, but it was doing a stand-up job in November when the temperatures were cold, but not freezing. Now though, I have to admit it's been weeks since I wore my Snuddie, and my evenings no longer feel the same if I'm not curled up on the sofa in my Oodie.
The Snuddie also ditches the one-size-fits-all approach and is available in two sizes - XS/S, and M/L. Being a plus-size person, I picked up the M/L and while I was initially worried about the sizing, the Snuddie fits well and is baggy enough to still hide the multitude of sins I like my clothes to cover.
It's a tighter fit than the Oodie, however - but that's no bad thing. The closer fit around the arms means I can stay warm while working from home without any excess material getting in the way, and it doesn't feel as heavy on the body.
The verdict
Now to the nitty gritty... how much money will I save by wearing my new collection of warm clothes instead of putting my heating on, and has it all been worth it?
It's been estimated that I will spend around 26p an hour for heating with October's price hike, so to make up the cost of my Oodie if bought at its current price of £54, I would need to have my heating on for around 208 hours. That's eight and a half days solid, or around 41 days of having my heating on for five hours a day.
In contrast, the Primark Snuddie's £16 price tag is the same as having my heating on for roughly 62 hours, which is two and a half straight days, or 12 days of having the heating on for five hours.
Overall, I would say that the Primark Snuddie is more than capable of seeing you through the winter, and will see you saving money on your heating in less than two weeks if wearing it stops you from huddling up by the radiator.
However, if you can afford to splash out on something a little more expensive, the Oodie is much warmer and could therefore see you last longer before you succumb to the need for your heating, which could save you even more money in the long run.
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