I’m that person that’s always cold no matter what - except for those two days of summer when wearing clothes is unbearable - but the rest of the year, you’ll find me in a dressing gown or Oodie dupe under a blanket in fuzzy socks about 90 per cent of the time.
And as a sufferer of Raynaud's syndrome, my fingers and toes can get particularly cold, so it’s important for me to stay wrapped up and toasty.
Since I’m not the bill payer for our central heating, I don’t touch the thermostat - and like many Brits at the moment, we’re seeing how long it’ll take before we crack and turn it on for an hour. I’m placing my bets on Halloween week.
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I’ve previously tested out some keep cosy gadgets, including some USB heated gloves that did a great job of keeping my hands warm. So can you imagine my delight when I discovered USB heated slippers were a thing?
These heated winter warmer USB slipper boots were originally £29.99, but have been slashed to £8.99 on the deals site Wowcher - a saving of around 70 per cent.
The fluffy boots come in pink or grey, going up to a size 9, so I opted for grey, purchasing a voucher through the deals site before using the link in my emails to purchase the slippers.
The slippers arrived in 10 days, which I thought was okay considering the postal strikes at the moment. Inside the package were my two slipper boots and the USB splitter cable which can be connected to your computer, power bank power supply or adapter power supply. I’ve never wanted to try something out so quickly in my life.
I plugged in the USB to my laptop - since I was working from home, it made sense to use a power outlet that was already on, rather than charge an additional power bank. The USB goes into the slot, then has two jacks that plug into receivers that stick out of the side of the slippers. The wire leads to a zip-up compartment at the base of the slipper, in which a ‘high conversion carbon fibre’ heat pad is stored. Two wires heat the copper strips inside, which warms the sole of the slippers, thus keeping your feet warm. All sounds good in theory - but do they actually work?
I pulled the slippers onto my feet and made sure everything was connected up properly. It took around 20 minutes or so for the slippers to heat up to their full capacity, which, when your already cold feels like quite a long time. That said, the mere addition of the plush slippers, which go up your ankle for added warmth, already helped make a difference to my overall temperature.
The heated pads get warm, but not very hot. I’d say you could comfortably hold the bare pads in your hands without fear of a burn. I did find, after several uses of the slippers, that if your feet are already cold, the USB slippers aren’t as effective, taking around an hour to feel comfortable again. However, if you’re already at an average temperature, they do a very good job of retaining heat and keeping you warm.
They’re definitely more practical for sitting down for work, or watching a movie, as, even with a powerbank they’re quite tricky to walk around in. You can disconnect them from power to walk in, if you need to pop to the kitchen for a cuppa - but you do then have to wait for them to warm back up again.
That said, they are ideal on cold autumnal mornings and evenings, and if it means I can avoid putting the heating on for another couple of weeks, then they get a thumbs up from me.
You can buy the Wowcher deal USB slippers for £8.99 here.
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