The short answer (prices checked 17 October 2026)
- Best for most people: the VonHaus foot warmer, £22.99. It is one of only two picks here whose maker puts a rated power in writing you can check, 100 W in its own instruction manual, and a full 90 minute cycle costs 3.9p at the current cap rate.
- Cheapest to run: the Russell Hobbs RHHSL1001 at 70 W per Currys' spec sheet, which is 1.8p an hour at full power. Every electric pick on this page costs between 1.8p and 2.9p an hour.
- Our listing audit, 17 October 2026: six of the seven electric foot warmers at the top of Amazon UK's Foot Warmers chart state no wattage anywhere in their listing. Not the title, not the bullets, not the specification table. Only the KEPLIN prints one.
- The chart's number one and number two are not electric at all. They are HotHands disposable warmers, just under 50p a pair in the 24 pack. At one pair an evening, an electric foot warmer pays for itself in about 50 evenings and then costs around 4p a night instead of 50p.
Amazon UK has a Best Sellers chart called Foot Warmers, and on 17 October 2026 the top two places in it belonged to products you throw away after one use. The first plug-in foot warmer appears at number three. From there down, the chart turns into a row of soft grey boxes that all promise cosy warmth and almost none of which will tell you what they draw from the wall.
That number matters more here than on almost any other product we cover, because a foot warmer's entire case is that it is cheaper than heating the room. The arithmetic below says that case is right, by a factor of about 27. But you can only do the arithmetic if you can find the wattage, and for six of the seven bestselling electric models we audited, the listing does not state one. We pulled the figures out of instruction manuals and retailer spec sheets instead, and where we could not find a number from the maker at all, we have said so and declined to rank the product.
Prices in this table come live from Amazon and can change through the day. Prices quoted in the text were checked by Look Into on 17 October 2026, so the two can differ.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (paid link)
Prices and specs last checked by Look Into on 17 October 2026 · next check 1 January 2027 · how we picked
What a warm evening actually costs
We ranked by the cost of one full heating cycle, meaning a session at the top setting that runs until the auto shut-off steps in. Each machine defines its own cycle length, so this is the fairest like-for-like unit the products themselves offer. All figures use the electricity unit rate of 26.32p per kWh that applies under the Ofgem price cap from 1 October to 31 December 2026. The sum is watts, divided by 1,000, times hours, times 26.32p.
| Foot warmer | Rated power (and where the number actually is) | Cost per hour | Full cycle | Cost per cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Russell Hobbs RHHSL1001 | 70 W, Currys spec sheet | 1.8p | 120 min | 3.7p |
| VonHaus | 100 W, VonHaus's own instruction manual | 2.6p | 90 min | 3.9p |
| Beurer FW20 | 100 W, Beurer's spec sheet as published by its German retailers | 2.6p | 90 min | 3.9p |
| KEPLIN | 110 W, stated in the Amazon listing, the only one that prints it | 2.9p | 90 min | 4.3p |
| Dreamland Revive Me | 110 W, John Lewis spec sheet | 2.9p | 180 min | 8.7p |
| HotHands disposable | No electricity | n/a | Up to 8 hours, per the listing | 49.96p a pair in the 24 pack |
Over a 90 night winter, one full cycle a night, that is £3.32 for the Russell Hobbs, £3.55 for the VonHaus or the Beurer, £3.91 for the KEPLIN and £7.82 for the Dreamland, whose cycle is twice as long. The same 90 nights on HotHands at the 24 pack price is £44.96. Against that, the £22.99 VonHaus pays for itself in 50 evenings, which is most of one winter, and every winter after that is nearly free.
The comparison that actually sells the category: a 2 kW fan heater running for a two hour evening uses 4 kWh, which is £1.05 at the same rate. One evening of heating the room costs the same as about 27 full foot warmer cycles. If the problem is cold feet rather than a cold room, this is the same logic that makes an electric blanket cheaper than a heater, applied to the body part that complains first. A hot water bottle remains the zero-gadget alternative at roughly 2.6p a fill, the cost of boiling a litre (0.1 kWh of electricity), though it will not hold its heat for a 90 minute cycle the way a powered pad does.
What the listings would not tell us
We read the listings of the seven electric foot warmers highest in Amazon UK's Foot Warmers chart on 17 October 2026, scoped to each product's own title, bullets and specification tables. Then we went looking for the missing numbers everywhere else. Five findings came out of it.
- Six of the seven state no wattage at all. Beurer, Silentnight, Volenx, VonHaus, Dreamland and Russell Hobbs all sell a plug-in heating appliance on Amazon without saying what it draws. Only the KEPLIN listing prints a figure, 110 W.
- The gap runs right through the retail chain. Currys' own spec tables for the Beurer FW20 and the Dreamland Revive Me give the power as the word "Mains" and nothing else. Silentnight's own website sells its foot warmer at £40 without a wattage either.
- VonHaus disagrees with itself. The running cost calculator on its own product page uses 60 W, while the instruction manual it publishes for the same product, number 2000281, states 100 W rated power. The real cost is two thirds higher than its page's default sum implies, though still under 3p an hour.
- Currys' Russell Hobbs page contradicts itself too: the spec table says the auto shut-off comes at 120 minutes, the description says 180. We have costed the shorter figure; if the longer one is right, a full cycle is 5.5p rather than 3.7p.
- The chart's number one, a £3.00 HotHands listing, does not state how many pairs are in the pack in its own copy. The 24 pair box at number two does, which is why it is the one we costed.
The verdict for anyone trying to cost this category: the listings are close to useless, and the rated power almost always lives in the instruction manual, which most makers let you download before you buy. That is where we suggest you look before trusting any running cost claim, including ours.
The four we would buy, and when
VonHaus Foot Warmer
£22.99 on 17 Oct 2026 · 100 W per its manual · 3 settings · 90 min auto off · 3.9p a cycle
The cheapest electric pick on the page and one of only two whose maker states a rated power in a document you can check before buying. The manual says 100 W and a 90 minute safety cut-off, which makes a full evening cycle 3.9p at the current cap rate. It held number six in the Foot Warmers chart on 17 October 2026 at 4.2 stars across 87 ratings.
The catch: VonHaus's own product page calculator quietly uses 60 W, which its own manual contradicts. Cost it at 100 W and you will never be disappointed in the right direction. The Amazon listing also names no model number, so you are trusting that it matches the one manual VonHaus publishes for its one foot warmer.
Beurer FW20 Cosy
£23.64 on 17 Oct 2026 · 100 W per Beurer's spec sheet · 3 settings · 90 min auto off · 3.9p a cycle
The highest-placed electric foot warmer in the chart, number three overall behind the two disposables, from the German health-device brand whose thermometers and blood pressure monitors you already know. Washable fleece lining, a 90 minute automatic switch-off and a three year guarantee, per Currys' listing. The 100 W figure does not appear on the UK listing or Currys' page, but Beurer's spec sheet as carried by its German retailers states it three times over.
The catch: you have to go to another country's retail listings to find out what it draws, which for a brand this careful is strange. Nothing in the UK copy separates it from the no-name boxes except the badge and the guarantee.
Russell Hobbs RHHSL1001
£27.59 on 17 Oct 2026 · 70 W per Currys' spec · 3 settings · 120 min auto off · 3.7p a cycle
The lowest wattage on the page, which makes it the cheapest per hour at 1.8p and the gentlest heat. The two hour cut-off gives you a longer session than the 90 minute machines for roughly the same money per cycle, and the lining detaches for the washing machine.
The catch: the weakest review score of our picks, 3.7 stars across 105 ratings, and 70 W cuts both ways: if you want your feet hot rather than warm, this is the one most likely to disappoint. Currys also cannot agree with itself on the timer, stating 120 minutes in the spec table and 180 in the description.
Dreamland Revive Me
£39.99 on 17 Oct 2026 · 110 W per John Lewis's spec · 5 settings · 180 min auto off · 8.7p a cycle
The one to buy if a 90 minute cut-off keeps interrupting your evening. Three hours at the top setting is 8.7p, still a fraction of any room-heating alternative, and it is the only pick here that John Lewis backs with a published wattage, five heat levels and both machine wash and tumble dry clearance.
The catch: the dearest electric pick by some margin, and the highest cost per cycle on the page precisely because the cycle is twice as long. If you reliably fall asleep in front of the television, the longer timer is a feature you will pay for in 8.7p instalments.
Two more worth knowing about
KEPLIN Electric Foot Warmer
£27.99 on 17 Oct 2026 · 110 W, stated in the listing · 9 settings · 90 min auto off · 4.3p a cycle
The only listing of the seven that states its wattage, and the most adjustable machine here with nine temperature levels. If this guide changes what listings in this category say, it will be because the one that printed its number got the traffic.
The catch: the 110 W is the listing's claim, and unlike the VonHaus and the Beurer we could find no maker manual or retailer spec sheet to check it against. We are crediting the only brand that shows its working, while noting nobody countersigns it.
HotHands Foot Warmers, 24 pairs
£11.99 on 17 Oct 2026 · just under 50p a pair · up to 8 hours per the listing · no socket needed
The chart does not lie about demand: these and their £3 sibling hold the top two places because they solve a problem no plug can reach, cold feet inside boots, at the match, on a walk. Air activated, stick to the outside of your sock, done. For that job they have no electric rival, which is the same conclusion our rechargeable hand warmers guide reached about pockets.
The catch: as a sofa product they are the most expensive option on this page by a factor of about twelve. Fifty pence a night against 3.9p, every night, forever, and the packs at the top of the chart cost up to six times more per pair than this box. Buy them for outdoors; buy a plug for the living room.
The two we could not cost, so would not rank
The Silentnight Electric Foot Warmer sat at number four in the chart at £31.99 on 17 October 2026, and the Volenx heated pad at number five at £27.19. Neither listing states a wattage, and in both cases the trail goes cold beyond Amazon too: Silentnight's own website sells the same product at £40 with three heat settings, a two hour auto off and no power figure anywhere on the page, and we could find no manufacturer documentation for the Volenx at all. They may be perfectly good. But this page ranks by running cost, we will not rank what we cannot cost, and a maker that will not publish the one number a buyer needs has made the shortlist decision for us.
Questions people ask
How much does an electric foot warmer cost to run?
Between 1.8p and 2.9p an hour at full power for the bestselling models, at the 26.32p per kWh electricity rate that applies under the Ofgem cap from 1 October to 31 December 2026. A full session ended by the auto shut-off costs 3.7p to 8.7p depending on the machine. These are ceilings: the pads are thermostatic, so they stop drawing once warm.
Is a foot warmer cheaper than putting the heating on?
By a wide margin, if cold feet are the actual problem. A 2 kW fan heater costs £1.05 for a two hour evening at the same rate, which buys about 27 full foot warmer cycles. The UK Running Cost Index has the same comparison for every appliance in the house.
Why do the listings not say the wattage?
Nothing forces them to. Foot warmers do not carry the energy label that fridges and washing machines must display, so the rated power tends to appear only where it is legally unavoidable, on the appliance's own rating plate and in the instruction manual. Six of the seven bestselling listings we read on 17 October 2026 took full advantage and printed nothing. The manual is usually downloadable before you buy, and it is the first place to look.
Are disposable foot warmers worth it?
Outdoors, yes, nothing else works inside a boot. At home, the arithmetic is brutal: just under 50p a pair at the best per-pair price in the chart against about 4p for a full electric cycle. An evening-a-night HotHands habit costs around £45 a winter; the £22.99 VonHaus pays for itself in 50 evenings.
Can you use a foot warmer in bed?
These are sofa and desk products with 90 to 180 minute cut-offs, designed to switch themselves off rather than run all night. For sleeping, the purpose-built options are in our electric blankets and heated throws guide, which costs an underblanket night the same way this page costs a cycle.
Sources
- VonHaus Heated Foot Warmer instruction manual, product no. 2000281, 100 W rated power, 220 to 240 V, approx. 90 minute auto shut-off. Read 17 October 2026.
- VonHaus Grey Electric Foot Warmer product page, whose running cost calculator uses 60 W. Read 17 October 2026.
- Dreamland Revive Me Comfy Electric Foot Warmer, John Lewis specification, 110 W. Read 17 October 2026.
- Russell Hobbs RHHSL1001 foot warmer, Currys specification, 70 W, auto shut-off stated as both 120 and 180 minutes on the same page. Read 17 October 2026.
- Beurer FW20 Cosy Foot Warmer, Currys listing, power given only as "Mains", 90 minute auto switch-off, 3 year guarantee. Read 17 October 2026.
- Beurer FW 20 Cosy, office-partner.de, carrying Beurer's spec sheet: Leistung 100 W. Read 17 October 2026.
- Silentnight Comfort Control Cosy Foot Warmer, maker's own page, no wattage stated. Read 17 October 2026.
- October 2026 price cap unit rates, Uswitch: electricity 26.32p per kWh, standing charge 54.83p per day, 1 October to 31 December 2026. Read 17 October 2026.
- Amazon UK Best Sellers in Foot Warmers, chart positions and the seven listings behind the audit. Read 17 October 2026.
Prices are the Amazon UK buy box read on 17 October 2026 and change without notice. The live comparison table pulls Amazon's product feed and can sit slightly off the buy box. Look Into is a member of the Amazon Associates programme and earns a commission on qualifying purchases made through the links above, at no extra cost to you.