Hotwaterbottlesarebrilliantforkeepingyouwarmonchillyautumnnights,especiallyifyou’retryingtohelptheplanetandyourbankbalancebyturningdownthecentralheating.Butwillspendingmoreonahotwaterbottlekeepyouwarmerforlonger?

Tofindout,weboughtnineoftheUK’sbestsellinghotwaterbottlesfromSuperdrug,JohnLewis,Wilkoandmore,ranginginpricefrom£5upto£30,andputthemtothetest.

Wefilledallofthemuptotwo-thirdsoftheircapacitywithhotwaterandtrackedhowquicklytheycooleddownoverseveralhourswiththecoversonandwiththecoversoff.

Readontofindoutifwethinkit’sworthspendingextramoneyonapricierhotwaterbottle,ourverdictonthecurrenttrendforlonghotwaterbottles,andhowcomfortableandeasyitwastofillallofthehotwaterbottleswetested.

Pluswerevealourtoptipsforcaringandcleaningyourwaterbottletohelpextenditslife.

Fortipsoncuttingdownthecostofheating,seeour10waystosaveonenergybills.

Whatourtestsfound

Soisitworthspendingextramoneyonamoreexpensivehotwaterbottle?Inshort–no,itisn’t.

Aswerecordedthetemperaturedropsoverseveralhours,wefoundthatallofthehotwaterbottleswerewithin2°Cofeachotheronaveragewhenweranourtestswiththecoversoff.

Ifyouheldahotwaterbottleineachhandandonewas2°Chotterthantheother,we’renotsureyou’dbeabletosaywhichonewaswarmer.

Notallofthehotwaterbottleswetestedcamewithcovers,butwerepeatedthetestswiththecoversonforthosethatdidtoseeifitledtomuchbiggerdifferences.Itdidn’t.

Afterthreehoursallofthehotwaterbottleswetested,withcoversonandwithout,droppedtoaroundbodytemperature(37°C)orless.

Soouradvicewouldbetobuyyourselfacheaphotwaterbottleandputtheadditionalcashtowardsathick,highqualitycoverforit.

Thatwayyou’respendinglessonthepartthatdoesn’tmakemuchofadifference(thebottle),andmoreonthebitwherecomfort,insulationandappearancecomeintoit(thecover).

Ourtestsdidn’tjustfocusonhowwarmthehotwaterbottlesstayed,though.Wealsojudgedthemoncomfort,howeasytheyaretofillandhowstraightforwardtheyaretolookafter.Seeourfindingsbelow.

Besthotwaterbottles

Cheapestprice:£6.99,availableatSuperdrug

Capacity:1.7L

Coverincluded?:No

Ourverdict:ThisnaturalrubberhotwaterbottlefromSuperdrugdoesn’tcomewithacover,soit’sonlyascomfyasyoumakeit.Butwecouldn’tfindanythingwrongwithitinourtestsandit’savailableatagreatprice.

Therearetwocoloursavailable,butthere’snooptiontochoosewhenyouorderfromSuperdrugonline.You’llfindoutwhichcolouryou’vegotwhenitgetsdelivered.

Youalsogetonehotwaterbottleperpurchase,nottwo,despitetheproductpicturesshowingtwobottles.

Thecuparoundthelidiswide,makingthebottleextraeasytofillandreducingthechancesofanystrayhotwaterlandingonyouorthefloor.

Wehadnotroublepushingtheexcessairoutbeforesealingitandcouldn’tspotanyroughedges,smellsorweaknesses.

Overallit’sasimple,cheaphotwaterbottlethatdoesthejobyouneedwithnounwelcomesurprises.Gograbyourselfoneoftheseandbuyacoverforitthatsuitsyourtastes.

Cheapestprice:£25,bluepatternedversionavailableatJohnLewis

Capacity:1.5L

Coverincluded?:Yes

Ourverdict:Ifyouwantahotwaterbottleandcovercomboandaren’tinterestedinshoppingseparatelyforathickandcomfycover,thisJohnLewishotwaterbottleistheonewe’ddirectyouto.

Sadlyatthetimeofwritingthemulti-colouroneisalreadyoutofstock,butyoucansignuptobenotifiedbyJohnLewiswhenit’sbackinstockontheproductpage.Theblueversionofthesamehotwaterisstillavailable,though.

It’smuchmoreexpensivethantheSuperdrughotwaterbottle,butwethoughttheincludedcoverwasthemoststylishofthosewetested,andbyfarthesoftest.

Itwasalsobyasmallmargintheonlyhotwaterbottletostillbeabovebodytemperaturethreehoursafterwefilledit,sothecoverwasthebestwetestedforkeepingthebottlewarm.

SimilartotheSuperdrughotwaterbottle,thisonehasawidecupatthetoptocatchanydripsanditcouldn’tbeeasiertofill.

Theonlydownsidetoitisthatthecoveriswipe-cleanonly,soyou’llneedtotakecaretoavoidspillingyourhotchocolatealloverit.

Howtherestfared

Here’swhatwethoughtoftherestofthehotwaterbottleswetested,listedinalphabeticalorder.

Cheapestprice:£5.99,availableatAmazon

Capacity:1.8L

Does paying more get you a better hot water bottle?

Coverincluded?:No

Ourverdict:Althoughsimilarinappearance,sizeandpricetotheSuperdrughotwaterbottle,wewereputoffrecommendingthisCassandrahotwaterbottleasitwasgreasytotouch.

AswiththeSuperdrughotwaterbottle,yougetonehotwaterbottleperpurchaseanditcanbeoneofthethreecolourspicturedabove.There’snooptiontopickandchoosethecolouryouwant.

It’smadefromnaturalrubberaswithseveralotherhotwaterbottleswetested,butthiswastheonlyonethatfeltslimyandunpleasantinourhands.

Besidesthatwehadnoproblemswithit.Wefounditeasytofillanddespitethegreasinesswedidn’tfindanyoddsmellsorstainsleftoverfrommanufacturing.

Cheapestprice:£19,availableatArgos

Capacity:1.75L

Coverincluded?:Yes

Ourverdict:Itmaylooksnuggly,butwethoughtCassandra’sLongCableKnitHotWaterBottlewasn’tespeciallycomfortable,andwefounditverydifficulttofill.

Althoughthecoverwassofttotouch,wethoughtthesidesofthebottleweretoughandhard,makingitlesscomfortabletohug,andthebottlealsohadanunpleasant,rubberysmell.

Becauseofitslength,thewateryoupourincongregatesatthebottom.Youcan’tletgoofthetopasitrisksfloppingover,sotosqueezeouttheremainingairwehadtohugitandsqueezeitwithourlegsatthesametime.

Thecoverisalsohandwash-only,soyouwon’tbeabletobungitinthewashingmachinewhenitneedscleaning.

Cheapestprice:£24.99,availableatArgos

Capacity:1.75L

Coverincluded?:Yes

Ourverdict:AswasthecasewithCassandra’slonghotwaterbottle,wefoundthisonedifficulttofillduetoitsshape,andit’slesscomfortablethanitappears.

Thecoverishoweververysofttotouch,andthere’sastrapyoucanlooptogethersoyoucanwearthehotwaterbottlearoundyourwaistorshoulders.

Wewouldquestiontheusefulnessofthis,though,asalthoughyou’llbewrappedup,youwon’tbeabletositbackorliedownasyou’llputyourbodyweightonthehotwaterbottle.

TheYUYUhotwaterbottlewasanotherthatwefoundhadanunpleasantsmellleftoverfrommanufacturing,andwhenwepulledthehotwaterbottleoutofthecoverwealsosawthebottlewasstained.

Thecovercanhoweverbewashedat30°Cinthewashingmachine,soitisatleasteasytokeepitclean.

Cheapestprice:£5,availableatAsda

Capacity:1.5L

Coverincluded?:Yes

Ourverdict:Wehadnotroublefillingupthischeaphotwaterbottle,andwe’dbehappytorecommenditifitwasn’tforitsunpleasant,rubberysmellandunderwhelmingcover.

At£5youwon’texpecttogettheworld’ssoftestcover,butthisonefeltcheapandmattedtoourtesters.

Thecoverisalsohandwash-only,andit’srecommendedthatyouputitthroughashortspincycleafterwashingtohelpitdry.

Cheapestprice:£27.99,availableatTheHotWaterBottleShop

Capacity:2L

Coverincluded?:Yes

Ourverdict:Wehadhighhopesforthishotwaterbottle,notonlybecauseofitsprice,butalsoitssustainablecredentials.Sadly,wethoughtitwasoneoftheleastcomfortablehotwaterbottleswetestedandwedidn’tfinditeasytofill.

TheHotWaterBottleShopsaysthisbottleismadeofrecyclableplasticthatis90%‘biobased’,9%‘fossilcarbon’,andPVCandphthalate-free.Youcanrecycleitwithyourhouseholdplasticrecycling,soit’seasytodisposeofitresponsibly.

Althoughwe’repleasedthatthishotwaterbottleisrecyclable,wefoundtheplasticbottletoughandhard,andthethincoverdidlittletosoftenit.Fansofsquishy,cushionedbottlesmayfindthisonedisappointing.

Theopeningatthetopofthebottleiswidesoit’seasytopourwaterin,butthere’snocuptocatchanywaywardwatersothere’sahigherchanceofyouburningyourselfifyoumiss.

Thisalsomeansthatwhensqueezingouttheexcessairthewatercomesveryclosetocomingoutofthetop,sothere’sverylittleroomforerrorwhenfillingthisbottleup.

Thecoverismachine-washableat40°C,soifitgetsstainedordirtyit’salow-effortjobtogetitcleanagain.

Cheapestprice:£9.99,availableatAmazon

Capacity:1.8L

Coverincluded?:Yes

Ourverdict:Thisisyetanothercheaphotwaterbottlethatwefeelletsitselfdownwithstrangesmells.Boththecoverandthebottleinsidesmelledlikechemicalswhenwetookthemoutoftheirpackaging.

Thecupatthetopofthehotwaterbottleislarge,butitpinchesinwardsinthemiddle,makingtheopeningsmallerforpouringinyourwater.

Wethinkthecoverissoft,butnoinstructionsaregivenastohowtocarefororcleanitsoyou’llhavetotakeyourbestguessandhopeitdoesn’tgetruined.

Cheapestprice:£6,availableatWilko

Capacity:1.5L

Coverincluded?:Yes

Ourverdict:WewerehappywithWilko’shotwaterbottle,butthecoverdidn’tinspireussoyoumayendupbuyinganadditionalcoverseparately.

Thesenaturalrubberhotwaterbottlescomeinavarietyofcolours,butwhenbuyingonlinethere’snooptiontochoosewhichcolouryou’dlike,soyougetwhatyou’regiven.

Althoughtherearethreeoptionsshownabove,you’llgetonehotwaterbottleperpurchase.

Wefounditeasytofillanddidn’tnoticeanyoddsmellsorstains,butwethoughtthecoverwasthinandnotoverlycomfortable.

It’salsohandwash-only,soit’snottheeasiesthotwaterbottletolookafter.

Longhotwaterbottles:aretheyafad?

Alonghotwaterbottlesoundslikeagreatidea–whowouldn’twanttobecosyandwarmfromheadtotoe?

Butthetwolonghotwaterbottleswetestedleftusthinkingmoreabouttheconsthanthepros.

Cosyupandgetreadyforthefestiveseasonwithourpicksofchocolateadventcalendars,ginadventcalendars,andkids’toysadventcalendars.

Howtocareforandcleanyourhotwaterbottle

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