Stoov Huge Hug Review

Design and Features

• The battery is quite heavy
• Controls can be accessed from either side
• Dual heating pads

The Stoov Huge Hug is fairly similar to the Stoov Big Hug XL. The main difference is that the Big Hug is designed as a mat you sit on, while the Huge Hug adds extra material you can wrap around yourself.

That makes the Huge Hug much bigger than previous products, measuring 180 x 135cm. It comes with an elastic band, which will hold the blanket together when you fold and roll it up, although it’s relatively hard to do that neatly unless you lay the Huge Hug out on the floor or a bed.

The blanket is available in a smooth finish, which is soft to the touch, or a woolly finish. Both are available in beige or grey.

Both versions are machine washable, but you must remove the inner infrared heating element and the battery.

As with other Stoove products that I’ve reviewed, the Huge Hug needs its battery installed before you can use it. You can choose the standard battery (2600mAh, which lasts for up to 3.5 hours) or buy the larger battery for £20 (4500mAh, for up to six hours of heat).

Although the batteries can be bought separately, it makes sense to buy the size you want from the outset, as it is better value than upgrading later.

The battery is installed in a compartment at the bottom corner of the blanket. That keeps it out of the way, but it does mean that one corner is weighed down, and it can be a bit annoying if the battery ends up resting on you as you wrap the blanket around yourself. I need to do a certain amount of adjustment to get the most comfortable position when using this blanket.

It’s also important to align the infrared heating elements. There are two located in the middle of the blanket. If aligned properly, you can have one heating element that you sit on and one behind you warming your back.

As infrared transfers heat directly to objects, the elements only get warm if they contact your body. For the best effect, I line the blanket up with the seat, then sit on it and wrap the material around me.

Charging and controls are via the control panel on the side of the blanket. This model has a slider switch that turns the blanket on and off. Then, the three heating modes are selected by pressing the button. The number of LEDs lights up to show which mode you’re in (three lights is the maximum, one light is the minimum).

The heating modes are 38°C, 45°C, and 58°C. If it’s particularly cold, a burst of the highest mode followed by setting two is best; for warmer weather, setting two or one will do the trick.

The control panel also houses the charging input, and an adaptor is provided in the box. The charger has a red LED when the blanket is charging and a bright green one that lights up a dark room when fully charged. I would prefer the adaptor not to have any lights on it at all. When charging in my bedroom at night, I have to cover the adaptor to stop its lights from distracting me.

Battery life can be checked on the Huge Hug by pressing and holding the main button. This lights up the LEDs to show the rough charge, with three lights showing the maximum charge. I could also use the blanket while it was plugged in.

As the blanket can be wrapped around you, there’s a chance that the control panel could be wrapped up inside the blanket. For this reason, the panel can be poked through the cut-out in the blanket, so you can always have easy access to it.

A couple of press-studs hold the controller in place. They detach easily and are fiddly to clip into place, but neither minor issue prevents comfortable use of the blanket.

Performance

• Warm and cosy
• Good battery life
• Cheap to run

Using infrared heat, the Stoov Huge Hug is efficient as it only warms you, not the air. The two heating elements are a good size, as shown in the thermal image below.

Another benefit of infrared is that it warms quickly and safely. Once the blanket was turned on, it took less than a minute to be noticeably warm and just a few minutes more before it really kicked in.

I live in an old Victorian house with the original sash windows, so it can get very chilly. With the Huge Hug wrapped around me, I was comfortably warm without cranking the heating up too far.

Setting two did the trick for most uses, as I found the maximum power mode too hot except when used in short bursts.

The S2 heating element has a heat capacity of 24W compared to the 18W of the Big Hug XL. And battery life is better with S2, too.

The standard battery produces between 2.5 and 3.5 hours of heat; the larger battery increases this to four to six hours. With the older heating element, the standard battery’s battery life was between 1.5 and three hours.

With the standard battery, I found that the Huge Hug was good enough to last for a TV session, although I could plug it in if I needed more power.

If you plan to use the Huge Hug camping or outside, I’d buy the larger battery to give extended use away from a power socket.

Charging the standard battery takes around 300Wh of power, which reaches around 7p for a full charge. That’s a little more expensive than filling up a hot water bottle, although the Stoov has the advantage that it’s as warm from start to finish, and you can adjust the temperature as you see fit.

Should you buy it?