Throw Before Thermostat. But It's Not About the Bill.

In 1970, fewer than a third of British homes had central heating.

Most families lived in houses that would feel cold to us now — as cool as 12°C on average in winter. Brrrrh! There could be ice on the inside of the windows. (There certainly was in my school dormitory in Devon.) Nearly everyone accepted that you wore thick clothes at home. (Great Britain's Housing Energy Fact File, DECC, 2011)

The best-selling single of the year was Mungo Jerry's In the Summertime. You can see why.

Then the boiler arrived. By 2008, only 4% of homes were still without it.

It was a real liberation, and nobody sensible wants 1970 back.

But something got lost along the way. We stopped warming people and started warming rooms.

The Throw Got Demoted

The wool blanket over the back of the chair used to be essential kit. It was what you reached for before you reached for anything else.

Now it's décor. A finishing touch. The thing that makes a sofa look done in a photograph.

We've been as guilty as anyone. We sell them as "sofa throws".

Most people, if they think about a throw at all, think of it as the cushion's more expensive cousin.

We think that's upside down. A good wool throw is the most useful thing in the house from October to April, especially with the latest energy prices.

Rooms and People

Central heating heats air. And air wanders. Up the stairs, round the window frames, into the loft. You pay to warm a room so that some of that warmth, eventually, reaches you.

A throw skips the middle.

It doesn't heat the room. It doesn't heat the air. It doesn't need a boiler, a tariff or an app.

It keeps the warmth you already make, right where you're sitting.

Why Wool Does It Properly

Any blanket traps some heat. Wool does it better, and you can see why if you pull a fibre straight and let it go.

It springs back. Wool fibres are crimped — kinked along their length — and those kinks hold tiny pockets of still air. Still air is what insulates. (Woolmark)

Wool also takes moisture vapour into the fibre rather than leaving it on your skin. So an evening under a wool throw feels warm and dry, not warm and clammy. That's the difference you notice with a synthetic fleece about forty minutes in.

And it's hard-wearing. A well-made wool throw is still doing its job in twenty or thirty years. Ours are woven in Yorkshire, Scotland, Ireland, Italy and Spain, by mills that expect them to.

The Bill Isn't Really the Point

Yes, it saves money. The Energy Saving Trust reckons turning a thermostat down from 22°C to 21°C saves around £120 a year. (Energy Saving Trust)

A throw on the knee makes that degree easy to give up.

But most people reading this aren't lying awake over one degree on the thermostat, and we're not going to make you sweat the small stuff.

The real argument is comfort. A radiator gives everyone in the room the same warmth, whether they want it or not. A throw gives you yours. Up to the chin, or off the knees — adjustable in a way the thermostat on the landing never is.

One person in every house is always colder than the others. Usually it's the same person, every winter.

They don't need the whole house at 23°C.

They need a throw.

We Won't Pretend

A throw will not heat a cold house. If your home is properly cold, the heating goes on, and it should. Nobody should sit shivering to make a point. (We don't do hair shirts.)

Nor will it fix a draught. A sausage dog against the door does more for that.

What it will do is let you put the heating on a little later in the autumn, run it a little lower all winter, and be more comfortable for it rather than less.

This week showed why that matters. The Met Office had a risk of frost in rural spots on Thursday morning and 27°C or 28°C in the south-east on Friday. (Met Office, 23 September 2026)

Autumn in this country rarely arrives on a date. It arrives in fits and starts. A cold evening. A warm one. A week of rain.

Nobody wants to fire up the boiler for one chilly evening. That's what the throw is for.

Back to 1970

We're not nostalgic for ice on the windows.

But the people of 1970 knew something we've half forgotten. The cheapest warmth, and the kindest, is the warmth you keep.

Throw before thermostat.

It was never about the bill.

Harry Mayman
Cofounder. The Wool Company

A few to start with:

• Pure New Wool Herringbone Throw, Grey Mist
• Shetland Wool Herringbone Throw, Duck Egg
• Pure New Wool Textured Ivory Throw
• Merino Cashmere Blend Throw, Light Grey Herringbone
• Hebrides Merino Throw, Islay
• Hebrides Merino Throw, Jura