Chinese electric blankets chips

In 2022, winter in the northern hemisphere is coming. The natural gas supply of European people is limited, and the electricity bill continues to rise. The rising electricity bill and the power rationing policy make many people feel a little bit difficult.

The sales of electric blankets, previously known as the “sunset industry”, have soared in Europe. In order to cope with this wave of buying, Chinese manufacturers are actively stocking up and producing, and related semiconductor accessories are also shipped.

With other consumer electronics in the doldrums, what kinds of chips might benefit from this electric blanket craze?

Which chips are used in the electric blanket solution?

Judging from the design of a common electric blanket that supports multi-level temperature control, the types of semiconductor devices used include MCU, temperature sensor (thermistor element), and some electric blanket products that focus on the concept of intelligence will also use Chips required for IoT upgrades, such as Bluetooth chips, voice chips, etc.

From the perspective of program design, the chips used in electric blankets do not have high-performance requirements. In this field, China’s domestic chips are expected to achieve 100% localized supply.

MCU

There are many types of MCUs, but the functions of electric blankets are relatively simple, so generally speaking, an 8-bit MCU can make a good solution for this type of product.

You can choose an MCU chip with a suitable price and quality according to product positioning. The MCU is the control center in the electric blanket solution, mainly responsible for temperature control functions, such as constant temperature.

Temperature Sensor

There are 4 main types of temperature sensors: thermocouples, thermistors, resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), and temperature IC sensors. Common electric blankets mainly use heating elements to generate heat at present, and most of the heating elements are thermistor elements. Thermistors are made by taking advantage of the property of semiconductor materials that the resistivity decreases with increasing temperature. It has good stability and a cheap price.

Through the real-time monitoring of the temperature of the electric blanket, combined with MCU regulation, intelligent control of the temperature can be realized.

IoT upgrade chip

Manufacturers of electric blankets are also exploring intelligent upgrade solutions. As a result, the upgrade of this part of the “Internet of Things” function is a bit tasteless and not widely used.

The intelligent upgrade of the electric blanket solution is more inclined to optimize the user experience rather than the addition of basic functions. For example, some electric blanket companies have added a Bluetooth module to the solution and can realize voice control by connecting to Tmall Genie to turn on the electric blanket in advance, switch temperature, time boot, and other operations.

However, in specific application scenarios, more manufacturers choose to use optimized electric blanket controllers to improve user experience, and it is not complicated for users to complete these actions by hand.

How beneficial is it?

In the electric blanket solution, the application of MCU is relatively simple, and the cost is not high. However, the surge in shipments of electric blankets still brings some hope to the semiconductor market. At least small and medium-sized semiconductor companies, it is expected to benefit from this wave and survive the cold winter of shipments.

What is the specific degree of benefit? According to Times Finance statistics, on Amazon, electric blankets can be as low as 50 euros (about 346 yuan), and there are also more than 100 euros (about 691 yuan). Although the price is generally higher than that on Chinese e-commerce platforms, it is still cheaper than using natural gas.

According to the report of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, under the European energy crisis, from January to July 2022, the export volume of electric blankets in China will be 33.4 million US dollars, leading other home appliance categories with a year-on-year growth rate of 97%. It was an increase of 23% year-on-year.

Facing the cold winter, electric heating products are not limited to our common electric blankets.

The derivatives of electric blankets include but are not limited to shoe dryers, hand/foot warmers, leg and knee pads, body-warming blankets, electric heating cushions, and hand-warming table mats. , hand warmer mouse pads, etc., in the pet market, agricultural market, etc., there is also a need for heating or heat preservation.

There are still many semiconductor application markets that can be tapped in the “warm winter economy”.

Written by: FUJIREJA GROUP
The Exporter and Manufacturer of Heaters since 2003
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