UKC

There seems to be a myriad of down duvets for a bed ranging from chicken feathers to top quality down. Having never had a down duvet for a bed before, what should I look for?

I'm not after the most expensive and I'm not after a bag of chicken feathers either. What would people recommend, that have a down duvet for their bed?

In reply to The Lemming:

Get the thinnest one possible unless you want to be boiled alive! Down is warm, I use a ultralight "summer" down duvet sleeping with open or at least tilted windows even in winter.

CB

In reply to cb294:

A 10.5 Tog be too hot for winter?

Forgot to mention that I want the duvet for winter use rather than spring summer.

Cheers

In reply to cb294:


would agree, we have 3 different ones to accommodate the seasons. Keeping them in one of those plastic vacuum storage bags that you can fasten a hoover to, so they pack down very small when not in use.

In reply to The Lemming:

I have one of the split into two weights - a 9 and 4.5 tog. Living up north and the fact that I get cold easily when inactive, I personally have the 13.5 combined on most of the year. Only in the height of summer do I have the 4.5 only, and for a few months only the 9 tog part.

Weight if that is important to you. Both too heavy and too light!! Some cheaper ones can be quite bulky and heavy for what you expect.

On the other hand light weight ones like the combi one I have meantime can be too light. Mine when its split, the 9 tog only is a bit on the light weight side to stay fully in place on the bed with turning around, and frankly the 4.5 tog part is just so light it mostly ends up half off the bed frequently throughout the night. Ironically I have to add weigh with a blanket across the feet end to stop it ending up on the floor!!

As I said I use the 13.5 most of the year, and being one of the lighter duvets overall, weight overall is not a problem and is great. Would not go back to the heavier ones I used in the past.

In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Any brands or fills that you would suggest?

Or should I stick to the same principle of jackets and sleeping bags and go for a 600 fill sort of thing?

In reply to The Lemming:
Some of the better ones can come as two duvets that toggle together. One is super light, the next lightish. Together they are very warm. We have some like that and the quality is really good (had them about 18 months). The same company also made regular single units. We both sleep warm too and have never needed to stick them together but have thrown the other over on exceptionally cold nights so we can still open the window

I'll see if I can find the receipt/order confirmation for the ones we got as I can't remember the name and I'm not wrestling a duvet cover off and on for ya (label is at bottom) , sorry

edit: dammit Mr Pieman beat me to it explaining the set option

In reply to The Lemming:

The most important thing is to choose a filling that has been responsibly sourced. Overplucking of geese and other birds causes terrible cruelty.

In reply to The Lemming:

ours were from john lewis

http://www.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-classic-duck-feather-and-down-duvet-all...

Don't look at fill power like you would a sleeping bag/jacket. You want more of less. FP is a measure of how the down will loft into free space. That works with lightweight gear as lightweight fabrics are used. When you have a cotton cover and a duvet cover over that it isn't the be all and end all.

On being "effical". I'm almost 100%I checked when we got ours that the down was ethically sourced and from dead birds not live plucked as I intended returning it if not. (JL are v good about returns if you are not happy with anything)

In reply to The Lemming:

I would think so, I use the lighter one of a split set for winter, but then again I "don´t do cold".

CB

In reply to The Lemming:

John Lewis was a good call.

Thanks everybody.

In reply to The Lemming:
My current one is from John Lewis, can't remember previous makes, sorry. As for fill well that depends on how much your willing to pay as well as other things like weight, down proof covering, type of covering, sourcing, ethical considerations, etc.

There is such a huge range overall but specifically JL I think come from only responsible ethical sources, have down proof covers, are reasonable weights and appear very well made. Even within JL their range a couple of years ago when I got mine was from memory a low price of £100 up to I think one was nearly £1000. Pays your money, take your choice!

Always found JL happy to explain details of their ones to help narrow down* what your after. The Edinburgh store also has some you can "try out" in store to feel weights etc.
Edit * sorry no pun intended!

In reply to Trangia:


You could try something different and go for a wool duvet instead https://www.devonduvets.com/index.php?route=common/home

In reply to The Lemming:

But are they vegan?

In reply to BigBrother:

Isn't that just a blanket?

In reply to Trangia:


WTF..... Birds are plucked when they are DEAD. Live plucking is illegal in the vast majority of countries producing down.

In reply to The Lemming:

Have a really lovely All-Season duvet that's fantastic but it's £1000+ I'm sure you can get a similar one with lower grade down at a cheaper price.

In the winter you combine the 2 duvets so as to be toasty but during the summer you un-clip them and only use the 2.5 Tog one..... perfect really

In reply to PPP:


Wife's an omnivore; I'm veggie. We once lost a veggie spring roll which was later found in a half consumed state inside a pillowcase. It's never been the case that part of her murder basket of dim sum has gone MIA towards the end of a wash your woes away Friday evening of debauchery. From this I would conclude that all bedding is vegan.

HTH

In reply to The Lemming:

Goose for comfort and lightness. Cool in summer, warm in winter. No idea how that works.

In reply to David Alcock:

Not cool enough in summer. We have something in the region of a 7 tog goose down and it's like sleeping in a furnace.
We never close the window and I have to sleep with one leg hanging out to control my temperature in winter.
In spring, summer and Autumn forget it. Cotton sheet only

In reply to Dax H:

Where do you live? I never bothered with heating, and have always lived in old (i.e. thick-walled houses... Think ours is 10 tog?

In reply to Indy:

Still happening in China. Only illegal in some countries relatively recently because people have made a fuss about it.

In reply to The Lemming:

Another vote for the JL ones - we've got 2 of the 4.5/9 tog versions (our bed and the spare bed).

I sleep warm and we only have one bit of them on - I'd have the 4.5 version and a window open all year if it were my choice, but I'm sure my wife is sneaking on the 9 tog in the autumn. Whatever it is, I still have to have at least an arm out or I roast. She sleeps cold and would have the 9 tog in the summer and all 13.5 of them in the winter if she could - as it is, she has a heated blanket on her side in the winter to take the chill off before she gets into bed.