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Reviewed / TJ Donegan
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Credit:
Reviewed / TJ Donegan
Reviewed's mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
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If you want a space heater that does it all, this space heater is the one for you. The De'Longhi HMP1500 aced our spot-heating and room-heating tests. Read More
When you think personal space heater, the Lasko 754200 is what most people imagine. It's compact, light, and relatively powerful. However, its power is highly directional. Read More
The AVH10 uses a fan to quickly circulate heat -- without a lot of accompanying noise. Read More
When it comes to heating a room, we found the Honeywell HeatGenius to be a bit of a savant, showing off smart engineering with how well it utilized its 1500-watt coils. Read More
You'll sing its virtues if you place it in the basement. Its lowest setting places the EW7707CM on anti-freeze duty, keeping rooms at around 41°F–well north of pipe-bursting. Read More
Space heaters are a great way to keep your toes from tingling without heating the whole house, especially in the winter months, when already expensive utility bills can skyrocket. For people who work in offices, space heaters can be just as useful in the summer months when the AC gets too frosty—as long as your workplace doesn’t forbid them.
The best personal space heaters are compact and able to quickly warm a small area while large space heaters can make an entire room toasty. Regardless of their size, the best space heaters are cost-efficient and effectively warm up the area where they’re used.
To find the best space heaters on the market, we tested top-rated heaters from trusted brands in the controlled conditions of our lab in Massachusetts, where it's been known to get very cold—and to have drafty homes. While the performance varied, most of them had something in common—safety features to make space heaters more safe to use.
There’s an inherent danger with using space heaters, as they are a leading cause of home fires in the U.S. However, if you take precautions, use them wisely, and follow operational instructions, you can lessen the risk.
After extensive testing, we found that the De’Longhi HMP1500 (available at Amazon for $95.95) is the best space heater for most people because of its high performance and flexible design. For something smaller, a personal space heater like the Lasko 754200 is a value-packed choice.
There are several types of space heaters. For example, some are designed to radiate heat a short distance, while others have a fan and circulate warm air over a large distance. Because of that, our guide has recommendations for specific situations so you can find the best space heater for you.
The Delonghi HMP1500 is the best spot and room heater
The 754200 is portable, powerful and a bargain.
Affordable
Easy to move
Only works as spot heater
The AVH10 has a powerful fan and kid-friendly safety features.
Quiet
Easy to read thermostat
Safe around children
Spot heating was less intense than infrared
Can be set to gradually warm
Powerful
Can be noisy
Fun design
Oscillates
Not very powerful
Easy to carry
Powerful
Expensive
When you’re shopping for a space heater, there are some things you should think about to make sure that it's a good fit for you and your home.
Location: Do you have an area in your home that is 3 feet away from all flammable objects and is not in the middle of a walking path? If not, see if you can clear a place in your home where the space heater can be safely operated.
Safety: Does part of the product get hot to the touch while in operation? If so, make sure that kids are aware of what areas are safe to touch on the space heater, if any. With little ones in the house, it may be best to choose a space heater with a protective grate covering the heating unit.
Floor plan: What is the layout of the room(s) you'd like to heat? If you have an open floor plan, and you'd like to heat more than one room, chances are that a single space heater won't cut it.
Space heaters operate best in small spaces and rooms. For large spaces, you may need to safely deploy multiple space heaters in strategic locations throughout your home. If you don't want to buy multiple space heaters, think about picking a space heater that emphasizes whole-room heating over spot heating.
Outlet location: Is there an electrical outlet located near the spot where you want the space heater to live? Most electric heater power cords are not long, and space heaters should not be plugged into extension cords.
As a safety precaution, do not plug anything into the same outlet into which the space heater is plugged. These heaters use a lot of electricity, so it's best not to overload the outlet.
Space heaters have various heating methods that can affect the size, weight, and other aspects of the product. There are ceramic heaters, fan heaters, oil-filled convection heaters, and some rely on infrared technology. Which one is best for your home? Here's a breakdown of the types we reviewed:
Thin, energy-efficient, and frequently wall-mountable, mica heaters are part radiant and part convection. They operate silently.
Convection heaters that blow warm air out from a fan. Ceramic space heaters are good for spot heating but not for large rooms. Expect some fan noise. The plastic shell may be safe to the touch in some models, but the grill is always very hot.
Reminiscent of oil-filled radiators you find in old homes, oil-filled convection heaters work well for entire rooms. Their quiet operation makes it great for living rooms, but they're very hot to the touch on all sides and maybe not the best choice for houses with young children.
Sometimes known as "quartz" heaters, these devices don't actually heat the air so much as beam heat directly at you. This is why infrared heaters are often used outdoors, because they are unaffected by wind. Their tops and sides are usually cool to the touch.
Everyone knows hot air rises. Convection heaters simply have a heating element inside a grate. While they are not good for spot heating, they are virtually silent when in operation.
Most of the space heaters we tested had a mechanism to shut the device off if it got too hot. Nevertheless, it's recommended to always have a 3-foot radius between a space heater and anything remotely flammable—including blankets and upholstery. Some also included a tip-over switch that would automatically turn off the machine if it got knocked to the floor.
Also, never plug an electric space heater into an extension cord. Portable space heaters draw up to 1,500 watts of power, more than enough to cause a dangerous spark.
Finally, be sensible and don't touch a space heater when it is in operation. Some portable heaters have a cool exterior when they are running, but that doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.
To find the best space heaters, we focused our testing on performance and usability. While we gauged usability with subjective observations, such as how easy the space heater is to operate, performance was measured through data analysis.
To test performance, we placed each heater into a temperature-controlled room, which stayed at 72°F and 50% humidity. This stability helped us test whether the 1,350 cubic-foot volume room heats to the desired temperature.
During setup, each heater is placed in the center of the 180-square-foot room and plugged into a watt meter. We then placed two rings of temperature sensors at varying heights to simulate feet and torsos at different distances. These sensors are used to determine spot heating and overall room temperature changes.
Each heater is placed on its highest heat settings and left to run for an hour. After that, we gathered the data from the sensors. Heaters that could evenly heat both the inner and outer rings of sensors received the highest ratings.
Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.
Camryn Rabideau is a full-time freelance writer and product tester with eight years of experience. She's been lucky enough to test hundreds of products firsthand, and her specialties include bedding and pet products, which often require help from her two dogs, three cats, and flock of rambunctious chickens.
Kyle Hamilton
Product Tester
Kyle Hamilton is a product tester at Reviewed, specializing in home appliances and technology.
Dr. Dave Ellerby
Chief Scientist
Dave Ellerby has a Ph.D. from the University of Leeds and a B.Sc. from the University of Manchester. He has 25+ years of experience designing tests and analyzing data.
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