As heating costs rise and space heater technology advances, more Americans are looking for economical ways to heat their homes. Running a space heater in the rooms you use most allows you to keep your thermostat at a lower setting and add targeted warmth to single rooms. Portable heaters are also ideal for rooms with inadequate heating or spaces where central heat can’t be installed—like a garage. With various types, features, and controls, finding the right one can be confusing. Use this guide to find a heater that suits your needs. For easy accessibility to the topics in this article, use our topic list below: Heaters use different technologies to heat rooms. Some heaters are great for whole-room heating, while others offer direct heat to the people and objects in front of them. Learn more about the technology that works best for your needs: Convection heating is the most common type of single room heating. They're known for their ability to heat entire rooms efficiently and for long periods of time.

A convection heater circulates convection currents across a heating element (like electric coil, oil, or electric wire) to create an overall warmth in your space. Most models incorporate fans to circulate warm air across entire rooms, so these are popular heaters for rooms you spend a lot of time in. Common brands that use convection heat are Vornado and DeLonghi. Ceramic space heaters are convection heaters that feature a ceramic disc heating element and fan to distribute warm air evenly and efficiently. The heating discs are hidden inside their bodies, which makes them safer and cool to the touch. Ceramic heaters are popular for small spaces like children’s bedrooms and spaces with pets. Radiant space heaters are best for spot heating because they deliver focused warmth to areas directly in front of the heater. A radiant heater provides nearly instant warmth to a specific area, so they’re popular in offices, bedrooms, and other small rooms. We also have models that can be placed under desks or in workshops to keep you warm while you work. 

Infrared space heaters are similar to radiant heaters since they heat the area directly in front of them. Generally infrared quartz bulbs are used as heating agents and give off warmth to a specific location but can warm rooms over time. They offer consistent, soft warmth. Both types are popular for centralized heat in certain locations. Micathermic space heaters use heating technology that combines the processes of convection and radiant heat. This fanless technology reduces the number of dry spots in your room and doesn’t re-circulate dust and other allergens throughout a room—a great benefit for allergy- and asthma-sufferers. They’re typically more lightweight and quieter than other heaters. Most of them can hung on a wall or placed on the floor, depending on what is best for you. Space heaters come in an array of styles to meet portable heating needs in the home and workplace: Floor heaters are portable, compact room heaters that often times feature a vertical, space-saving design.

They can be placed on the floor and generally have some type of fan that spreads warmth across entire rooms. Personal heaters deliver focused heat to keep you warm and comfortable. These compact portable heaters can rest on a nightstand, table, or floor and provide immediate warmth to tight spaces. Wall heaters install on interior walls to provide supplemental heat in bathrooms, basements, and other cold spots in your home. We offer wall-mountable fireplaces, fan-forced electric models, and micathermic panel heaters.tipe air purifier sharp Baseboard heaters heat your air from the floor to ceiling and offset drafts brought in from cold, outdoor air, particularly when placed under windows. air duct cleaning milford ctPopular in basements, these models offer steady heat, low-cost installation, a low profile, and whisper-quiet operation.suzuki boulevard c50 air cleaner

Be sure to buy a room heater that’s rated for the approximate square footage or dimensions of your space. An electric space heater that’s too large will consume a lot of energy and lead to higher utility bills. On the contrary, buying a space heater that’s too small won’t heat your space adequately and increases the chance of overheating. Size Equation: You can determine how large of an area a portable heater is equipped for using its wattage output. As a rule of thumb, you'll need roughly 10 watts of heating power for every square foot of floor area in the room. This means that a 1,500-watt heater can be the primary heat source for an area measuring up to 150 square feet. If it’s used as a supplemental heating source, however, the heater will cover a much larger area. Thermostats are generally considered the most important feature when buying a space heater. Space heaters tend to have either programmable thermostats or adjustable thermostats. A programmable thermostat lets you program your desired room temperature and automatically cycles the heater on and off to maintain it.

Your room will stay at the set temperature without any additional work for you! Adjustable thermostats won't maintain a set temperature, but still regulate heat output based on your selection. Typical adjustable thermostats have either a knob or buttons that adjust the heat from low to high. Manufacturers equip heaters with advanced safety features to greatly reduce the risk of fires and overheating. Keep your eye out for these: Additionally, heaters that are certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing Laboratory (NTRL) have been tested to ensure they don't contain faulty and hazardous electrical components. Before purchasing a heater, it's also a good idea to review your homeowner's or renter’s insurance policy to make sure it won’t be invalidated in the case of a fire accidentally sparked by one of these units. As a general rule of thumb, fan-equipped single-room heaters are noisier than fanless units. In fact,  fanless heaters exhibit nearly silent operation. Most of today's advanced portable heaters—even those equipped with fans—are still much quieter than older models.

Many Vornado heaters are whisper quiet even with internal fans circulating air throughout a room. Look for a decibel rating listed in the heater's specifications when comparing units. The higher the rating, the louder the heater operates. Check out our micathermic heaters for some of our quietest models. Along with multiple heat settings, some electric room heaters offer multiple power levels. These levels are generally measured in watts, amps, or BTUs. A BTU (or British Thermal Unit) rating is useful when comparing the energy output, because BTUs measure the heating capacity of various fuels, heating units, and cooling systems. If a heater's BTU rating isn't listed, you can easily calculate it using this equation: Heater Wattage Rating X 3.413 (the number of BTUs that equal 1 watt) = BTU Output For example, an 800-watt heater would deliver 2,730 BTUs and a 1,500-watt space heater would produce roughly 5,120 BTUs of heat. The higher a heater’s BTU rating, the better its heating performance.

The price of a heater can range from around $40 for a basic personal heater to more than $2,000 for an elegant electric fireplace offered by Dimplex. It's a good idea to figure out the monthly cost of operating a space heater before choosing a model. Although operating costs will vary depending on the heater type and your room size, a simple math equation gives you an estimate of average operating costs for your space heater. To calculate the daily cost of operating a space heater, use this equation: Kilowatts Per Hour x Electricity Rate x Operating Time = Daily Operational Cost To determine your kilowatts used per hour, find the wattage listed on the heater and divide it by 1,000 (a 1,500-watt heater will use 1.5 kilowatts per hour). Your utility rate, or the cost per kilowatt hour of electricity, should be listed on your electric bill. Once you know the kilowatts used per hour and the cost of kilowatts per hour, plug in the number of hours you plan to use the heater each day.