# Help me choose a space heater



## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

I need help!









My SIL and her dh and their toddler are coming to visit us from India. We live in the Phoenix area but it can still get chilly in the winter. We did not use the heat much last winter to save $ on heating costs and we did fine. I don't plan to heat the house much this winter either, but I want our guests (who are used to warm weather) to be reasonably comfortable.

I was thinking of buying one or two space heaters. They can keep one in their room as a "warm retreat" area. I can put it high on a tall dresser to protect the toddler. I also want to buy one for our room. I think I will not heat the main greatroom because it's too big of an area. We set our theromstat to 60 at night and 65 during the day. We have plenty of blankets, socks, and warm clothing. I even have some electric blankets for our guests.

With all that in mind what do you recommend that is around $60 or under? I saw one of the radiant heaters at CostCo and it looks really neat-- but will it provide enough heat for a bedroom if left on long enough, or does the heat only work if you are standing right in front of it? On the box it says "no need to heat the whole room, great for work spaces". What attracts me about it is it doesn't use much energy.

The other kind they have there for a good price is an electric radiator type.
[http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001G4VSPA?...kCode=asn]Here it is[/URL] It gets good reviews.

I bought this one yesterday to try out and while it gives off lots of good heat, it is probably using a lot of electricity in the process. It also is not cool to the touch on the grill like it says on the box and a toddler could burn his hand. But I can put it up high as it's lightweight.

I was looking at oil heaters, too. They would be economic to operate but not easily put up high.

And of course the small ceramic space heaters but those can be noisy. I tried one a couple years ago and returned it because it didn't heat that well.

Help? Suggestions? Thanks!


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## marieangela (Apr 15, 2003)

I've been looking into this, too. Someone posted this on one of my local mom groups...

The U.S. Department of Energy has established that in many cases using an electric space heater in one room is much more efficient that heating an entire home efficiently with a gas furnace (especially an older unit). With so many space heater options out there, it is not so much a question of using one, but which one to use.

There are a lot of great options out there, so while we can't cover all the great ones, we are going to focus on a few models which have either been praised by online reviews (such as Amazon, Viewpoints, Epinions, etc), Consumer Reports, and/or Good Housekeeping.

We have separated these units out to the more common forms of portable heat. You have your basic convection heater, fan forced convection, oil filled heater, mica panel, and radiant heater. Each of these offer a slightly different means of heat to meet your needs, and we shall describe their pros and cons along with their unique features.

Convection Heater- Honeywell Low Profile Model HZ-519 ($60)
Convection heat is great where you are looking for a low profile, quiet, and economical heat source. These do not heat a room quite as quickly as other choices, but once the room gets up to temperature, they can hold the heat quite efficiently.

The Honeywell Low Profile Convection Heater Model HZ-519 is our choice. It offers all the safety benefits of tip-over and overheat shut-off protection, in a low profile, temperature controlled, "old fashion" baseboard design.

Fan Forced Convection Heater- Pelonis Four Disc Furnace VHC-461 ($100)
Fan Forced Convection Heating, while often substantially noisier than regular convection, can usually heat quicker using a fan to force the warm air into the room. This is the most popular style of space heater today.

The Pelonis Disc Furnace VHC-461 is consistently reviewed at being one of the safest and most effective units on the market. Its four ceramic discs offer a huge amount of heat using your standard 120 volt line. For its small size, it can heat a large space relatively quickly.

Oil Filled Heater- DeLonghi Model TRD0715T ($70)
Oil filled heaters are very economical, due to the fact that they rely on energy to heat their internal oil, then once warm, it can use the warm oil to continue to heat the room. The negative side is that these types of heaters are not as cool to the touch as many of these other heater types.

The Delonghi oil heater is credited for its safety features (tip-over protection) and impressive ability to heat an entire room. That temperature can then be maintained for just a matter of cents per hour. Reviewers claim that this heater can get a little hot to the touch, but that is one of the downsides of any oil heater that works this well.

Mica Panel Heater DeLonghi Model HHP1500 ($80)
The Mica Panel heater functions much the same way as an oil heater. It is quiet, effective, and economical. Like the oil heater, these can get hot to the touch and will emit an unpleasant odor for the first couple hours of use (but most new heaters will to some degree).

The Delonghi HHP1500 is a good solid entire room heater. It works with the similar effectiveness of Delonghi's TRD0715T oil heater, but it has the bonus of being wall mountable. This is a great feature to have for homes with children and pets, as it will keep their prying hands and paws away from any of its hot surfaces.

Radiant Heater- Holmes Quartz Tower Model HQH319 ($60)
Radiant Space Heaters are designed for ultra quick heating. The moment these units are turned on, they immediately radiate a sun-like warmth to whoever is within the path of its glow. For heating an entire room, radiant heaters are not usually the best choice, as they heat objects rather than the air.

The Holmes Quartz Tower offers a lot of heat for the money. This would be one of the best models to use in an area without insulation, such as a porch or workshop. This heater works so well in fact, you will need to keep a clear path of 4 feet in front of its grill, in order to keep things from getting too hot.

As mentioned, these are just a few notable portable electric heaters out there, but please share your own experiences with any of these or other available brands or models.


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## ScarletBegonias (Aug 24, 2005)

we have the presto heat dish, and it is awesome!!!! it will heat a large room in only a few minutes using only a small amount of electricity. it is the best space heater we've ever used, period. heats quickly, is safe, cost-effective and not unsightly. i highly recommend this one. we live in the sierra's in california, where we see snow and i am considering getting 1 or 2 more for the garage and one to port around the house. hth!


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## ScarletBegonias (Aug 24, 2005)

also, the heat dish it is very quiet. most radiators have fans and imo, are too noisy, even when brand-new.


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

I thought the dish heater only heated the area right in front of a person. How does it heat the whole room? It sounds great in theory. Like, how hot does it get the room? Do you feel it's safe to leave on while you are sleeping?


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## achildofthe80s (Mar 2, 2006)

We have a Lasko brand ceramic space heater. They heat up a room really well. The last two winters we haven't used our heat at all, we just keep the boys in our room at night and with the door closed and just the little heater it can get up to 90 degrees if you want it to! Plus the ceramic heaters don't get hot to the touch so you don't have to worry about little hands touching it!

http://www.iallergy.com/product829/product_info.html


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## IamPink (Jun 26, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *marieangela* 
The Holmes Quartz Tower offers a lot of heat for the money. This would be one of the best models to use in an area without insulation, such as a porch or workshop. This heater works so well in fact, you will need to keep a clear path of 4 feet in front of its grill, in order to keep things from getting too hot.

I just bought this one this weekend for $40 at WM. I am pretty impressed with it so far. We have the 4 kids bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom (I've closed off the "man room" for the winter, so my dh freezes when he's watching his shows, lol) I did shut the biggest bedroom down for a few days and so the older ds's are sleeping together. I wanted to make sure that I got a good base of heat before I open that room up tomorrow.
It seems to be doing a pretty good job! I like that it kicks on and off, so I feel a little better about the electric bill.








But, it is louder than I thought. Surprisingly, the kids like that because it's like a white noise machine and they like it while sleeping.
hth


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## USAmma (Nov 29, 2001)

I finally settled on two!!

Here's the whole saga.

Went to CostCo and bought a convection heater similar to oil-filled. Flat panel type. It worked great for one day and then tripped the circuit breaker. No good. It was returned.

I tried too small portable fan units with wires that got hot. The cords got hot and they didn't heat that well. They were returned.

I considered the Presto heat dish briefly but it said on the box "small rooms" and it just seemed like a lot of $ for what you got compared to other things you can buy.

I bought a ceramic tower and it worked great, but the thing was encased in plastic including the grill. It gave off a plastic smell and it did not have a safety feature to turn off if tipped over. No good. It was returned.

Went back to CostCo and got two more ceramic towers similar to the plastic encased one, but these are made by DeLoghni (sp?) which I heard was a good company. They do have the tip over safety feature. We can use them in my bedroom and IL's bedroom at night, and can bring them both to the main great room during the day if desired.

I was still thinking about an oil-filled one but I wanted something smaller and we are on a tight budget.


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