You’ll see hundreds of products when shopping for the best portable heaters for home use. The most efficient electric heater for home use provides the best balance of power and efficiency.
Here we will talk about the best room heaters for winter with a small list of pros and cons. Later in the article, we will be listing some of the highest-rated space heaters on the market today for each type of space heater that we will discuss.
Our Top Picks for Best Portable Heaters for Home
Below is our list of the best electric space heater for homes. Here we will provide you with a few heaters of each type if you find the correct type of heater you want while reading this article.
Best Oil-Filled Radiator Heaters
De’Longhi Full Room Radiant Heater
The De’Longhi Oil-Filled Radiator is considered by many to be the best heater for home use. It has one of the quickest room heat-up times, with 25% more space for air to circulate and quiet operation. Not only would you be unaware of its presence, but your room would quickly heat up, making it one of the best portable heaters for home use.
This oil-filled electric radiator heater has several safety features, including the required tip-over protection, aided by its extra-wide feet and a thermal cutoff for overheating power.
It also has an insulated heating system that heats the diathermic oil permanently sealed inside the heater.
The De’Longhi has a few exclusive features for your convenience. This involves a 24-hour programmable timer that allows you to set various times for your heater to turn on during the day and night.
It also has an antifreeze mode that switches the device on automatically if the temperature falls below 44 degrees Fahrenheit. All this makes the De’Longhi radiator heater one of the safest space heaters.
Pelonis oil-filled radiators are perfect for medium to large-sized rooms and come with a range of safety features to keep you and your loved ones safe. With an automatic overheat protection system, these heaters are perfect for use by elderly people or children.
Pelonis Oil-Filled Radiator Heater with Programmable Thermostat
The PELONIS Oil Filled Radiator is our first recommendation for your comfort. The PELONIS is available in a range of colors to complement the decor of your house.
This heater has several heating settings for fast and effective heating in the room; it has three different heating modes (High, Low, and Eco.), making it one of the best portable heaters for home use.
The PELONIS Oil Filler heating system has temperature settings that allow you to set your preferred temperature between 65 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit for a maximum affected area of 164 square feet.
This oil heater has many safety features, including an impressive 10-hour timer with remote control, meaning you don’t have to leave your comfortable bed or sofa. It also has built-in overheat security and a tip-over safety switch in case of mishaps or malfunctions with the computer.
Best Panel Space Heaters
The panelized electric heater is one of the best portable heaters for home use.
EconoHome Wall Mount Space Heater Panel
The EconoHome Wall Mount is a sleek, stylish heater that comes in around $120 to $140, depending on your chosen model.
That said, this particular heater comes in 8 different models, including some with heat guards and intelligent models that can control the temperature via an app you download on your phone.
This heater comes with standard overheating protection. But no tip-over protection because it is wall-mounted. This easily mounted space heater conducts heat through convection currents.
Getting the heat guard accessory for these models is highly recommended, which they say doubles the heaters’ convection efficiency.
De’Longhi Convection Panel Heater
The De’Longhi Convection Panel Heater packs 1500 watts of heating power to heat up to 300 square feet of space.
It comes with feet to be set on the floor and an attachment so you can mount it on a wall if you choose.
This space heater also has digital controls, an adjustable thermostat, a timer, and various heat settings with an LED monitor.
A safe heat tip-over warning Buzzer that will turn off if it inadvertently tips over, overheat safety, and an antifreeze setting are all included.
The ECO feature conserves energy by automatically changing heat and power settings to provide the most convenient and cost-effective warmth, making it one of the best portable heaters for home use.
Best Radiant Infrared Heaters
The radiant infrared electric heater is one of the best portable heaters for home use.
The Comfort Zone Fan-Assisted Tower Radiant Quartz Heater has a dual quartz tube that produces instant heat and a fan-assisted design to warm the surrounding area. The remote control allows you to adjust the temperature across the room.
Two top-mounted control knobs allow you to switch between high and low-temperature settings. The overheat protection automatically shuts off the unit.
Comfort Zone Fan-Assisted Tower Radiant Quartz Heater
The CCC Comfort Zone Radiant Quartz Tower from Comfort Zone is first on the list of infrared space heaters.
This practical radiant heater efficiently and thoroughly warms people and objects. The dual quartz tubes automatically switch on when activated and emit a warm light.
A stay-cool molded handle, metal housing, a tip-over switch, and an overheat security mechanism are only a few of the new safety features.
Like most others on this list, this heater has the same safety features to keep you comfortable during winter.
Best Ceramic Space Heaters
The ceramic electric space heater is one of the best portable heaters for home use.
Lasko 755320 Ceramic Space Tower Heater
The Lasko 755320 is one of our best portable heaters for homes. This electric space heater has two silent modes, high and medium, and an auto mode. As a result, it is ideal for warming up space in your home or office.
Because of its complete oscillation, this heater distributes warm air throughout the space. The digital monitor allows you to change the heater’s 1500-watt ceramic heating element.
Using an easy-to-read digital temperature tracker, you can choose from Fahrenheit or Celsius temperatures.
Overheat safety ensures that the space heater will not overheat even if left on for an extended time. Because of the cold-touch exterior, the heating remains cool to the touch even after hours of use.
This model also includes the standard tip-over safety, which automatically shuts off the device if an accident occurs.
Best Micathermic Space Heaters
Lastly, the micathermic space heater is one of the best portable heaters for home use.
TURBRO Arcade HR1500 Electric Mica Space Heater
With the first micathermic heater on this list, we suggest the TURBO Arcade HR1500. This heater has many features at a reasonable price of $79.99.
This mica heater will warm your room in less than 30 seconds while evenly spreading its two-sided heat distribution.
With two heat settings to boot, Low and High, you can choose the optimal temperature for your comfort.
Safety is a top priority with this model. With its added overheat protection and tip-over safety switch, you can rest assured that these safety features have your back if any accident happens.
A note from the manufacturer states that white smoke will come off the heater for a few seconds when you first turn on this device. This is normal and should not cause concern.
What to Consider When Choosing the Best Portable Heaters for Home Use?
Looking for the best portable heaters for home use? How do you keep your family warm in the coming cold seasons? There are a few features to consider looking for. Take a few minutes to thoroughly review the following list to ascertain what you are looking for.
1. Adjustable Thermostat
The best portable heaters for homes will have a built-in adjustable thermostat if you want it to regulate the room’s air temperature and turn it on if it is too cool and off when it’s too warm.
This feature allows you to set the ideal temperature for the room, and the heater will start heating automatically when the ambient air in the room reaches that temperature.
This function is ideal for colder climates where 24-hour heating is needed, as the auto on/off feature will keep your room at the correct temperature without wasting too much energy.
2. Maximum Heating Zone
Something important to look for in the best portable heaters for home use is the amount of space a heater can heat up. Most space heaters run at a maximum of 1500 watts that can only heat up to 150 to 160 square feet of space.
However, more extensive and expensive options use much more wattage, making them heat more space than their smaller counterparts.
You can position the smaller heaters more effectively in areas used more often in the rooms you wish to heat up. This will save you money in 2 ways.
You are not purchasing the more oversized, expensive products and electricity because the bigger models tend to use much more.
3. Portable or Mounted
Electric space heaters will fall into one of these two categories.
Mounted Electric Space Heaters
You can install mounted space heaters on the wall or ceiling. This is the way to go if you want a permanent or semi-permanent space heater.
They can be hardwired into your electrical system, mounted on a wall or the ceiling next to an outlet, and plugged in, which will be much less complicated to install than hardwiring.
If you have a large room you want to heat up, you can purchase plenty of mounted electric space heaters that are pretty powerful compared to their portable counterparts.
Portable Electric Space Heaters
These heaters can be moved around freely and do not require set-up manuals or instructions. Just plug them in and turn them on. With this, they can be set up strategically to heat critical areas of large or small rooms.
While most compact and lightweight, they can be set up on a table or a countertop on the floor. Just be sure that the portable space heater you purchase fits that placement.
4. Maintenance
Like any other heating or cooling appliance, an electric space heater will need some maintenance to operate correctly over time. Lightweight heaters are less expensive than heavier-duty ones but are not as durable.
5. Safety Features
Electric space heaters can be dangerous if not correctly designed, installed, and used.
Many suppliers have begun to incorporate safety features such as a tip-over mechanism, overheating protection, and a cool-touch feature to make the product as accident-proof as possible.
- Overheating protection: This useful function would be used in almost all electric heaters. It is designed for days of constant use in conditions where the ambient temperature varies by several degrees, causing the heater to overheat.
When this happens, the overheating protection senses the rising temperature and shuts down the heater to avoid external and internal damage.
- Cool-touch case: This purpose is mostly used with heaters that are not wall-mounted space heaters since they are often set up or installed in positions where passing children or adults come into contact with the heater’s sides.
Heaters without this feature can inflict extreme burns, but the cool-touch feature allows you to touch or catch the heater’s exterior without injury.
- Tip-over shut-off switch: This function is beneficial for heaters that can be used in any room of your house. Your heater’s tip-over safety switch will turn off if tipped over.
This would save the appliance from overheating due to insufficient air supply while lowering the heater’s fire risk.
Fortunately, this functionality is uncommon in space heaters. Through this, you will be assured that nothing can happen if an accident occurs, whether caused by you, your children or your pets inadvertently knocking over your heater and you do not know it right away.
6. Other Features To Consider
Electric space heaters have advanced and now provide many extra features that may help you keep your home warm.
Examine the features listed below to see if any are needed for you to have while attempting to remain warm when relaxing at home.
- A handle: Having a handle on the heater will allow you to move the heater with ease and without having to grab the whole body of the device. If the heater does not have a cool-to-touch case, a handle will allow you to move it without letting the appliance cool down completely to avoid burns.
- Oscillation: Space heaters with this feature turn from side to side while this feature is activated. This provides the space heater with more excellent heat distribution.
- Extended cords: Using a heater with one of these will allow you to place the space heater anywhere in reach of an outlet, thereby expanding the potential places to set up and keep hot.
- Wheels: Larger and heavier heaters, like the oil-filled ones, typically come with wheels. Purchasing a heater with wheels would help you to drive your heater without having to pick it up. If you want to buy a heavier heater, opt for one with wheels to save time and effort.
Types of Best Portable Heaters for Home
Most of the best portable heaters for home typically run on electricity. However, with proper ventilation, you can use a natural gas space heater, either vented or ventless, to heat your home effectively. Thus we will not discuss natural gas heaters in this article.
Electric heaters fall into three categories: convection, infrared, and assisted. Listed below are the three main types and the different heaters that use that heating method to warm the space around them.
1. Convection
Convection is the process of heated atoms rising as high as they can as they cool off and fall back down, where they will begin to get heated back up again, thus repeating the process.
Due to this, rooms warmed up by convection heaters tend to stay warm longer because of the convection process. The different types of convection heaters are as follows.
Oil-filled Radiators
Oil heaters look just like the old-fashioned radiators that use water to keep the house as warm as possible. However, these are much smaller and typically have wheels, so you can quickly move them from room to room.
Oil space heaters do not use water to heat the metal enclosure to create that convection current. Instead, they use diathermic oil, which is boiled inside the heater and creates a small convection current inside the heater.
The diathermic oil retains heat for a long time, thus prolonging the room’s actual heating even after the device is shut off.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Oil Heaters
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Heat lasts long and starts right after the heating is switched off. | You can not control the speed of the heat. |
| It is very effective and does not need to be run constantly to supply heat. | The housing gets very hot and does not have a cool-touch enclosure. |
| Some come with a digital thermostat. | Heavier than most forms of heaters, usually weighing 15 to 20 pounds. |
| Easy to move around if it has wheels. | Heat can not oscillate. |
Panel Space Heaters
Panel space heaters are a newer invention that is rapidly gaining popularity. Using the provided stand, a panel space heater may be wall-mounted or set on the concrete.
Panel space heaters work similarly to oil-filled heaters by allowing hot air to radiate off the device. The critical distinction is that flat panel space heaters heat air with electrical currents rather than oil.
While a panel space heater may seem the better option, many heaters are best used to remove the cold from a room rather than thoroughly heating it.
Before entirely replacing the other types of space heaters mentioned in this guide, panel heater technology must also progress.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Panel Space Heaters
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| The appearance is stylish and new. | They do not produce as much heat as other kinds of space heaters. |
| It can be hung on the wall or set down on the floor. | Generally used to expel cool air from a room without thoroughly heating it. |
| The simplest to use it is to plug it in and let it do its work. | There are not a lot of controls. |
| It will still heat with a low risk of catching fire. | Not all versions have a fan. |
| It cannot be moved from one room to another if it is wall-mounted. |
Infrared / Radiant
Infrared heaters stand in a class on their own. Rather than heating the air in the room like the other two classes of heaters on this list, they heat the room’s objects.
Heat is a byproduct of light, which is invisible to our eyes. Our skin, clothes, and other things in the room, like the chair you sit in or the blanket you are also using, absorb the light, which is why we get heated by infrared heaters.
It’s like the contrast between bright sunshine and sitting in the shade. In the sun, you feel comfortable, and the light that reaches your clothing and skin makes you warm, but in the shade, the light does not affect you.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Infrared Space Heaters
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Objects do not block heat; instead, they absorb it. | Infrared heaters can be surprisingly heavy. |
| Heat lasts long and continues well after the infrared heater is turned off. | You can only direct heat in one direction. |
| Some models have wood cabinet designs that give the impression that they are furniture. | Heat transmission requires physical objects in the room to absorb; fewer objects equate to less total heat produced by these heaters. |
| Housing that is cool to the touch. | It can be pretty costly, depending on the model. |
| Some come with a digital thermostat. | |
| Some come with wheels or a handle making them very portable. |
Fan Assisted
Fan-assisted space heaters are the most typical run-of-the-mill heaters on the market. They are the most popular and most frequently purchased. This is mainly due to the relatively inexpensive cost they come with.
Most space heaters include a fan in some way. You can buy every space heater listed below with or without a fan installed.
Ceramic Space Heaters
Ceramic plates are attached to metal coils in a ceramic space heater. It is run by electricity. As electricity flows through such coils, the ceramic plates heat up.
The ceramic plates absorb electrical heat, which is then expelled into the air because it has to go elsewhere. The most crucial benefit of ceramic heater systems is that they heat up efficiently and quickly, allowing you to enjoy the healing benefits of this type of heater in a brief amount of time.
As a result, they are among the most energy-efficient electric heaters available.
Ceramic space heaters are available in two configurations: with and without a fan. If the ceramic heater has a fan, the fan blows air over the ceramic plates, causing the heater to flow more quickly in the room.
If the ceramic heater does not have a fan, the heating system takes a little longer because the air must continuously absorb the heat the ceramic surface releases.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Ceramic Space Heaters
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Compact in size. | It is not very effective in heating large areas, best suited for small rooms or apartments. |
| Small and portable. | Ceramic heaters that do not have a fan tend to heat the room very slowly. |
| Heat up very quickly. | Most ceramic heaters must operate continuously to provide heat, thus using electricity consistently. |
| Ceramic plates take considerable time to cool off; thus, the heat still radiates after being turned off. | Physical objects in the way of the heater impede its heat transmission. |
| Typically has a housing that is cool to the touch. | |
| Heat can have the ability to oscillate around the room, spreading the heat. | |
| Moving around is easy. | |
| Some come with a digital thermostat. |
2. Metal Coil Space Heaters
These heaters are the most basic construction and function almost the same as a ceramic heaters.
However, instead of having ceramic plates to help retain the heat, these heaters have metal coils around the heating element which will then transfer heat into the air.
These space heaters should typically only come with a fan because if it does not, the heat emitted from them will take FAR too long to heat the room you have placed it in.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Metal Coil Space Heaters
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| These types of heaters tend to be the least expensive on the market. | When the heater is turned off, it cools off quickly. So no excess radiant heat after being switched off. |
| Compact in size. | Constantly running to apply heat to the room, thus using lots of electricity. |
| Very lightweight, making moving it from room to room easy. | Typically not very good for a large room, best used to heat small areas or apartments. |
| Heat up relatively quickly. | Typically not very good for a large room, best used to heat small areas or apartments. |
| They can come with an oscillation feature to spread the heat around the room more quickly. | Most of these types of heaters only have a dial thermostat. |
| Typically have cool-to-touch housing to prevent burns from adjusting while it is on. | Objects in front of the heater impede the heat from warming up the room. |
3. Micathermic Space Heaters
Micathermic space heaters are a new type of heater developed in recent years. These heaters are a particular case because they function as all of the other classes combined.
They work mainly through convection and radiant heat. However, they use a fan to suck in and pass it over the elements and back into the room.
It uses convection to heat the air in the room while also using radiant heat to warm up the objects in the room itself slightly. This gives you the best of both worlds.
Advantages & Disadvantages of Micathermic Space Heaters
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Very lightweight, making it easy to move from room to room. | While a relatively new design, micathermic heaters are not very powerful yet and can typically only heat up to 150 square feet. |
| Heat up almost instantly when turned on. | |
| It is slim and compact, making it easily stored almost anywhere without taking up much space. | |
| It works quietly; even though some of these heaters have a fan, it’s tranquil and sucks in the air rather than blowing it out. |
With this article coming to its end, we hope to have provided you with enough information to help you decide what type of space heater is the best choice for you and your family.
Be sure to look over all of the available features. If you do not like any of the models, we have suggested. Hopefully, you can use them or the information from this article as a jumping-off point to find the best indoor electric heaters for large rooms that are just right.
Best Portable Heaters for Home FAQs
What are the best portable heaters for home?
There are many different types of portable heaters, and the best type for you will depend on your specific needs. The safest space heater is an electric radiator heater. When choosing the best indoor electric heater for your home, some factors to consider include the size of the space you need to heat, the level of portability you require, the fuel source (electricity, propane, etc.), and your budget.
What is the most efficient heater for a home?
The most efficient heater for a home will depend on your specific needs. When choosing an efficient heater, some factors to consider include the size of the space you need to heat, the level of insulation in the home, the climate you live in, and your budget. The safest space heater for families with kids and pets is an oil-filled electric radiator heater because it is very efficient and cool to the touch.
What space heater gives off the most heat?
The most efficient heaters include propane, kerosene, and electric space heaters. Natural gas, propane, and kerosene heaters will heat your space faster but aren’t as safe as electric heaters.
Which type of heater is the cheapest to run?
Electric space heaters are some of the most cost-effective and best portable home heaters. Electric space heaters can warm a room cheaper than natural gas, propane, or kerosene. When paired with solar, electric heaters have little to no operating costs.
How does a space heater work?
Space heaters use a fuel source (electricity, propane, etc.) to generate heat. The heat is then transferred into the surrounding air, raising the room’s temperature. Space heaters are often used to supplement central heating systems or provide heat in areas where central heating is unavailable.
Is it important to have a fan inside a space heater?
It is not necessarily important to have a space heater with a built-in fan. Some space heaters need a fan to circulate the heat. Others, like radiant infrared heaters, heat objects, not the air, and thus don’t need a fan.
What’s the best portable heater you can buy?
The best portable heaters for home use, depending on your specific needs and budget. When choosing the best portable heaters for your home, some factors to consider include the size of the space you need to heat, the level of portability you require, the fuel source (electricity, propane, etc.), and your budget.
Choose the best heater you can afford with the longest warranty. Cheap space heaters only last 1 to 3 years, depending on use.
What is the safest type of portable heater?
The home’s safest and best portable heater is an oil-filled radiator. These heaters stay cool and are safe to use around kids and pets. While we don’t condone leaving a space heater unattended or on overnight, an oil-filled radiator heater is safe for several hours and has no health and low fire risks.
