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The Best Space Heaters

By Thom Dunn
Updated
Four of the space heaters we tested for this guide, next to a pair of moccasin-style slippers.
Photo: Michael Hession

Whether you need to offset the chill in a drafty bedroom or give your home’s heating system a little boost, it’s always good to have a space heater on hand. We’ve researched over 100 models and tested 75 since 2011, and we think the Vornado VH200 is the best space heater for most people. A lot of space heaters can make you feel as if you’re sitting in front of a hair dryer. But our picks can warm an entire room faster and more comfortably than other models, while still offering plenty of reliable safety features, just in case.

Everything we recommend

Our pick

The Vornado VH200 offers the best combination of power, comfort, and quietness. It heats a room faster and more evenly than other models we tested.

Runner-up

The Vornado AVH10 was the most powerful space heater we tested, and it has a few thoughtful details that set it apart from others. But it tends to cost more.

Budget pick

This effective portable heater works quickly and lasts for years. But its narrow stream of hot air doesn’t feel as comfortable as the heat from models that warm a whole room, and it lacks some safety features.

Also great

Oil-filled radiators are silent but slow. The De’Longhi TRD40615T is the best of its type because it’s sturdier than competitors, with an exterior that stays cooler to the touch.

Buying Options

Also great

This attractive space heater is able to oscillate, which helps to spread the heat quickly and evenly around the room.

Buying Options

Also great

The Vheat’s solid heating performance is secondary to its delightful design, so it’s a great choice if you’re more concerned about aesthetics.

Also great

If you need an electric heater in the bathroom, the Lasko CD08200 and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the ones we recommend to do the job safely.

If you need an electric heater for the bathroom, the Lasko CD08200 and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the models we recommend to do the job safely.

Buying Options

Also great

The battery-powered EcoFlow Wave 2 will keep you warm wherever you go—even if you don’t have any walls to plug it into.

Our pick

The Vornado VH200 offers the best combination of power, comfort, and quietness. It heats a room faster and more evenly than other models we tested.

The Vornado VH200 has been our top pick since 2018. That’s because in speed and overall effectiveness, it has consistently surpassed nearly every other space heater we’ve tested, delivering an immediate temperature increase that builds steadily and evenly across the room over time. The VH200 is incredibly simple to use, with just three buttons (including the power switch). It’s also quieter than most other ceramic heaters we’ve tried, emitting only a soft, fanlike whir, and it’s compact enough to tuck away in a corner. Plus, it has all of the safety features we look for, along with a generous five-year warranty, just in case anything goes wrong.

Runner-up

The Vornado AVH10 was the most powerful space heater we tested, and it has a few thoughtful details that set it apart from others. But it tends to cost more.

The Vornado AVH10 is a lot like the VH200, with a few added features, such as a digital display, a convenient cord-wrapping post (for easy storage), and a countdown clock when you turn it off (for added safety). This model made the room hotter and warmed it faster than our top pick, but it also didn’t distribute that warm air quite as evenly. And it usually costs around $30 to $50 more. But the AVH10 is a great alternative if you find it for a good price, or if you really want those extra features.

Budget pick

This effective portable heater works quickly and lasts for years. But its narrow stream of hot air doesn’t feel as comfortable as the heat from models that warm a whole room, and it lacks some safety features.

We’ve been recommending the Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater since 2013, and it remains one of the cheapest and most reliable space heaters you can find. It warms up faster than most fan heaters we tested, and it has a compact, lightweight body (about the size of a loaf of bread) and can fit right under your desk. This heater’s focused stream of hot air is great for warming the area directly in front of it, but it’s not as good at spreading the heat around. So the Lasko 754200 is a better choice for a small bedroom or an office than for a large room. But overall, this is a consistent, reliable, and affordable powerhouse.

Also great

Oil-filled radiators are silent but slow. The De’Longhi TRD40615T is the best of its type because it’s sturdier than competitors, with an exterior that stays cooler to the touch.

Buying Options

Most space heaters can deliver quick heat to a single person, but oil-filled radiators are better at heating a whole room for a longer duration, and the De’Longhi TRD40615T is the best of its kind. Like most oil-filled radiators, this heater warms up much more slowly than a ceramic model. But it also retains that heat longer, providing a cozier, more-ambient warmth throughout the room. The TRD40615T’s burly, all-metal construction is more durable than that of our plastic picks, but it does take up more space.

Also great

This attractive space heater is able to oscillate, which helps to spread the heat quickly and evenly around the room.

Buying Options

The Dreo Solaris Slim H3 (DR-HSH003) stands out not only for its stylish appearance but also because it’s the rare oscillating heater that actually succeeds at spreading the warm air evenly around the room. It can’t warm you up quite as quickly as some of our other picks, but its steady arc of motion creates comfortable and uniform heating throughout your space. It also just looks great, with a sleek design and simple controls that let you choose between basic heat settings and a specific, dialed-in temperature. Plus, it has all of the usual safety features that we look for. It is still technically a tower fan, though, so it’s not fun to clean.

Also great

The Vheat’s solid heating performance is secondary to its delightful design, so it’s a great choice if you’re more concerned about aesthetics.

The vintage-style Vornado Vheat heats well enough, and it’s quite good-looking. With its solid metal construction and wonderfully retro knobs, the Vheat is simply the best-looking electric space heater we’ve found that doesn’t sacrifice (too much) functionality. It’s nearly (but not quite) as powerful and consistent as our other picks, but it’s a great choice for anyone interested in aesthetics as well as comfort.

Also great

If you need an electric heater in the bathroom, the Lasko CD08200 and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the ones we recommend to do the job safely.

If you need an electric heater for the bathroom, the Lasko CD08200 and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the models we recommend to do the job safely.

Buying Options

The Lasko CD08200 Ceramic Bathroom Heater and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the most effective and—more important—safe ways to bring some infrared warmth to your bathroom. Although you should still try to keep your space heater far away from water, these models both come with ALCI safety plugs and with overheat protection, for added safety in the case of stray splashes. Both models did a great job of warming up the cold bathroom tile, too. The main difference is whether you want to control six buttons or one.

Also great

The battery-powered EcoFlow Wave 2 will keep you warm wherever you go—even if you don’t have any walls to plug it into.

The EcoFlow Wave 2 is a powerful portable air conditioner that makes a great companion for off-grid living, RV camping, and plenty of other alternative-living situations. With 6,100 BTU of heat, it’s more powerful than our other picks, but it’s also slower to warm the room—though the even blanket of warm comfort it provides might be worth the wait. The EcoFlow also works with solar panels, car ports, and a variety of other charging options, so you can keep yourself warm wherever you go.

Whichever space heater you choose, there are some common safety concerns that many people overlook: You can’t use any space heater with an extension cord, and you shouldn’t leave any heater unattended. And most heaters can’t be used in a bathroom, unless they’re specifically designed for it. We go over these and other considerations in detail in our section on space-heater care, maintenance, and safety.

We’ve tested more than 80 different space heaters since we first started reviewing them, back in 2011. Over the years, we’ve interviewed experts from places including the Office of the Fire Commissioner in British Columbia and the global safety certification company UL. We’ve also spoken with product designers and engineers from companies such as De’Longhi and Vornado. And we’ve pored over reams of data and research from the U.S. Fire Administration (PDF), the U.S. Department of Energy, and the National Fire Protection Association, among others.

The current version of this guide was written by staff writer Thom Dunn, who has also written Wirecutter’s guides to portable air conditioners, window air conditioners, heat pumps, and outdoor patio heaters. And he’s learned firsthand that plugging a space heater and a half-stack Marshall guitar amp into the same power strip can cause some pyrotechnics (and not the cool, rock ’n’ roll kind).

Space heaters are great for supplementing the heat in certain rooms. Maybe there’s an area of your home that has noticeably poorer heat distribution. Perhaps your office is too cold, and you want a small, personal heater to keep at your desk. Or maybe you want to save money—and energy—by spot-heating a room (or yourself), as opposed to filling the entire space with hot air or pumping heat into a room with no one in it. A typical 1,500-watt space heater costs just under $1.50 to run for a full eight-hour workday, assuming average US electric rates for fall 2023—a fair price to pay for a little more comfort in the cooler months.

For that same reason, however, you probably shouldn’t rely on a space heater as the primary heating source for your entire home. For that, you’ll want to winterize your windows and look into getting a heat pump. But if you can’t do that, or you still have a room that just won’t warm up sufficiently, then a space heater could be your savior.

If you do think you need a new space heater, we recommend getting one before the cold weather hits. Retailers usually stock them seasonally, and that means prices and availability can fluctuate wildly in the winter months.

It’s also worth noting that space heaters can be dangerous. In the US alone, there are more than 1,000 home fires each year, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Though we try to limit our picks to models that include certain built-in safety technologies, you should be aware that getting a space heater—any space heater—could still mean you’re bringing a potentially deadly hazard into your home. If you’re not sure whether a space heater will work for your specific situation, our section on space-heater care, maintenance, and safety could help you make your decision.

Five of the space heaters we recommend sitting together on a wooden floor.
Photo: Michael Hession

A good space heater should make you feel more comfortable. That may sound obvious, but a space heater needs to do more than just keep you warm. It should also be convenient and easy to use, as well as safe. Below we list some of the things we look for when selecting models:

  • Quiet operation: Space heaters make noise, whether it’s due to the fan or electrical current or some other mechanical process. We specifically search for models rated under 60 decibels, or about the same volume as a normal conversation. And we dismiss any model that produced any noise, including clicks or erratic whirrs, above a steady hum.
  • Intuitive controls: Most heaters have (at the very least) two different settings, generally marked as high and low. It doesn’t matter whether the controls are digital or analog. We just want to be sure it’s easy enough to dial in the comfort that you need. Bonus points if there’s a clearly labeled timer function, too.
  • Sufficient safety features: Space heaters can be incredibly dangerous. We actively look for models with built-in protections—including overheat protection and tip-over kill switches—to reduce the risk of harm. We also seek models with certification from a recognized independent safety-testing laboratory, such as Intertek ETL or UL.
  • Cool to touch: For the same reason, we favor heaters with exteriors that stay below 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and we dismiss any model that gets consistently hotter than 160 degrees Fahrenheit at the heat source.
  • Not too ugly: Most people aren’t buying space heaters strictly for their looks. But if a heater is going to be sitting out in your home for several months at a time, it may as well be nice to look at.

You’ll notice that we didn’t mention anything about efficiency or power. That’s because, technically speaking, most electric space heaters put out the same amount of heat: 1,500 watts (about 5,110 BTU) on high and 750 watts (about 2,560 BTU) on low. They’re all technically 100% efficient, too, which means that every watt they use gets converted directly into heat. The difference between a good space heater and a lousy one is how well it moves that warmth around the room—plus the aforementioned safety and user-experience factors.

When it came time for testing, we let each space heater run in a room for four hours, and we took measurements on things like:

While the heaters ran, we also took subjective notes about our experiences with the controls, as well as the overall comfort and feeling of the room.

Our pick for best space heater overall, the Vornado VH200.
Photo: Michael Hession

Our pick

The Vornado VH200 offers the best combination of power, comfort, and quietness. It heats a room faster and more evenly than other models we tested.

The Vornado VH200 offers the best overall combination of heating speed and distribution, safety features, easy operation, and affordability. Plus, this heater is just generally pleasant to live with, thanks to its simple controls and quiet performance. There’s a reason it’s been our top pick since 2018.

The VH200 can warm a room faster than most other heaters. Vornado fans have a reputation for powerful air circulation, and the company’s space heaters are no exception. In our tests, the VH200 raised the temperature by nearly 20 degrees in just two hours. The only other models that came close to that were also from Vornado.

The VH200 also spreads that heat more evenly around the room. We measured an average difference of about 6 degrees between the sensor we placed 3 feet away from the VH200 and the one that was 6 feet away; that makes the VH200 one of the most consistent models we tested. This all-encompassing and diffuse heat felt natural, not forced, and it made the room feel more comfortable overall. Other Vornado models produced a little more heat, but there was a difference of about 8 to 10 degrees between their sensors. Our Lasko budget pick was a little more consistent than the VH200, but it didn’t produce nearly as much heat overall.

A graph showing space heater warmth over time test results, in which the Vornado VH200 has the most consistent warmth results.
Note: This table shows only models we tested in 2022. All figures in the table are in degrees Fahrenheit. Chart: Wirecutter

It’s surprisingly quiet, too. Despite its abundant heating ability, the VH200 operated with a quiet murmur that we didn’t find distracting or unpleasant. At the heater’s highest setting, we recorded a decibel level of 45 dBA at a distance of 3 feet and 44 dBA at 6 feet, making the VH200 quieter than most of the other radiant or ceramic heaters we tested. It’s still louder than a radiator, yet it’s also quieter than a household refrigerator (PDF).

The VH200 also comes with all of the safety features we look for, and more. The VH200 is UL-certified, with a tip-over switch that shuts off whenever the heater tilts off the ground, as well as built-in overheat protection. The overheat switch also activates when the airflow gets blocked, as an added layer of protection. The 6-foot-long cable gives you plenty of room to plug the heater into a wall outlet—not a power strip!—and still bring it near you. (You should never plug a space heater into a power strip!) During our tests, the exterior plastic shell stayed relatively cool, at around 95 degrees. Even the heat source behind the grille stayed under 140 degrees, making this one of the coolest models we tested. You still probably wouldn’t want to touch the grille at that temperature, but luckily, the fins are placed close enough together that even a toddler’s curious fingers will have a hard time reaching inside. To be clear, space-heater safety largely depends on using the heater correctly. But all of these features are still reassuring.

The controls are simple and straightforward, too. This space heater has a power button, three “mode” settings (one more than the typical low and high settings), and a thermostat dial with seven settings. And there’s also a built-in thermostatic climate-control feature, which is a bit less obvious but still nice to have. To activate it, simply turn the thermostat knob past your ideal temperature level. Then turn it back, counterclockwise, until you hear a click, and the VH200 will self-regulate to maintain the temperature where you want it, within about 1 degree. In our tests, we were surprised to find that this feature actually worked as advertised, too.

A close-up of the control panel on the top of the Vornado VH200 space heater.
The Vornado VH200 has relatively simple controls, as well as a third heat setting, which most competitors lack. Photo: Michael Hession

The VH200 has a slim, lightweight design, so it’s easy to tuck away. At 3.5 pounds, the VH200 is about the size of a coffee maker, and it can easily fit under your chair or desk. It’s not a particularly attractive piece of home decor, but it won’t stand out as an eyesore, either, and that’s pretty much exactly what you want. It’s also pleasantly pear-shaped, so it’s harder to tip over (and thus safer to use overall).

If anything goes wrong, Vornado offers the best warranty we’ve seen. The vast majority of space heaters are guaranteed for only a year, if that. But the VH200, like all Vornado products, has a five-year warranty—a generous coverage length that makes the VH200 feel like an even more reliable investment. And the company has a reliable reputation for delivering on these warranties.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

The VH200 doesn’t come with a remote control or a timer feature. Either one would be a nice added convenience, and a timer would be particularly nice, since it could turn the heater off after you’ve fallen asleep, for example. You can, however, plug the VH200 into one of our smart-plug picks, which could replicate some of these same controls.

The VH200 doesn’t oscillate, and you can’t tilt the fan to aim the heat in a specific direction. To be clear, the VH200 outperformed every oscillating space heater we tested, and it still did a better job of distributing the warmth than any model with a directional heat source. But we also recognize that some people are skeptical of the VH200’s air-circulation claims. And some folks just really enjoy having something that blasts the heat directly at them, even for a brief moment. This is not that heater.

It doesn’t have a digital (or even numeric) thermostat, either. The VH200 could be frustrating for anyone who’s hoping to keep the room at a specific temperature. You can still set the thermostat knob to “4” if that’s where you feel most comfortable, but there’s no way to translate that directly to 72 degrees Fahrenheit (or whatever the actual temperature is).

The VH200 also lacks a fan-only mode. This is really a bummer only because room fans are Vornado’s primary area of expertise, and so the lack of a fan-only mode prevents this model from becoming a year-round companion for home climate control.

Our pick for best space heater with a digital display, the Vornado AVH10.
Photo: Michael Hession

Runner-up

The Vornado AVH10 was the most powerful space heater we tested, and it has a few thoughtful details that set it apart from others. But it tends to cost more.

The Vornado AVH10 is similar to our top pick in almost every way, from its powerful performance to its generous five-year warranty. And it has the added benefit of a digital display screen, along with a few other thoughtful bonus features, including a convenient cord-wrapping post (for tidier storage). This heater does tend to cost more, though.

The AVH10’s digital display lets you dial in a more-precise temperature. While the temperature settings on the VH200 are more of a vibe, the AVH10 clearly displays the exact temperature in the room. And the large buttons are convenient and easy to use, even in the dark. In our tests, that onboard thermostat proved to be pretty accurate, too, though it did occasionally get confused between the temperature of the room and the temperature of the hot air it was pumping out. Fortunately, it was quick to self-correct.

It also has a fan-only setting. This could make the AVH10 a more worthwhile investment for people who want year-round climate control, or it could simply help you move the rest of the heat more efficiently around your home.

A close-up of the digital display and buttons on the top of the Vornado AVH10 space heater.
For a higher price, the Vornado AVH10 offers slightly better heating performance and a digital temperature display. Photo: Michael Hession

However, the AVH10 doesn’t distribute the heat quite as evenly. In our tests, the AVH10 increased the room temperature by a whopping 24 degrees over the course of an hour … at least when we measured it from 3 feet away. When we measured the temperature from 6 feet away on a diagonal, it had increased by only about 7 degrees, resulting in a temperature range of 16 degrees across just a few feet of the room.

It also tends to cost more than our top pick. The digital display and the cord-wrapping feature on the AVH10 model currently add a premium of about $30 over the cost of the VH200. Still, if you’re willing to pay that much for similar (albeit less even) heating performance, the AVH10 is a fine alternative.

If the AVH10 is not available, the Vornado AWRH and Vornado TAVH10 are nearly identical, with the addition of timer capabilities and remote control.

Our pick for best space heater on a budget, the Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater.
Photo: Michael Hession

Budget pick

This effective portable heater works quickly and lasts for years. But its narrow stream of hot air doesn’t feel as comfortable as the heat from models that warm a whole room, and it lacks some safety features.

We’ve been recommending the Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater as a pick since 2013. It’s not the quietest, the best-looking, or even safest option out there. But it is powerful and affordable, and that’s really all you need.

The Lasko 754200 is really, really good at blasting heat directly at you. You can feel the concentrated jet of warmth almost as soon as you turn on this space heater. In our tests, it performed nearly as well as our top pick, although it didn’t fill the room with the same kind of soothing, ambient heat. The overall experience of the Lasko 754200 is not unlike having someone point a hair dryer at you, for better or for worse.

It’s also easy to use, and it’s even easier to store away. The Lasko 754200 has two large dials on the top—one to control the power output, the other to control the heat setting (high, low, or fan). And that’s it. This heater is about the size of a loaf of bread, and it weighs only about 3 pounds, so you can stash it pretty much anywhere.

Plus, the Lasko 754200 is incredibly cheap. The Lasko 754200 tends to cost around $30 to $40—about half as much as our top pick. It tends to last, too.

A close-up of the control knobs on the top of the Lasko 754200 Ceramic space heater.
The Lasko 754200’s controls are simple and intuitive, and it’s easy to store and transport. Photo: Michael Hession

But it doesn’t have a tip-over protection switch. This is a pretty standard safety feature for portable space heaters. Tipped-over heaters tend to overheat, and this Lasko model’s upright stance is not the most stable. But it does have overheat protection, and it’s still ETL-certified, which gives us some comfort. Even so, be very careful.

The Lasko 754200 is also one of the loudest electric heaters we tested. It’s about 7 dBA louder than our top pick, but it’s still below the 60 decibels that the CDC uses to define “normal conversation” level. It’s not necessarily an unpleasant sound, either, though it is gravelly enough that you might find it irritating after a while.

Our recommended oil-filled radiator heater pick, the De’Longhi TRD40615T.
Photo: Michael Hession

Also great

Oil-filled radiators are silent but slow. The De’Longhi TRD40615T is the best of its type because it’s sturdier than competitors, with an exterior that stays cooler to the touch.

Buying Options

Oil-filled radiators are great at retaining heat, and they typically produce a more natural-feeling, ambient warmth throughout a room. If that’s what you’re looking for, the De’Longhi TRD40615T is the best option available. These kinds of heaters work more slowly than our other picks, and they don’t produce as much concentrated, directional heat. But they’re great at keeping the room cozy for longer periods of time.

The TRD40615T builds up heat and keeps working even after you turn it off. Unlike ceramic heaters, which cool off immediately after powering down, oil-filled radiators, like this one, are designed to retain enough thermal mass that they keep emitting heat even when the power is off. In our tests, the De’Longhi TRD40615T was able to keep a room between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit for four hours without using any electricity. Of course, it still took a while to build up that much heat in the first place (we’ll get to that).

Like all oil-filled radiators, it’s completely silent, too. Though all of our other picks rely on a fan to move the warmth around, the TRD40615T’s ambient approach to heating means there’s no extraneous noise. If you ever find yourself needing a space heater in a music recording studio—like I do—this is the one to go with. However, you shouldn’t plug it into the same outlet as your Marshall half-stack, unless you really want to see that outlet explode. (You don’t.)

A closeup of the control panel on the side of the De’Longhi TRD40615T space heater.
The De’Longhi TRD40615T has simple controls and a handy 24-hour timer. And in our tests, its exterior stayed cooler to the touch than those of other radiator-style heaters we tried. Photo: Michael Hession

Also like other oil-filled radiators, the TRD40615T takes a while to warm up. The De’Longhi TRD40615T generates its mighty thermal mass by heating up the oil inside of it. But, like watching a pot of water boil, this also takes some time—sometimes a half-hour or more before you feel any warmth radiating from the machine at all. Even after an hour, it still might raise the room temperature by only a few degrees. If you’re looking for instantaneous heating, this is not the pick for you.

It’s larger than our other picks, too. The TRD40615T is about the same size as a suitcase or, perhaps more accurately, a traditional floor-mounted radiator. This heater is long, 6.6 inches wide, and 25 inches tall, and it weighs 25 pounds. If you live in a cramped space, the TRD40615T may take up room you can’t spare (though the retractable wheels do make it surprisingly easy to move around). This heater is more well balanced than other oil-filled radiators we’ve tested, but that tall metal mass can still be top-heavy, so you’ll want to make sure it doesn’t topple over on anything important.

All radiators are hot to the touch, and this De’Longhi model is no exception. After we ran this model for four hours during our tests, we measured the exterior case at a whopping 180 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s hot enough to burn your skin on contact—yet it’s still significantly cooler than the 230 degrees we measured emanating from the hard-to-reach interior fins. This one is a lot cooler than any other oil-filled radiator we’ve ever tested (though that might be a … cold comfort?).

Some users have complained about the smell. Brand-new oil-filled radiators sometimes emit a noxious stench from the oil filling that remains on the surface of the heater after manufacturing. Once the oil evaporates, the smell should disappear. If you have particularly sensitive olfactory glands, we recommend running this heater outside to let it off-gas before bringing it inside (keep it dry and away from dirt or grass if you do this).

The TRD40615T comes with just a one-year warranty. But, hey, that’s better than nothing.

Our pick for best space heater with an oscillation system, the Dreo Solaris Slim H3.
Photo: Michael Hession

Also great

This attractive space heater is able to oscillate, which helps to spread the heat quickly and evenly around the room.

Buying Options

If you really love the feel of an oscillating heater wafting the warmth over you, get the Dreo Solaris Slim H3 (DR-HSH003). This sleek spinning tower has a slightly sci-fi vibe, but it performed nearly as well as our top pick—both in how well it warmed the room and in how evenly it distributed that warmth. We’re not typically keen on oscillating heaters or tower heaters, but if you’re determined to get one, the Solaris Slim H3 is the best of both worlds.

The Solaris Slim H3 is the rare oscillating heater that actually distributes the heat uniformly around the whole room. In our tests, we measured an average of less than 1 degree of difference in room temperature from the monitors we placed at 3 feet in front of the heater and 6 feet diagonal from it. In other words, the 70-degree oscillation arc on this heater was comparable to the air circulation of a Vornado.

But oscillating heaters are still more prone to breaking. To be clear, this isn’t a known problem we’ve encountered with this specific model—at least not yet (though we will continue testing it, just to be sure). In general, we tend to prefer heaters with fewer moving parts, since that means there are fewer things to worry about breaking over time.

A close-up of the control buttons on the top of the Dreo Solaris Slim H3 space heater.
Photo: Michael Hession

The Solaris Slim H3 also uses slightly more energy on “low” than other heaters. For some reason, Dreo designed this model to run at 900 watts on low, rather than at 750 watts (common with other heaters). This could make you feel a little more toasty, which is nice, but it could also cost more to run, which is less nice.

It’s technically a tower heater, too, which means it could be harder to clean. We stopped recommending tower fans for cooling back in 2018 because we found them so frustratingly difficult to clean. While we’ve had more positive experiences with tower heaters, we still don’t think it’s an ideal design. Fortunately, the crevices on the Solaris Slim H3 are pretty easy to access and clean. And if anything goes wrong, this heater has a built-in automatic-shutoff system, so the hot air and dust won’t combust into bigger problems.

Our pick for best space heater with a vintage aesthetic, the Vornado VHEAT, in teal, shown in a bedroom setting.
Photo: Michael Hession

Also great

The Vheat’s solid heating performance is secondary to its delightful design, so it’s a great choice if you’re more concerned about aesthetics.

If you want a space heater that also functions as a nice piece of home decor, we recommend the Vornado Vheat. It’s an all-around decent heater, with all the standard perks of our other Vornado picks (including the warranty). But what really sets it apart is its sturdy metal build and delightful retro aesthetic. If you’re willing to trade a little sizzle for the style, the Vheat heater is a wonderful choice.

The Vheat heater is the classiest-looking space heater we’ve ever tested. Its Art Deco–ish look is based on the original Vornado fan design from 1945. You can choose between a sea-foam green or vintage white finish, and both make the Vheat feel like a deliberate home-decor choice rather than, well, a small plastic space heater that you bought out of necessity.

A closeup of the simple switch in the back side that controls the Vornado VHEAT Vintage Heater.
Nice analog details give the Vheat heater a retro feel, and we were glad to find that the metal exterior remained relatively cool to the touch. Photo: Michael Hession

But it didn’t warm the room quite as well as our other Vornado picks. While the Vheat heater didn’t warm the room quite as quickly or evenly as any of our other picks, it still did a good job overall, raising the temperature from 3 feet away by about 11 degrees in the first 15 minutes. However, when we measured the temperature at 6 feet away, out of the fan’s direct line of sight, it had risen by only 4 degrees in that same amount of time. In other words, make sure you place the Vheat directly in front of you for maximum warmth.

It’s slightly louder than our other picks, too. In our tests, we measured the noise from the Vheat’s metal fan at about 56 decibels. While this makes it louder than our other Vornado picks, it’s also roughly the same volume as the gentle hum of a refrigerator—the kind of pleasant analog white noise that easily disappears into the background.

Photo: Michael Hession

Also great

If you need an electric heater in the bathroom, the Lasko CD08200 and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the ones we recommend to do the job safely.

If you need an electric heater for the bathroom, the Lasko CD08200 and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the models we recommend to do the job safely.

Buying Options

Placing high-voltage electrical equipment where it can get wet is generally something that’s frowned upon. But if you’re tired of facing freezing bathroom tiles when you step out of the shower in the morning, the Lasko CD08200 Ceramic Bathroom Heater and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are the best choices to warm your water closet while mitigating the risk.

The Lasko CD08200 and the Dreo DR-HSH004A are two of the only space heaters we’ve found that come equipped with ALCI plugs. This type of plug works in conjunction with a GFCI outlet (which you hopefully already have in your bathroom, if it’s up to code) to prevent the electrical current from going somewhere it shouldn’t—like, say, into a puddle of water. This safety feature is what specifically sets these heaters apart for low-risk bathroom usage.

Both models boast other built-in safety features, too. The CD08200 and the DR-HSH004A have built-in overheat protection, as well. The DR-HSH004A also has a tip-over switch, which the CD08200 lacks. In this case, we think that’s okay; the CD08200 is not tall or likely to tip over. If anything does go wrong, the ALCI plug should catch the problem before it turns into something worse.

A close-up of the large circular control button on the top of the Lasko CD08200.
Photo: Michael Hession

But you should still try to keep these heaters away from water. Even with all of the thoughtful safety features on these models, you’ll still want to mitigate the risk of water exposure, if possible. The Lasko model’s instruction manual (PDF) explicitly states that “this product should never be used near water.” The manual doesn’t define “near,” but point taken: Just because this model may be safer in the case of an accident, that doesn’t mean you should willingly expose it to water. Don’t even splash these models, if you can avoid it—neither one comes with an Ingress Protection rating for water resistance.

The EcoFlow Wave 2space heater, in the middle of a bedroom.
Photo: Thom Dunn

Also great

The battery-powered EcoFlow Wave 2 will keep you warm wherever you go—even if you don’t have any walls to plug it into.

Whether you’re trying to live off-grid or warm up during an RV camping trip, or you simply don’t have a wall outlet to plug a space heater into, the battery-powered EcoFlow Wave 2 is a fantastic choice. It works with a variety of charging options, including solar, and it offers both heating and cooling capabilities (which is why you’ll also find it in our guide to the best portable air conditioners). This heater is significantly more expensive than our other picks—but it also does something none of them can do, and does it well.

The Wave 2 provides more heat while using less energy. Our other picks all max out at around 5,100 BTU when running at 1,500 watts. But the EcoFlow Wave 2 cranks out up to 6,100 BTU of heat—even though it pulls only 750 watts while charging.

It can run on solar power or a car charger, as well as plenty of other power sources. The Wave 2 can be plugged into the wall, but the fact that it doesn't have to be plugged into the wall means there’s a lot more flexibility for location. The built-in battery typically lasts about four to six hours with constant use, yet it can last for days if you don’t push it too hard. You can also get additional batteries, so you can charge one while the other battery runs. The Wave 2 comes with built-in charging ports, too, so you can use the battery to run your other gadgets as well.

The Wave 2 is also a great choice for camping and RVs. You can even run the Wave 2 off of one of the company’s portable generators, like the Delta Max 2000, which can also charge off of solar, car chargers, gas generators, and so on. That way, you can bring the air conditioning with you everywhere you go.

But the Wave 2 is slower to warm the room. The Wave 2 functions more like a standard air conditioner. It draws air into the unit, and then it pumps the warm air out into the room until it gradually mixes with the cold and levels out the temperature. As such, you’re not going to feel the immediate relief of heat when you first turn it on, unless you plant yourself directly in front of it. But over time, the machine will warm up the entire room, instead of just the people in it, resulting in a more-comfortable overall heating experience. It just might take a few hours.

You also need to exhaust the cool air somewhere. The Wave 2’s AC-like design means it’s great at separating warm air from colder air—but you still have to do something with the air you don’t want in the room. For the fastest heating, you’ll need to pump the cold air outside using one of the included exhaust hose attachments. You can also use those hoses to pull fresh air indoors from outdoors, or place the unit outside the room, and use the hose to send the warm air in. Or you can just let the cold air escape back into the same room that you’re trying to heat up, until it mixes to a slightly warmer equilibrium. It’s not the most effective method, but you’ll warm up eventually, especially if you’re sitting right in front of the unit.

The Wave 2 is expensive. We recognize that the Wave 2 is not a casual investment. But if you need portable heating and cooling with a variety of charging options, this one really is the way to go.

The Vornado AWRH and Vornado TAVH10 are newer variants of our runner-up pick, from Vornado. These models come with a remote control and timer capabilities, as well as a thermostat that shows the current temperature, and they work just as well as any other Vornado heater.

Similarly, the Vornado VH10 is almost identical to our top pick. This one has an added ledge for coil-wrapping, as well as some subtle control tweaks that we just really didn’t like as much. It works fine though.

The VMH600, also from Vornado, has a stainless steel case that remains shockingly cool to touch—just 76 degrees on the outside and 90 at the heat source. It also performed similarly well to other Vornados.

Unlike our other picks, the Sunkos Portable Electric Space Heater uses far infrared heat, which is typically better at penetrating human skin—the kind of warmth you can truly feel in your bones (even if it doesn’t heat the rest of the room quite as well). It’s also completely silent. At roughly two feet tall and wide and only two inches thick, it can be a little wobbly, and also tends to get hotter to touch than other models we’ve tested. But overall, it’s a decent choice if you’re craving warmth that goes beyond skin deep, though it might not be the best choice for homes with kids or pets.

The Lasko FH500 All Season Comfort Control Tower was a pick for many years, and it’s still the best (and largest) tower heater we’ve tested. We still think it’s great, but we’re bullish on tower fans in general.

The oscillating Vornado OSCTH1 looks sort of like the obelisk from 2001: A Space Odyssey, and it did a great job of providing even, powerful heat distribution. But we have heard some complaints about the oscillating gears causing all sorts of problems (a common issue with any oscillating heater or fan).

We previously recommended the Honeywell UberHeat Ceramic Heater HCE200W, and we still think it works pretty well for a loud, cheap fireball, if that’s what you’re looking for.

The neat part about the Honeywell VersaHeat HHF260 bathroom heater is that you can position it horizontally or vertically, depending on how you want the heat to spread. Unfortunately, in both orientations, it still performed poorly in our tests.

The desktop-size Vornado Velocity 1 is a “personal” space heater that maxes out at 750 watts. It’s also one of the worst Vornados we’ve ever tested. If you want something cheap, just get our budget pick from Lasko.

The Vornado MVH is almost identical to our top pick, and it works almost as well, too—unless the overheat switch gets activated, which tends to brick the entire thing.

The tiltable Vornado Glide reminded us aesthetically of Prince Robot IV from the comic book Saga. But it took a while to warm up, and it felt like a constant safety concern (also like Prince Robot IV).

The Atomi Smart Space Tower Heater is the first space heater we’ve tested with built-in smart-home capabilities. Unfortunately, those don’t really add anything to the user experience that you can’t get just as easily by pairing the Vornado VH200 with one of our smart-plug picks.

If you want something that looks like a cheap Dyson knockoff but still costs about the same as a Dyson, you could get the Westinghouse 2-in-1 Digital Bladeless Fan with Heater WSFBLA018BK. That’s about the only circumstance where it would make sense for anyone to buy this heater.

The Amazon Basics Portable Digital Radiator was cooler to the touch than our current oil-filled radiator pick from De’Longhi, but that’s because it raised the room temperature by only 4 degrees after two hours. Disappointing performance and safety concerns made this model a quick dismissal.

We’ve also tested several other oil-filled radiators from De’Longhi, including the Comfort Temp Full Room Radiant Heater KH390715CB and the Silent System EW7707CM. But we found that their features distracted from the simplicity that makes our De’Longhi pick so good.

We’ve also tested several other Lasko heaters, including the Lasko CW210 Oscillating Bladeless Ceramic Heater, the Lasko FHV820 Oscillating Hybrid Fan and Space Heater, and the Lasko CC23630 Elite Collection Revolution Ceramic Heater. They were all perfectly mediocre in their own slightly distinct ways.

We cannot stress this enough: Space heaters can be dangerous. Though modern space heaters are generally much safer than older models with open heating elements, they’re still not without risk. Even if you follow all of the instructions—and even if you buy one of the models we recommend, which all boast certified safety features—it’s still too easy to make a mistake that could lead to catastrophic consequences. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, portable heaters are involved in more than 1,000 fires per year, resulting in an annual average of about 50 deaths and dozens of injuries. The data from the National Fire Protection Association is even more dire; it reported that space heaters were involved in almost 90% of home heating fire deaths between 2014 and 2018, and that they caused more than a billion dollars in property damage.

Generally speaking, you should always follow the safety instructions in the manual that came with your space heater. To help you mitigate the risks, we’ve also written a separate guide with some additional advice, including:

  • Never leave a space heater running unattended. Most instructions even tell you not to let a space heater run while you’re sleeping; at the very least, you should use the timer setting (if it has one) so the heater automatically shuts off once you’ve entered dreamland. You should also be wary of using your heater where curious kids or pets can reach it.
  • Never plug a space heater into a power strip or extension cord. The added circuit length can build up heat from the high current and overload, with explosive results (as we learned the hard way). That being said, there are some smart plugs, like the Wemo Mini, that should be safe.
  • Seriously, don’t use extension cords or power strips. We know it’s tempting, so we’re repeating this for emphasis.
  • Don’t run the cord under a rug or a door. Again, there’s a lot of electrical current running through that wire. You don’t want to pinch, bend, or otherwise damage it, lest that current escape.
  • Avoid placing a heater within 3 feet of an electrical outlet—or anything flammable. This includes curtains, papers, furniture, pillows, and bedding (and you need to keep it off your bed, too). Most heaters come with a 6-foot cord for precisely this reason. You should also try to keep a space heater away from any furnaces, fireplaces, stoves, fuel, or anything that might impede the airflow.
  • Generally speaking, you shouldn’t put a heater anywhere except on a flat, even, uncovered floor. That means no elevated surfaces like tables, stools, or stacks of books. You shouldn’t even put a space heater on a rug, if possible (we realize that some people still have wall-to-wall carpeting).
  • Don’t leave your heater in a place that frequently gets wet. Be sure to heed this advice, unless your heater is specifically designed and approved for it, as our bathroom picks from Lasko and Dreo are. Water and electricity are really not a good combination.

We’ve noticed a growing interest in wall-mounted heaters—from smaller, semi-permanent alternatives to mini-splits or other built-in electric radiator systems. They still require some installation (hence the “wall-mounted” part), and they do max out at 1,500 watts or 5,100 BTU, like our other electric space heater picks. But they can be a great choice for a small room or office. We’re looking into several new models, including the Dreo Smart Wall Heater WH719S and the De'Longhi HSX4315E Slim Style Digital Space Heater, and we will update this guide once we’ve had a chance to test them in earnest.

This article was edited by Harry Sawyers.

Meet your guide

Thom Dunn

Thom Dunn is a staff writer at Wirecutter reporting on heating, cooling, and other home-improvement topics. Sometimes his curiosity gets the best of him, such as when he plugged a space heater and a Marshall guitar amp into the same power strip. Pro tip: Don’t do that.

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