A Space Heater is essential in all homes (even if you’ve central heating systems installed) to evenly heat individual rooms/living areas. In USA, almost all homes (90% of homes or more) have set up a central heating system – which would be a central furnace, or a boiler based system or a heat pump system.
While central heating systems are a great way to heat up a home, they don’t evenly distribute heat to all areas. Often you’ll have to supplement your central heating system with individual space heaters to manage even heating (same temperature in all areas) of a room. In this guide, we write about Economical Space Heaters – which are budget-friendly space heaters to heat individual rooms or small spaces in your home.
Space heaters are available in different variants – say electric space heaters, gas-based space heaters (propane) and other models. Choosing the right economical space heater can be a little confusing unless you’ve got a good idea about these model variants.
Electric space heaters are convenient to manage as they don’t need any exhaust system. You get one, power it up and the heat is ON! The downside is high energy costs as electricity can be costly in many states. Gas-based space heaters require you to set up exhaust management in your home, as they produce a considerable amount of exhaust gas. The upside with gas-based space heaters is its low fuel costs (compared to electricity or other fuels).
We’ve seen different variants of space heaters available. Now let’s skim the essential things to consider while buying a space heater.
1. Got kids? Go for a safer one.
If you’ve got kids, you should ensure the safety of your family first. The usual pitfalls are anyone accidentally touching the heat coils or placing an inflammable object in front of the heater. To avoid any such unwanted events, always make sure the space heater has protective grills (to avoid anyone touching the coils) and thermostats/sensors that shut down the heater if a fire or overheating occurs.
2. Choose an energy-efficient one
If you’ve ensured “safety features”, the next important criteria should be “energy efficiency”. If the space heater you choose lacks efficiency, you’d end up paying higher energy bills every month. Out of all the space heater variants, electric space heaters has the best efficiency (100%). Propane based heaters also have very high efficiency (99 to 100%) and they are economical in fuel costs as well (compared to electricity). When it comes to electric space heaters, the energy usage would go up as the wattage of the heater is higher.
3. Noise level
Like most electrical appliances, portable space heaters emit some noise during operation. Some types of heaters, however, produce more sound than others.
Let us begin to review the best economical space heaters:
#1 AmazonBasics 1500 Watt Ceramic Space Heater
The Best Economical Space Heater with Adjustable Thermostat
Our #1 choice as the best economical space heater is – AmazonBasics 1500 Watts Ceramic Heater. This heater comes packed with an adjustable thermostat, ETL listed safety features, and easy to manage user controls. This lightweight, easily portable heater, can be placed on top of any table in your room or can be placed freely on the floor.
Easy to Use & Best Operation Method
This best selling ceramic space heater from AmazonBasics comes with 3 user control settings – High, Low and Fan Only setting. The ‘High’ setting operates the heater at maximum wattage (1500 watts) and heats up the room quickly. The ‘Low’ setting operates the heater at minimal wattage and heats up the room gradually. The ‘Fan Only’ mode doesn’t turn ON the heating element, but just operates the fan for air circulation. As you can guess, the ‘High’ mode is suitable for extreme winter conditions, whereas the ‘Low’ setting is ideal for moderately cold climate. The ‘Fan Only’ mode can be used for the summer season when you don’t need any additional heating.
The device operates in oscillating mode – where the heat is transferred back and forth. Most of the basic model space heaters transfer heat in a single direction only. This “oscillation” mode transfers heat quickly and distributes equally to all areas of the room.
Energy Savings
The AmazonBasics space heater is an energy saver as it comes with a built-in thermostat. You can set the desired temperature and the thermostat will take care of the space heater operation to maintain the set temperature. This is particularly useful when you need a different temperature in one room from that of the set temperature in your central heating system.
Note: If the temperature set for your central heating system is higher than the temperature set for your space heater, then possibly your room ambient temperature (the room in which space heater is kept) would be higher than space heater setting, and the space heater will not turn ON. In other words, this space heater can be used to supplement your central heating system if it fails to deliver the set temperature in any room.
Safety Features
The AmazonBasics ceramic heater houses all necessary safety features. The device will shut down automatically if it overheats or tips over. Moreover, the device is ETL listed – which means it passes all safety guidelines set by Edison Testing Laboratories for an electrical appliance. ETL listing is a safety standard widely popular in the USA.
Note: You may not use this space heater in overly humid areas like a bathroom or a laundry.
Specifications
The space heaters dimension is 7.5 x 5.9 x 9.4 inches and it weighs 2.86 Pounds
#2 Honeywell HCE200W UberHeat Ceramic Heater
The Honeywell Uberheat Ceramic heater comes with a compact and modern design. The heater is featured with high and low mode setting, you can also simply adjust the inbuilt thermostat to your own personal comfort level. The space heater uses ceramic heating technology. The heater is suitable for tabletop or floor placement. The simple and modern design of the heater is ideal for personal spaces and small rooms.
Energy efficiency
The space heater can also help you save on your monthly bills as the low mode setting does not require much electricity to operate. Using the space heater instead of centralized systems to heat up your personal spaces can also save on your electricity bills.
Safety features
The Honeywell HCE200W UberHeat Ceramic Heater features an Auto-off Tip-Over Switch with overheating protection and ensures peace of mind.
Specifications
The product dimension is 9 x 6.5 x 10.2 inches and it weighs 3.8 Pounds. The space heaters produce an output of 1500 watts.
#3 Lasko Ceramic Heater
Space heater with adjustable thermostat, Model CD09250
This small but mighty heater by Lasko will take the chill out of your room with the 1500 watts of comforting warmth. The heater comes with a featured 11 heat setting inbuilt thermostat. The space heater comes fully assembled with a three-year limited warranty.
If you hate the space heaters being too noisy, then the will be the right choice.
The unique and robust build of the heater avoids all kinds of mechanical vibrations and provides comforting warmth for your space. The heater comes with manual controls and a self-regulating ceramic heating element.
Easy to use controls
The thermostat is adjustable and can be set to your desired temperature or the three modes high, low and fan only.
Safety First
When it comes to safety, the Lasko CD09250 Ceramic heater comes with a safe ceramic element, overheat protection, and cool-touch exterior. The space heater is not recommended to be used in high humidity spaces like bathrooms or laundry areas.
Portability
The built-in carry handle allows makes the heater much easier to relocate. Carry and plug in the space heater where you want to get cozy.
Specifications
The products dimension is 5.7 x 7 x 9 inches and it weighs 3.5 Pounds. The space heaters produce an output of 1500 Watts.
#4 Crane USA Personal Space Heater
The Crane USA Personal Space Heater comes with an ultra-compact upscale design that complements any decor. The space heater features an efficient heating element with an inbuilt fan for quick and efficient warming. It has a sleek, ultra-compact design and comes in two standard colors black and white. The extra small dimensions of the space heater make it much more portable and ideal for smaller rooms and personal spaces.
The heater also has other distinct advantages since it uses radiant heating technology. That is, the air is forced inside through heating coils instead of natural air dispersion. This increases the area that can be heated and speeds up the warming process. The space heater features both 800W and 1200W heat setting.
Safety
Since it is a ceramic heater, it offers more safety because only the outer surface of the heaters gets warm. The inner heating elements are not exposed. They are also environmentally safe because they do not use oil to create heat.
The Crane USA Personal Space Heater also has Overheat protection and it shuts down automatically when it starts to overheat.
Adjustable heat settings
The space heater comes with two heat settings to personalize your warmth.
Whisper-quiet operation
The heater stays whisper quiet and creates a warm and cozy environment.
Specifications
The product dimension is 8.5 x 7 x 5.5 inches and it weighs 4 Pounds.
#5 DeLonghi HMP1500 Mica Panel Heater
This sleek and stylish mica space heater by DeLonghi is suitable for any space and can complement any decor. You can customize the heater for your needs as it features two heating options 1500 watts high setting and 750 watts low setting.
Are you struggling to manage space? This slim, stylish and wall-mountable design of the space heater enables you to place it virtually anywhere to ideally heat your home or office. You can enjoy comforting warmth with peace of mind as this heater has a safety thermal cut-off and it doesn’t overheat. It has an internal tip-over switch and power indicator lights in case the unit becomes unstable. It has a convenient carry handle for convenient movement.
Convenient wall mount
The space heater is safe and easy to mount on any wall and it comes with an internal kit.
Larger heating space
It can comfortably heat up medium to large rooms of up to 300 sq ft in size.
Enjoy your time quite
The space heater has no fan to perform and hence it produces no extra noise so that you can enjoy your time quite.
Portable Warmth
Lightweight, portable and compact unit with convenient wheels and carry handle to make it easier to heat any room in your home or office.
Specifications
The product dimension is 27 x 10 x 22 inches and it weighs 15.5 Pounds. Its wattage range is from 750 Watts low setting to 1500 Watts high setting.