Space heaters can be life savers when staying cozy and saving money during the colder months. In this article, we’ll share everything you need to know when buying a space heater so you can find the best one for you and your family.
Let’s dive in!
Buying A Space Heater: Things To Consider
Space heaters come in many shapes, sizes, programmability, noise levels, and more. So, it can be challenging to weed through all the information to find exactly what you’re looking for.
However, this guide can help you think through all the essential things you must consider before buying a space heater for your home.
1. Size Of Area You Want To Heat
The size of the space you’re looking to heat is the first thing to consider. Some heaters are only meant to heat a small area around a single person, while others are designed to heat an entire room or small apartment.
Having a good idea of the square footage you need to keep warm will help you narrow down your space heater search.
2. Types
In addition to their size, several different types of space heaters are on the market.
Here are a few of the most common:
Ceramic Space Heater
This type of space heater has ceramic plates that are attached to metal coils and heat up when plugged into an outlet. It can warm up instantly and comes with or without a fan.
In addition, it’s typically cool to the touch, so you don’t have to worry about little ones or pets burning themselves if they brush it when they walk by.
Fan Space Heater
Fan space heaters are heated by a coil and push air into the room. They heat up fairly quickly and easily move from room to room as needed.
Infrared Space Heater
Infrared heaters focus more on heating the surrounding objects in a room versus the air.
They produce long-lasting heat, but you may need to exercise more caution as items around the heater can become too hot if the heater is left too close. However, if you have the heater in an empty room, you may feel less the results of its warmth.
Oil Space Heater
An oil heater produces radiant heat and doesn’t have to run constantly to be effective. This is great for heating smaller rooms, but the housing gets very hot to the touch and is hazardous if you have small children or pets running around.
Propane Space Heaters
These heaters are less common nowadays but are highly portable and don’t require electricity. They are inexpensive; however, they pose a higher fire threat than any other type of heater due to needing propane.
Each of these space heaters has pros and cons, so it’s up to you to decide which suits your needs!
Safety Features
We touched on this briefly in the previous section, but you’ll also want to understand the safety features each type of space heater provides so you can choose the one that works best for your family.
For example, you may only be able to use heaters that are cool to the touch because you have young children, or you may even opt for one with a sensor that immediately turns off the heat should the unit get tipped over.
In general, you want to keep your space heater three feet away from combustible items, and you should always unplug it when you’re not in the room.
No matter which space heater you buy, thoroughly understand its features and precautions so there are no unwanted surprises when you turn it on.
Additional Features
Part of staying cozy means not having to get up and change the settings on your space heater! Some heaters have additional features, such as remote control operation, quiet modes, and different oscillating speeds.
Be sure to look into all the bells and whistles when buying a space heater to stay warm without running across the room to change something.
The Perfect Space Heater
Buying a space heater can seem overwhelming with all of the different options. But by considering the size of your space, who may be near it, and what other fun features you’d like, you can narrow your search and land on something you’ll love.
Whether you go retro or opt for the most radiant heater on the market, focus on keeping your family safe and warm, and you can’t go wrong. Here are some space heater safety tips for your family.
