Temperatures across the UK have dropped, so if you want to keep warm without cranking up the central heating, finding the best electric heater for your space is the ideal solution.
Electric heaters range from convection heaters, which circulate air through the appliance and are often strong and silent, and fan heaters that blow air over a heating element to provide a blissful blast of warmth, to oil-filled options.
Each type of heater varies in energy efficiency and running costs, as well as maximum operating temperatures and additional features such as timers and remote controls. Most of the devices on this list are also highly portable, so can be moved to different rooms in the house, as and when needed.
Turning to devices from popular brands, including Duux, Dyson and Beldray, we assessed whether they really could turn up the heat of our home – read on to find out which ones were capable enough for the job.
How we tested
Working from home, we put the portable heaters through their paces in a chilly Victorian terrace house during early winter. Once the heating had been off for a few hours post-school run, we turned on the portable heater to the top setting and timed how long it took to heat up the room, setting a stopwatch on our phone to record an accurate measurement. We used a room temperature thermometer to measure how hot the room got. We also took into account size, portability, design and ease of use when choosing our favourites.
Why you can trust us
Zoe Griffin has been an IndyBest tester since 2021, she has reviewed a broad range of energy-saving appliances in a bid to find the best value options for your home. Zoe is thorough in her testing approach and enjoys finding products for every budget. When it comes to these electric heaters, she tested each one at home so as to provide an honest and realistic review of how the heaters will perform when you use one yourself.
The best electric heaters for 2024 are:
Duux threesixty 2 portable smart ceramic heater
We liked this cylinder-shaped heater as soon as we pulled it out of the box. With smooth curves and no edges, it blended in seamlessly with the decor of each room we used it in. We tested the grey design but it also comes in white, to suit lighter colour schemes.
It can be operated by controls on the front of the device, but we preferred to sync it to the Duux app on our phone. That way, we could power it on and off from the comfort of the sofa. We found that the air outlet on the top of the unit was able to distribute heat evenly, rather than just directly ahead of it, and it was powerful enough to warm up a room of 30sqm. For less than £100, we found it to be a well-made, good-looking heater that we could use throughout the year.
Buy now £86.73, Amazon.co.uk
NETTA ceramic fan heater, 2,000W
This small but perfectly formed heater packs a serious punch. As it’s a ceramic heater, it’s cost-effective to run, as the ceramic element generates more resistance than a metal one, generating more heat per watt.
This is also one of the simplest heaters to operate straight out of the box, as there’s no app, no remote control and no timer. It just has two dials on the front – one for power wattage settings and the other for a thermostat. We liked to whack it up to 2,000W and turn the thermostat up to the max and found it was more than capable of generating enough heat for a 15 square metre home office. It was also one of the fastest working heaters we tested, making the room feel distinctly warmer in a little under five minutes.
Buy now £24.99, Amazon.co.uk
Vortex Air cleanse heater, cooler and purifier
Sleek, sturdy and multi-functional, there’s a lot to like about the Vortex Air cleanse. It’s an appliance that can be used year-round, as it can be used as a heater, a fan and an air purifier. In essence, it does the same job as the Dyson hot + cool (£599.99, Dyson.co.uk), for about a third of the price.
Design-wise, we couldn’t fault it. During testing, several visitors to the house mistook it for a Dyson and they were all amazed by its price. The bladeless design offers smooth air flow around the heater and it oscillates 120 degress, to ensure it distributes heat evenly. There are a massive 10 different temperature settings, so you can precisely control the warmth in a room, as well as a timer that allows you to customise heat settings for up to nine hours. Let’s not forget that it’s cleaning air as well as heating it, capturing dust and allergens with its advanced HEPA system. We enjoyed some deep sleeps when testing this in the bedroom, which could have something to do with being able to breathe better at night, thanks to its purification feature.
Buy now £179.99, Amazon.co.uk
DeLonghi capsule ceramic fan heater, cream
With a streamlined, compact shape, this looks more like a luxury speaker than a fan, which is good news to anyone who wants a heater but doesn’t want anything ugly taking up space in their home. The brown carry handle offsets the cream main unit perfectly, adding a design element to an otherwise functional appliance. It’s ergonomically shaped and easy to hold when moving it between rooms, helped by the fact that it only weighs 1.3kg.
It was one of the smallest heaters we tested, measuring just 27cm high, but it was unexpectedly powerful and able to heat an area of 55 square metres well. Two power settings mean you can control how hot you’d like it, but you do need to manually switch the knobs as there is no auto-timer.
Buy now £39.99, Delonghi.com
Dyson pure hot+cool purifying fan heater
While £450 is a lot of money to part with for a heater, especially during a cost-of-living crisis, it’s important to note the Dyson hot+cool is both a heater and a fan, so, it can keep a room at the perfect temperature year-round. In fan mode, you can choose from 10 different settings, while the heater has two powerful modes for long-range personal heating or fast, even room heating.
When we say fast, we mean Usain Bolt’s level of speed, raising the temperature from chilly to cosy in a matter of minutes. We also found it was quite energy-efficient to operate. Once we’d used the remote to set the temperature in degrees Celsius, the fan kicked in straightaway and then shut off when the room was up to temperature. We wouldn’t recommend sitting close to it, as it’s quite noisy, but the sound doesn’t carry, so, you won’t notice it as much if you place it on the opposite side of the room.
Buy now £449.99, Currys.co.uk
Dreo electric heater, 1,500W
If you like to feel ultra warm, this heater can raise the temperature to 35C, which is higher than other heaters we tested. While it doesn’t have a remote control or an app, it’s easy to adjust the temperature in 1C increments, using the buttons on the top of the heater. There’s also an LCD screen showing you how hot it is and reminding you the appliance is on. This reminder is more useful than you might imagine, as it’s so quiet you barely notice it’s there. Even on the highest setting, it only reaches 34dB, thanks to a winglet fan design that reduces turbulence and noise.
We placed it under our desk to feel the heat. Its compact size would also make it a great fan for the bedside table and we’d be able to sleep easy with it on, as it has overheat protection, a timer of up to 12 hours and tip-over protection.
Buy now £42.49, Amazon.co.uk
Black + Decker BXSH37005GB fan heater
This bulky plastic heater won’t win any prizes for prettiness, but that doesn’t matter too much if you place it under a desk, out of sight. It has two heat settings, so you can choose whether to use it at 1,000W or 2,000W of power, and an adjustable thermostat, so you can control how hot you want to feel, up to 35C. We loved how it warmed up our legs from under the table as if we were snuggled up under several blankets.
According to Black+Decker, it costs around 68p per hour to run, which is a lot cheaper than central heating. It also comes with a two-year guarantee, to make it even better value for money.
Buy now £24.99, Foulkeselectrical.co.uk
Shark three-in-one purifier, heater and fan
When the outside temperature drops, the air quality inside our homes often decreases and it starts to feel stuffy. Damp can also accumulate, especially if you are drying wet clothes on hot radiators. But this multi-tasking appliance from Shark has got air quality and heating covered, as it purifies the air at the same time as warming it up. It can be used in all seasons, too, thanks to a fan functionality that will be a godsend in summer heatwaves.
When used in the bedroom, we appreciated the heater’s oscillation, which meant it shot out heat in all angles. We found it even more useful in the large, open-plan living room, where it was more than capable of heating up the room to our preferred temperature of 32C and maintaining it, so we didn’t need to keep switching it on and off.
Another unique function is odour-lock technology, which can remove and neutralise smells caused by the likes of pets and cooking. While we’re not sure how well it worked to remove the smell of a takeaway curry one evening, it did give us peace of mind that something was working in the background to make the air around us easier to breathe.
Buy now £230.00, Qvcuk.com
Beldray quiet electric fan heater
What this lacks in looks due to its functional, utilitarian design, it more than makes up for in heating power. The hot air jets on this compact heater are powerful, and we did enjoy whacking it up to the top setting and sitting near it, like a cat next to a fireplace.
We loved the rubber feet (which didn’t leave dents in the carpet), and the carry handle made it convenient to move from room to room. For example, we used it in the home office while working and then unplugged it and took it to the kitchen when it was lunchtime, so we could feel comfortable all day.
However, using it for several hours did cause the overheat mode to kick in, and we found it shut down occasionally. When that happened, we simply left it off for 10 minutes and powered it on again. It wasn’t a problem when we used the heater for less than two hours, so, we still think it’s a great little heater for short bursts of heat.
Buy now £17.99, Beldray.com
Russell Hobbs 2,000W electric convection plug-in heater with timer
This arrived in a large box, so, we weren’t sure how portable it would be. However, our fears evaporated once we lifted it out and found that it was a very manageable 4kg. There are even integrated carry handles, so we were able to move it from room to room as well as up and down stairs.
It’s not pleasant on the eye but it is brilliant for homes with pets or kids, thanks to a safety function that ensures automatic shut off if it gets knocked over. We also appreciated the in-built thermostat, which meant we could turn it on and forget about it. This heater was excellent at heating a room to a set temperature, powering off while the room stayed at that temperature and then whizzing into action again if it detected a decrease. It can heat rooms of up to 20 square metres, keeping the whole family in the living room for games nights or movies.
Buy now £34.99, Amazon.co.uk
Dreamland silent power eco heater
According to Dreamland, this model uses 35 per cent less energy than standard portable heaters, helping you save money on the cost of heating your home. We found it great for adding extra warmth to our home office while working remotely.
With 2,100W of power, it didn’t just heat the area next to the desk, it made the whole room significantly warmer. So much so, that we had to turn down the heat setting, using the adjustable dial on the top of the heater, as the highest setting was too powerful. Even better, we could not hear it at all, thanks to its silent-power technology.
Buy now £94.99, Amazon.co.uk
Everhot electric heater with stove, sage
Solid, sturdy and subtly glamorous, this is not just a heater – it’s a design statement. Fusing traditional country-house style with modern heating efficiency, the Everhot can be left on display and provide a talking point when house guests first spot it. When we tested it, everyone, from The Waitrose delivery driver to a school mum picking up her child from a playdate, commented on how “gorgeous” it looked. This may be down to the manufacturing process, as each Everhot oven is built by hand with the care of craftspeople in their headquarters in the Cotswolds. It’s available in 20 colourways, made from cast iron and steel with an aluminium top vent and designed to last a lifetime.
Shortly after turning on the stove, we felt heat coming from the main vent and after around 30 minutes the main body of the stove was up to temperature and radiating gentle warming heat into the room. Being able to access a 20l stove by opening the heater’s front door was a novelty at first, but when used to slow cook some jacket potatoes instead of turning on our main oven, the verdict was they tasted better than ever.
Buy now £1530.00, Everhotessentials.co.uk
Are electric heaters cheap to run?
The cost of running an electric heater depends on its size and power output. The best way to work out how much it costs to run is to look at your electricity bill to find out how much energy costs per kilowatt. If this is 25p per kilowatt, then a heater with a 2kW power output will cost 50p per hour to run, and so on.
What is the cheapest electric heater to run?
Out of all of the ones we’ve reviewed, the Everhot electric heater with stove (£1,530, Everhotessentials.co.uk) gives out between 0.3kW and 1.5kW of heat an hour, depending on how high you run it. So, with a standard electricity cost of 25p per kWh, your heater would cost between 7p and 35p per hour. That said it’s a costly machine, and the Duux threesixty 2 smart portable ceramic heater, which was found to be the best electric heater overall, costs just 20p per hour to run.
The verdict: Portable heaters
With a stylish design and an intuitive app, the Duux threesixty 2 feels a lot more expensive than its price tag. We were impressed by how it dispersed heat into the entire room and by how we didn’t need to be anywhere near it to power it on. Meanwhile, we really loved having an oven built into the Everhot design, but appreciate it’s an expensive purchase, especially when it was possible to generate heat for less than £30 with the Netta ceramic fan heater.
For extra cosiness, snuggle up under one of the best electric blankets, which will keep you warm throughout the colder months
