As energy bills hit a new high this week, it's no surprise that households are looking for alternative ways of keeping warm.
Most people are limiting their use of the central heating and we've already written about the popularity of Oodies and other wearable blankets that people are buying to keep warm.
After last week's trial of Lakeland's heated airer, which worked a treat at keeping me warm while also drying my washing, this week I decided to try out a desktop heater costing just £9.99 from budget retailer Home Bargains.
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It's not something I've used before, but as, like many people, I'm working from home more frequently, I thought it might make a decent alternative to the central heating, especially when it's only me in the house.
Of course that all depends on what it costs of course and how effective it actually is. The real cold weather has yet to hit, but it's certainly become a lot cooler of late and when you're sitting at a desk for most of the day you feel it more than most.
First things first and it was so easy to use - literally take it out of the box, plug it in and away you go. The best bit is the little dial on the back of it, which is your adjustable thermostat to turn it up or down as required.
I wasn't convinced it would give out much heat at all given its size, but I found that, with it being so close to me on my desk, I could feel enough warmth on just the lowest setting.
Because it's so small, it doesn't take up much desk room at all, and it's quiet too, so you don't need to worry about the noise when it comes to those online meetings.
After just an hour I found myself turning it off as it had heated me and also the room around me so there was no point in keeping it on for the sake of it.
This will no doubt change as we head into winter, but I can already see how useful this little black box will become.
I used my electricity monitor to work out what it cost for the hour and was quite impressed to see it was just 15p - a damn site cheaper than using the central heating.
I probably wouldn't have it on all day, I wouldn't need to, but I was surprised something so little could give out so much heat. There's something quite soothing about having warm air blowing onto your face.
The next time you see a colleague nodding off on a Zoom call, you might just notice they've got one of these by their side.
The Status: 500W Adjustable Thermostat Desk Top Heater costs £9.99 and available in store at Home Bargains. It's also available online from eBay for £17.50 and on Amazon, although currently out of stock.
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