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.
With temperatures across the UK starting to dip below zero, you may be looking for ways to keep warm that don’t involve costly central heating. Whether it’s to increase the cosiness in a home office, a bedroom or a garden shed, the best electric heater will offer short bursts of targeted warmth to heat up a room, so that you don’t need to go to the expense of heating up the whole house.
There are lots of different heaters out there – but the main types are convection heaters and fan heaters. Convection heaters circulate air through the appliance and are often strong and silent whereas fan heaters blow air over a heating element to provide a blissful blast of warm air.
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. Read on to find out which ones offer the most value for money.
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 cranked up a portable heater to the top 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.
The best electric heaters for 2023 are:
- Best electric heater overall – Duux threesixty 2 smart portable ceramic heater: £99.99, Currys.co.uk
- Best budget heater –NETTA ceramic fan heater 2000W: £24.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Best for portability – Beldray electric quiet fan heater: £19.99, Beldray.com
- Best for design – Everhot electric heater with stove: £1,495, Everhot.co.uk
- Best for heating up a room fast –Dyson pure hot + cool purifying fan heater: £349.99, JohnLewis.com