Best Electric Heaters 2024: Keep warm with our pick of the best

If you don’t want to buy another appliance that sits there being useless for half the year or more, the Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde may be for you. This is a traditional fan, a fan heater and a purifier all-in-one. At the bottom of the fan sits the filter, which can capture fine particles and gases. These filters should last for about a year, although the app and display will tell you when it’s time to make the change.

Dyson’s app is one of the best. From here, you can control every aspect of the fan, including enabling the heat mode, setting a target temperature and even scheduling when you want it to turn on and off. In this way, the Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde acts much like a smart thermostat.

It warms a room quickly, but it’s also exceptionally quiet, running at 39.62dB (background noise) on its lowest setting. On full pelt in fan mode, I measured it at 3.8m/s – fast enough to provide cooling, with Dyson’s fanless design delivering smooth air.

Air purification is equally as good, and the range of sensors this model has means that it responds to lots of atmospheric contaminants quickly and efficiently. Perfect for use at any time of year, this is a brilliant all-round product, but it is expensive.

Review: Dyson Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde

Reviewer: David Ludlow

It doesn’t have a built-in air purifier, but as the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower has both heating and cooling modes, it’s still useful for most of the year. You can control all of the features and set the fan speed and target temperature using the bundled remote control, but you get a few more options if you connect the fan to your Wi-Fi network.

Via the Climate app, you get all of the same options that the remote control gives, plus you can set a timer and schedule when you want the fan to become active. That’s very useful if you want to regularly heat a space and need smart thermostat-like controls. There are a few mismatches between what’s on the fan and what’s replicated in the app, but these are minor annoyances at worst.

In fan mode, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower is as powerful as its Dyson rival, although quite a bit louder – particularly as the lowest fan speed isn’t that low. Heat mode was enough to cope with a 30m2 test lab, getting it to a comfortable 21°C before the fan shut down.

Having an accurate thermostat is very helpful on a product such as this, as it means you’re only using a high amount of electricity (1983kW here) for a shorter period. Heaters with inaccurate thermostats will typically run for longer than you need them to run.

Well-priced and useful throughout the year, the Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower is a great option for anyone who wants a smart device with a high level of control.

Review: Princess Smart Heating and Cooling Tower

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Drawing just 352W, as read from our power meter, the De’Longhi Capsule Desk costs only 12p per hour to run. The reason it doesn’t use much power is because it’s a small electric heater – no bigger than a DAB radio – designed to warm one person at a time.

Drop this on a desk and angle its grille, and the De’Longhi Capsule Desk can push out an envelope of warm air. We found that it made it much more comfortable to sit in a drafty office, making us feel warmer and, crucially, keeping our hands warm.

The controls on this device are very simple: there’s a single dial on top that you twist to adjust the unmarked thermostat. We don’t think that the thermostat is that helpful here, as we tended to set this heater to maximum and turn it off once we felt warm, rather than letting it click off automatically.

This heater doesn’t have the power to affect the temperature of an entire room, but if you want a relatively cheap way to keep yourself warm, it’s a great choice.

Review: De’Longhi Capsule Desk review

Reviewer: David Ludlow

The Dimplex MaxAir is a full-on tower fan, producing enough cooling air to cope with a summer’s day. However, if you need warming up, there’s also a 2.5kW heater inside it that delivers top performance.

As well as being a versatile unit, the Dimplex MaxAir is also pretty attractive, so you’ll have no problem leaving this product out in your home throughout the year.

You can set the desired fan speed and, if required, the temperature using the simple on-body controls or via the provided remote control. There’s also a Bluetooth app, which lets you use your smartphone control when within range of the fan. The app provides the same controls, although they’re a touch easier to understand.

Performance was excellent, with the fan producing some of the most powerful airflow we’ve seen: it maxed out at 5.7m/s when measured from 15cm. Heat performance was just as good, with the Dimplex MaxAir warming our test bedroom by the largest degree of any heater we’ve reviewed.

At 44.9dB, the fan is a touch noisy on maximum power. So if you’re after a quieter unit, a convector heater might be a better choice.

With tip-over and overheating protection, the Dimplex MaxAir is a fan that can be left unattended without concerns about any accidents.

The Dyson Pure Hot+Cool is slightly more flexible and looks neater, but it’s far more expensive, making the Dimplex MaxAir an excellent-value alternative.

Full review: Dimplex MaxAir review

Reviewer: Simon Handby

Small but mighty, the Dreo Atom 316 is a nifty heater that boasts clever features that are rarely found in a heater of this price. 

Measuring just under 10-inches and weighing just 1.3kg, the Dreo Atmo 316 is one of the smallest fan heaters you can find, yet it has a decent 1.5kW output which is enough to take the chill out of a medium-sized room. 

As it’s so small and lightweight, and features a moulded carry handle at the back, it’s easy to move around making it ideal for carrying from room to room without much hassle. 

The Dreo’s clever safety features are particularly noteworthy too. The Atom 316 has tip-over protection which means the power immediately cuts off if it gets knocked over. There’s also a child lock and a 24-hour cutoff by default which is useful if you ever forget to turn your heater off. 

Another useful safety feature is the automatic fan once the Atom 316 is turned off. Although its metal output mesh gets quite hot when in use, the fan runs for 30 seconds after being turned off, taking the remaining heat out of the device. 

There are five touch-sensitive buttons found at the top of the heater to control the appliance. One point to note is that the controls are carved into the top panel with no additional lighting or accessibility features which can make it hard to see which button you’re selecting. 

Performance-wise the Atom 316 is a decent heater for such a small device and we found that heat was well distributed around the room. We also tested that after just 30 minutes on its maximum setting, the air temperature in a medium-sized room was lifted from 17.6°C to 22.4°C, and rose to 23.1°C after an hour. 

In its Eco mode the Atom 316 works at full power and then lowers its heating effort as it approaches your set temperature. Once your target temperature is hit, the Atom 316 switches off until the room temperature starts to fall again. We also found that Eco mode consumed a decent 0.51kWh, which is equivalent to 15p, making it a good affordable heater to run. 

If you’re looking for a small but powerful heater that’s inexpensive to both purchase and run, then you can’t get much better than the Dreo Atom 316.

Reviewer: Simon Handby

Full review: Dreo Atom 316

The Devola Smart WiFi Platinum 1.5kW Glass Panel Heater demonstrates that even lower-priced heaters can look good and have tonnes of features. Able to be wall mounted or stood on feet, this glass panel heater looks fantastic, no matter where you put it.

A convection heater, we tested the 1500W model, which is suitable for rooms of up to 20m², but there’s also a 2000W version for rooms up to 25m² and a 1000W model for rooms up to 15m². Aside from the power requirements, all of the heaters operate in a similar way.

We love the large LED panel and touch controls on the front, which make it easy to see the current temperature and set a target temperature. When the target is reached, the heater turns off automatically, saving power. Want to change the heat from across the room? There’s a remote in the box.

For more advanced features, you can use the Smart Life app, which is also compatible with a large range of products from different manufacturers, such as the TCP products on this list. Using the app, you can set the temperature, heat mode and define a schedule; oddly, timers are not available and only work using the remote or touch controls.

We measured energy consumption at a maximum of 1443W on full power and 731 in Eco mode. The latter is useful if you just need a bit of gentle heat to warm up a room when there’s only a bit of a chill.

Running the heater all day, we found that it kept our office warm for a cost of 38p, which isn’t bad at all. If you’ve got a room that you want smart heating in, this well priced model is a great choice.

Full review: Devola Smart WiFi Platinum 1.5kW Glass Panel Heater

Reviewer: David Ludlow

Available at Devola and Amazon

Fan heaters tend to be ugly, large, or both. The De’Longhi Capsule Fit Fan Heater is different, as it’s been built to look great, and its small body can be stood horizontally or vertically, giving a wider range of places it can be placed in. We found it best to stand this heater on a sideboard or a table.

There’s no tip-over protection on this model, as a result of it being able to stand in two positions. However, if it’s knocked over when it’s vertical, the heater drops into horizontal mode.

Controls on the De’Longhi Capsule Fit Fan Heater are basic. There are three heat levels: 2.3kW (79p per hour), 1.3kW (47p per hour) and 982W (33p per hour). That’s handy, as this electric heater can be turned down when it’s not so cold, to provide a more gentle heat.

There’s a thermostat, too, although this isn’t marked. De’Longhi recommends setting the thermostat to maximum, and when the temperature feels right, turning it down until you hear a click.

We found that this fan took 20mins on maximum to take a cold office from 14°C to a more comfortable 19°C. It was also quiet at 44dB.

There’s a fan-only mode, although this is very gentle to the point of being worthless. If you want something you can use all year around, check out the hot/cold fans on this list.

If you’re after a quality electric heater that looks good and can fit into multiple spaces, this one is a good choice.

Review: De’Longhi Capsule Fit Fan Heater review

Reviewer: David Ludlow

The original Aeno Premium Eco Smart Heater brought oodles of style with it, but the lack of controls, bar an on/off button, restricted its use. The Aeno Premium Eco LED Smart Heater changes that: this model has a control box on the side, which lets you set a target temperature, with the heater turning off automatically.

It’s a useful addition, but just be careful where you mount the heater: in portrait mode, the screen could be hard to reach.

This infrared panel heater comes in two black and white glossy finishes and is slim at just 11mm in depth. 

It does take up a lot of space at 1000 x 365mm in height and width, meaning it may not be suitable for smaller rooms. For those looking for something smaller, a fan heater like the TCP Smart Heating Fan Heater Mini might be a better choice, though it won’t look nearly as slick. 

The Aeno Premium Eco LED has a versatile design that can be positioned either standing on the floor or mounted on the wall. It can be turned horizontally or vertically, and there’s even the option to mount it on your ceiling if you don’t mind calling in a professional to install it. And you have to use the app to turn off the tip-over protection.

As an infrared heater, the Premium Eco Smart directly heats objects in its path, including people and objects, causing them to radiate heat similar to how the sun would. This makes the heater more efficient than a convection heater which heats the air and can create a stuffy environment. 

Infrared heaters also prevent the air in a room from getting dried out, creating an unpleasant smell or producing unwanted noise. 

We found that the Aeno had a maximum draw of 794W and it took 1 hour and 19 minutes to raise the temperature of a room from 19°C to 22°C using just 0.332kWh. We also appreciated how the heat felt natural and warm as the Aeno didn’t deliver the same blast of hot air you might get from a fan heater. 

The heater is efficient too, automatically switching the panel off when the correct temperature has been reached and turning it back on when it drops again for better efficiency. Using it in our well-insulated office, we found it cost up 10.8p to run for the day.

The Premium Eco Smart is controlled entirely via the Aeno or Smart Life app (depending on which you prefer). These apps offer temperature controls, the option to create a schedule or set a timer and voice control with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant Skills. However, it’d be nice to have physical controls available as well. 

Review: Aeno Premium Eco Eco Smart Heater

Reviewer: David Ludlow