These can still be bought, but they aren't as popular or widely available as fan or convector heaters. We set up each heater in the centre of our test room and run it on the maximum settings, with the room starting at a cool temperature. We monitor how much the room temperature changed over the course of an hour using temperature probes. We found the most drastic changes happen in the first half an hour and increases in temperature become more incremental after that. We use a force meter to record how much is needed to topple each heater over and a decibel meter to measure how much noise each one makes while running.

How important these features are is down to personal preference. If all you want is something to keep you warm when there's a nip in the air, and you don't care about how it looks or require the ability to control it at a distance, a decent budget electric heater should be perfectly adequate. We buy all the electric heaters we test. We put the bestselling heaters from popular UK retailers through these tests: Heating speed, evenness, and accuracy Convector heaters are usually taller than fan heaters, but thin and light – making them larger, but still relatively easy to move between rooms. On the downside, this type can be quite noisy and they don't have some of the more advanced features you can get with convector heaters. We've found some of the cheapest heaters available right now and shared some tips on what makes a heater truly good value.Central heating is much more effective at maintaining a stable temperature over a longer period, whereas the heat from an electric heater will soon dissipate if the rest of your home is cold. Under the current Energy Price Guarantee, electricity costs 27.35p per kilowatt hour for domestic customers on a standard variable tariff.

Read: one simple way to adjust your boiler to lower your heating bill to see how you can save money by lowering the temperature of the water supplying your radiators. If you're relying on your portable heater because your boiler isn't doing its job, find out how to buy the best boiler or whether you're eligible for a free boiler or a boiler grant.

Programmable timer Useful for setting a heater to turn on just before you get home or wake up, so there's no waiting around for the heater to warm up. Under current energy prices, the electric heaters we've tested can cost anything from 9p to 87p per hour to run on full blast. Once that desired temperature is reached, the heater won't run constantly anymore. It will toggle on and off sporadically to maintain that temperature. Cheap heaters usually have fewer features Keen to optimise home heating? See our advice on boiler controls and thermostats , smart meters , and loft insulation

This story was first published on 7 October 2021 and is updated regularly to reflect new heaters we've tested as well as changing prices and availability of heaters. We're not able to show every retailer and cheaper prices may be available. Prices and availability last updated 26 October 2023. Tagged as: We assess how easily each electric heater can be set up and how easily understandable the controls and settings are. We used any handles to lift the heater and move it around. While some heaters can be used straight out of the box, others have complicated program and timer settings. Read our full story on illegal and dangerous plug-in mini heaters for sale on online marketplaces to see those we identified as having serious safety risks. This stylish heater measures in at only 9cm deep and features two integrated handles, so youll be able to move it from room to room with ease and store it discreetly out of the way without taking up too much room space.Nearly all have some kind of carry handle for moving about and many have a safety cut-out feature, which will switch off the heater if it gets dangerously hot. Cheaper electric heaters tend to have fewer features than more expensive ones. Compared with more expensive ones, a cheap heater is less likely to have: Due to the long list of factors that come into play to calculate your central heating costs, the only way you can confidently compare a heater to your central heating is to install a smart meter. You then divide your weekly heating cost by the number of hours you have it switched on and compare that figure to the cost of running your heater. Adjustable thermostat Using this function, a portable heater will heat the room and when the desired temperature is reached, it will try to maintain the room at that temperature. Most of the cheaper, simpler heaters we tested have a dial thermostat that doesn't let you choose specific temperatures in °C. You'll likely need to buy a more expensive model for that. Our tests also found that they're rarely 100% accurate and will probably think the room is a couple of °C warmer or cooler than it is.

Although the comparison might make your electric heater look cheaper to run, bear in mind that it will only be heating a much smaller area, whereas your central heating will be aiming to heat your whole home.

If you were to try replacing the use of your central heating by putting an electric heater in each room, it will definitely end up costing much more. They tend to be cheap to run, but some can be really slow to heat up. Most oil-filled heaters are also fairly heavy and cumbersome, so look out for models that come with wheels. Portable electric heaters use electricity, which costs 28.62p/kWh under the current energy price cap. Depending on how effective the heater is, they can take anything from 30 minutes to an hour to notably raise the temperature of a medium-sized room, so if you're only planning on using it until the room gets up to temperature, it will likely cost you between 28 and 57p. This oil-filled radiator really is mini - it's not much bigger than some of the smallest heaters we've tested. Anti-frost function automatically turns on if the room temperature drops below 5degreesCThe details. This slim-line convector heater is one of our most popular units. It boasts a powerful 2000 Watt output along with a fan thats designed to distribute heat around your room in no time at all.