They take longer to warm up, but they also continue to give out heat after they have been switched off. They are generally more economical to run than a fan heater or a convection heater. However, the fins still get quite hot so keep children from touching the radiators while they warm.” Convection heaters

The Lifestyle Electric Thermal Radiator has an easy to read LCD Display, several different operating modes. They also carry out two tests to see how effective each heater is at warming a small room. Firstly, they measure the temperature at a series of set distances away from the heater. This helps them ascertain whether it needs to be placed near you or if it can heat the whole space from afar. Gas is a cheaper fuel than standard rate electricity, so if you have gas central heating, it will generally be cheaper to use than an electric heater,” she explains. “If you don’t want to heat the whole home, turn your radiator valves lower in the rooms you’re not heating and higher in the rooms you are. How the electric heaters are used can also impact their safety, explains Giuseppe Capanna, Product Safety Engineer at the charity Electrical Safety First. “Some simple steps people can take to use their heaters safely are to avoid powering from an extension lead, as this can overload and cause fires, and to ensure they are at least a metre away from combustible materials such as clothes,” he says. Similar in appearance to the radiators you’ll find in your home, these portable versions generally heat and circulate oil instead of water to generate their warmth.Safety is paramount when it comes to using heated products. All the heaters we’ve featured below either have timers or auto cut-off features, which will turn them off if they get too hot. We’ve also highlighted whether they have handles, as this impacts their portability – many don’t, meaning you'll have to wait until they’ve cooled down before you can safely move them.

If you need to use an electric heater, place it in the part of the room you want to warm, a safe distance from you and any furniture. Use the heater’s thermostat and timer to avoid using more energy than you need.” Then they assess how comfortable it is to sit in a room with the heater. Our experts ensure the room is cold beforehand, then use the heater on max to see what difference it makes. Infrared heaters are different to all the other models on our list, as they radiate heat, rather than circulating it. This means they won’t heat a whole room in quite the same way, but if they’re positioned near you, they should make you nice and toasty. This was reinforced when we tested the Princess model; while the overall room temperature was lower than you’d find using a convection heater, it still rose after some use. And our expert found that when sat in front of it, they were suitably warm within just ten minutes, feeling the benefits even from 1.5 meters away. As everyone’s homes and electricity usage are different, this is a hard question to answer definitively. So, we turned to Joanna O’Loan, the Energy Saving Trust’s Knowledge Manager, for an expert opinion.This is not intended to be a full statement of your rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations. Full details of your rights are available from your Local Authority’s Trading Standards Office. How To Return A Product Timers and thermostats: These give you more control over how long your heater is on for and the warmth it’s emitting. Setting a timer and thermostat also means you can use your fan more efficiently, as it will turn off once it's been on for a set period of time or when the room reaches your desired temperature – much better than guessing or leaving it on for longer than necessary! To find the best electric heater, our experts start by measuring their power consumption. They run each heater for an hour on its highest and lowest setting and calculate how much it costs for that period. Direct warmth isn’t the only advantage of infrared. As there’s no fan, the Princess heater was extremely quiet, even on its highest setting. Plus, it was the most energy efficient of all the heaters we’ve tested – and by a long way. On its highest setting it used just 13p of electricity over the course of an hour. Once you’ve settled on the best type of heater for your room and needs, there are a few extra things to consider.