Unlike most convection heaters, the Dimplex 403TSFTie was designed to be portable and its two carry handles make it extremely easy to move. Controls 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 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.

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. In our tests, we set every heater to run at full blast so you can see the maximum amount it cost to heat our medium-sized test room. If you have the thermostat of your heater set to a desired temperature, the heater will toggle on and off once it reaches that temperature – depending on what's needed to maintain it. The heater won't operate continuously, so won't cost you as much to run. Are electric heaters cheaper to use than central heating? Keen to optimise home heating? See our advice on boiler controls and thermostats , smart meters , and loft insulation Some heaters come with a timer to switch them on just for the evening, say, while others have a temperature display or a remote control. A few heaters are even introducing Wi-Fi connectivity and smart controls, so you can activate and control your heater using an app – or even Alexa voice commands. Portability features: If the heater will remain in the same spot, you won’t need these, but if you’re likely to move it around your home, wheels and handles can prove useful.These have exposed heating elements, which heat up cold air as it passes. This often leads to slower, but more even, heating. They tend to be a little slower than fan heaters, but are quieter, and our tests found some are still pretty speedy.

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.

The best electric heaters you can buy in 2023

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. Smart connectivity: Falling firmly in the nice-to-have category, you can connect to some heaters on this list via apps. This means you can control it remotely – perfect if your home office starts getting toasty mid-Zoom. How we test electric heaters It has two downsides. It’s pretty noisy, putting out over 50dB while it’s running, and as it can use over 2.3kW when running at full power it’s not the cheapest option for running over longer periods. However, the thermostat does a decent job of powering down once the room has warmed up and it’s very portable at under 1.5kg. It also has safety features, including a tip-over switch. Pinning down an exact comparison of how much central heating and electric heaters cost to run is nigh-on impossible, as the factors below are just some of the variables that play a part: Under current energy prices, the electric heaters we've tested can cost anything from 9p to 87p per hour to run on full blast.