The Edit — Home & Garden
Space Heaters Compared: Ceramic, Oil-Filled and Infrared
5 plug-in heaters across the 3 ways a heater warms a room: 2 ceramic towers, 2 oil-filled radiators and 1 infrared cabinet, with the safety features to check before any of them goes beside a bed.
This guide is research-led: we have not handled these units ourselves. If you buy through our links we may earn a commission — it never changes a pick.Research-led, nothing handled. We may earn from links; it never changes a pick. How we choose
The 5 heaters here are grouped by the way each one moves heat, then matched to the room it suits, as How we choose describes. Each is read against what its maker states and the safety standard it should carry. Nothing here was handled or tested.
Best for Fast heat in an office
Watch for Fan noise at night
Best for A narrow gap by a desk
Watch for No remote in the title
Best for A silent bedroom
Watch for Slow to warm up
Best for Safety features named in full
Watch for Takes floor space
Best for A larger living room
Watch for Big for a bedroom
Every plug-in heater makes about the same heat
The type of heater changes how the heat arrives, not how much of it there is. A plug-in heater on a 15-amp household circuit tops out at 1,500 watts, which is about 5,100 BTU whoever makes it. Space heater wattage works through the sizing: about 10 watts per square foot, so one heater for roughly 150 square feet.
Wikipedia’s Space heater article sorts them into 3 families. Ceramic towers blow air over a hot element. Oil-filled radiators warm a sealed reservoir of oil and give off heat by convection and radiation, with no fan. Infrared heaters warm the people and furniture in front of them directly.
| Type | How it heats | Fan | Warms up | Best room |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ceramic tower | Fan over a ceramic element | Yes | In minutes | Office, a chair you sit in |
| Oil-filled radiator | Heated oil in sealed fins | No | Slowly | Bedroom, an evening room |
| Infrared | Radiant heat from an element | Varies by model | Quickly, to what is in front | A larger living room |
A ceramic tower is the heater for quick heat where you sit
A fan heater is the fastest way to warm the space around a desk, because it pushes the heat at you. The Lasko 23-inch ceramic tower comes with a remote, so it can sit across the room and still be turned down from the chair. Lasko sells it as model 751320.
Lasko 23-inch Ceramic Tower Space Heater with Remote
A 23-inch ceramic fan tower with a remote, model 751320, for fast heat where you are sitting.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Type | Ceramic, fan-forced |
|---|---|
| Height | 23 inches |
| Control | Remote |
A 23-inch ceramic tower with a remote, for heat in minutes beside a desk or a sofa.
Buy it if
- A home office or a cold corner that needs heat in minutes
Don't buy it if
- A light sleeper: a fan heater is never silent
The Honeywell slim ceramic tower suits a room where floor space is the problem. Honeywell sells it for a large room, though 1,500 watts still heats about 150 square feet well. Its title names no remote, so check the listing if you want one.
Honeywell Slim Ceramic Tower Heater
A slim ceramic tower that Honeywell sells for a large room, for a gap beside a desk or a sofa.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Type | Ceramic, fan-forced |
|---|---|
| Shape | Slim tower |
A slim ceramic tower for the gap beside a desk, a bed or a sofa.
Buy it if
- A living room where floor space is short
Don't buy it if
- A buyer who wants a remote stated in the title
An oil-filled radiator is the heater to sleep beside
The radiator’s slowness is its point. It has no fan, so it makes no noise, and the heated oil keeps giving off warmth after the thermostat switches it off. That is why it suits a bedroom left heated through the evening, and why it takes a while to warm a cold room from scratch.
The De’Longhi oil-filled radiator is a 1,500-watt model from De’Longhi. Switch it on before you start getting ready for bed, not as you get in.
De'Longhi Oil-Filled Radiator Heater, 1500W
A 1,500-watt oil-filled radiator: no fan, slow to warm, and still warm after it clicks off.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Type | Oil-filled radiator |
|---|---|
| Power | 1,500 watts |
A silent 1,500-watt radiator that keeps warming after it clicks off.
Buy it if
- A bedroom heater left on through the evening
Don't buy it if
- Anyone who wants the room warm 5 minutes after switching on
The Amazon Basics radiator states more in its title than most: 7 oil-filled fins, 3 heat settings, an adjustable thermostat, tip-over and overheat protection, and an ETL safety mark. That list is exactly what to look for on any heater, which makes it the easy choice for a spare room. Amazon Basics also sells a version with a remote.
Amazon Basics Oil-Filled Space Heater, 7 Fins
7 oil-filled fins, 3 heat settings, a thermostat, tip-over and overheat protection, and an ETL mark, all stated in its title.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Type | Oil-filled radiator |
|---|---|
| Fins | 7 |
| Settings | 3, with adjustable thermostat |
| Safety | Tip-over and overheat protection, ETL listed |
7 fins, 3 settings and a thermostat, with tip-over and overheat protection and an ETL mark.
Buy it if
- A spare room or a basement den on a budget
Don't buy it if
- A small room where 7 fins take up floor you need
An infrared cabinet suits a bigger family room
Infrared heat warms what it faces, so a cabinet heater feels warm quickly to the people in front of it. Wikipedia notes that halogen infrared heaters turn up to 86 percent of their power into radiant energy. The Dr Infrared DR-968 is a 1,500-watt cabinet in a cherry finish, sized like a piece of furniture.
Dr Infrared Heater DR-968 Portable Space Heater, 1500W
A 1,500-watt infrared cabinet heater in a cherry finish, for a larger room.
Current price shown on Amazon. We may earn a commission.
| Type | Infrared cabinet |
|---|---|
| Power | 1,500 watts |
| Finish | Cherry |
A 1,500-watt infrared cabinet for a family room or an open-plan space.
Buy it if
- An open-plan living room or a cold family room
Don't buy it if
- A small bedroom, where a cabinet this size is more than you need
Dr Infrared Heater still draws the same 1,500 watts as the towers. In a big open room it warms the sofa it faces, not the whole floor; a second heater on a second circuit does that.
3 safety features matter more than the type
Wikipedia’s article is blunt on this: no one type of heater is safer than another, and the risk depends on the model. It cites about 25,000 US fires a year caused by space heaters, about 300 deaths and about 6,000 emergency visits, mostly burns. So check 3 things on any listing before the type.
- A safety mark. UL 1278 is the US standard for portable electric room heaters. A UL or ETL mark means a lab has tested the model against it.
- Tip-over and overheat cut-offs. Both switch the heater off on their own.
- A thermostat. It stops a heater running flat out in a room that is already warm.
Plug any heater straight into a wall outlet, never an extension cord or a power strip, which can overheat and start a fire.
Choose by the room, then by the noise
The decision comes down to 2 questions: how fast you need the heat, and whether you will be asleep beside it. Fast and awake points to a ceramic tower. Slow and asleep points to a radiator. A bigger room where people sit together points to the infrared cabinet.
A heater is half of a cold-house plan. How to prevent frozen pipes covers the basement, and ideal indoor humidity in winter covers the dry air any heater leaves behind.
Prices, savings and deal badges are Amazon's own, read from Amazon within the last hour. Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon.com at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.
Keep reading
Explainer
Space Heater Wattage: How Many Watts You NeedEvery plug-in space heater runs at 1,500 watts. So what does paying more actually buy you?
Explainer
How to Keep Mice Out of the House in WinterA pencil-width gap lets a mouse in. Which filler actually keeps it out through the winter?
Explainer
Why a Smoke Detector Chirps, and How to Stop ItWhy do smoke alarms pick the middle of the night to chirp, and when will a new battery not help?
Best ceramic tower
Lasko 23-inch Ceramic Tower Space Heater with Remote