Space heaters can be a great way to add a bit of extra heat to any room in your home and are quite useful for those times when you simply need to heat up one room and don’t want to turn on the central heating to warm up the entire house. They also make a great addition to drafty rooms or anywhere else that you may need a bit of additional heating and can even help you reduce your utility bills when used properly as a supplemental heating source. Of course, as these units run off of electricity, you will still use a bit more power, but the tradeoff should be in reducing the need to have your central heating running so often.
One of the best things about these heaters is their small size, which makes them incredibly portable and allows you to carry or roll them to wherever in the home they’re needed. Better still, space heaters require absolutely no installation. All you have to do is plug them in and turn them on and you’ll quickly start enjoying the benefits of cheap, efficient heating. Of course, another major advantage to space heating lies in the quite low cost of these units, with the majority of products costing less than $100. Finally, when it comes to efficiency, you’d be hard pressed to find a better type of heater. Most electric space heaters generate one unit of heat for each unit of electricity they use, making them 100% energy efficient.
However, with so many different styles, brands and types of space heaters on the market, many people quickly become confused about which one best fits their needs. Still, as long as you take the time to do some research before making your purchase; you should easily be able to find an outstanding product that perfectly suits your requirements.
Types of Space Heaters
There are generally three different classes of space heaters available—those which use radiant heat, convection or a combination of the two. The major difference between the convection and radiant heaters is that convection is designed to heat the air inside the room, whereas radiant heat warms up the surfaces and objects in the surrounding area.
Convection heaters work by heating up the air in the room, which in turn causes the hot air to rise and pushes the cold air down to the floor. This cold air is then taken up by the heater and the entire process continues. They work by continually circulating the air in the room until the temperature reaches your desired level. They can be quite effective, but they can also take a much longer time to start pumping out heat.
Radiant heaters on the other hand don’t circulate warm air through the room, but instead the unit simply heats up and sends out radiant heat to the surrounding areas. Radiant space heaters can warm up very quickly and will almost immediately heat up any people and objects in the immediate vicinity, making them a great choice for when you want almost instant heat.
Finally, there are also combination radiant and convection heaters which generate radiant heat and then distribute it throughout the room via a built-in fan. These heaters can be quite good for larger rooms, but the one issue with them is that they are not nearly as efficient as either the standard convection or radiant heaters.
The one thing to keep in mind about all space heaters is that these units can often get incredibly hot, potentially posing a fire hazard and having the potential to cause serious burns to people and pets.
