The only negative I have about the plug-in heater is it makes a loud buzzing sound when in use, which can be distracting if you don't like white noise while working from home or watching television on an evening.

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

Customer reviews

Cold air setting Some fan heaters can help cool you down too. They're not nearly as effective as a dedicated air conditioner, but a light breeze of cold air is better than nothing.

Its special handiness and the simple and slim design offer the big radiators a good opportunity to take this small fan heater everywhere and plug it where it is needed right now. The small heating ventilation alone may not produce as much heat as the large radiators, yet they provide about the same amount of heat in small spaces that need little heating. Or, if you may have cold feet, you simply plug this electric heater into a low-lying outlet and warm your feet. There are many uses for this small fan heater. Handy Heater Technical Facts But that’s not all! Handy Heater also comes with a timer function so you can pre-set the amount of time you want it to heat for, and then it will turn off automatically. Great for warming you while you get to sleep, or just giving you peace of mind that you can set it and forget it and it won’t stay on all night. The infrared heating element of Handy Heater is incredibly efficient because it uses a lot less energy than standard, larger heaters. Only 500 watts will give you a temperature range of up to 32°C, and it's fully programmable so you can set the perfect temperature, easily read from the LED display, to suit the conditions. Plus, because of the clever way Handy Heater is made, there is a built-in safety cut off to prevent overheating and the outer casing stays cool to the touch so you can unplug it and take it with you, straight away. Convector heaters are usually taller than fan heaters, but thin and light – making them larger, but still relatively easy to move between rooms.The Handy Heater works really well if you have a closed space. This means you will need to make sure all the doors and windows are closed when you start using it. If you have anything open, the Handy Heater will struggle to make any significant difference in temperature. The oil in the radiator acts as a heat reservoir, which stays hot for some time after the heater's switched off. Some are called 'oil-free' and function in a comparable way, just with an internal heating element instead of any oil. 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. 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.

As there are no cables involved, you can simply plug it in and forget about it. You won’t have to worry about tripping on any cables with the Handy Heater. Under current energy prices, the electric heaters we've tested can cost anything from 9p to 87p per hour to run on full blast. The Handy Heater is not bulky at all and won’t sag dangerously when plugged in a wall outlet. Just make sure your pets are kept away from it. It could be a great investment for those working from home through the winter months, university students who want to warm up their halls of residence, or anybody who simply wants to keep their central heating costs to a minimal this year.With the cold weather comes the need for heat while you work. But it's not always easy to make your immediate surroundings warm and cosy. In garages, shops, offices and especially if travelling or camping, getting warm and cosy usually means wrapping yourself in chunky layers and gloves - not really ideal for getting things done or relaxing in comfort. These can still be bought, but they aren't as popular or widely available as fan or convector heaters. 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. Frost protection The heater can be set to heat automatically when the temperature drops below 5°C, but you'll need to have it on standby for it to run, so this can limit its usefulness. There is an adequately sized digital LCD display on the unit. There are clearly marked temperature control buttons, they allow you to adjust the temperature from 60 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit. There is also a fan speed button that allows you to change how fast or slow the fan blows air. The Handy Heater also features a timer button that makes it easy to program it to run from 1 to 12 hours. You won’t have to get out of bed to turn it off, which is a great feature to have in a heater.