It's time to get the portable heater out: the mornings are cold, the evenings are colder and, lets face it, the middle of the day isn't too hot either. A well chosen electric heater will instantly cosy-up your home and keep the cold at bay, without you needing to turn on the central heating and send he heating bills sky high.
Whether you prefer fan, oil-filled, ceramic, or infrared models, the best electric heaters will do the job that even your thickest jumper can't do. They're an easy way to make your home cosy and they work with your best dehumidifiers to see out the more malicious mould, damp, and mildew.
Best electric heaters - tested for toastier homes
If you want a quick summary of the heaters that kept us cosy, these are the ones we actually use in our homes. You can keep scrolling to find out more about what we found in our tests of each electric heater, peppered with expert tips for saving energy in the home:
RRP: £70 | Type: patented oil-style | Room size: 25m² | Power: 2000 watts | Temperature range: 5-35°C
Best budget electric heater
An innovative spin on the classic, this is 10% more efficient than oil radiators. Packed with clever storage and movement features, it's the most-user friendly and convenient oil-style radiator I've ever used. Thanks to the patented oil-style element, this gets as hot as 35°C in a matter of minutes. It's in the top spot because it is the model that I rely on when the weather turns bitter.
RRP: £74 | Type: fan | Room size: 30m² | Power: 1800 watts | Temperature range: 18-30°C
Best electric heater for small spaces
Compact, quiet, and efficient on all fronts, this is the perfect heater to have in your rooms. The subtle silhouette will blend into the background and it pumps out an astonishing about of heat without noise or scent. It can also connect to your home devices, so if you want to turn the heat up, you just have to ask Alexa.
RRP: £539 | Type: electric fan | Room size: 81m² | Power: 2000 watts | Temperature range: 18-37°C
Best multifunctional electric heater
This is the luxury fan that can do it all - and then some. Not only does this reach ridiculously hot temperatures in seconds, it also purifies your air and triples up as an impressive cooling fan in the summer. You've got brains, beauty, and a portable heater that beats all others.
Best budget electric heater
I always think that the best testament for any electric heater is asking, which one do the experts use? When it comes to heating my house efficiently and on a budget, I wheel out the Dimplex Eco Oil Free Radiator.
This looks like an oil radiator and, for all intense and purposes, it is - just better. Dimplex patented a special technology that makes this 10% more efficient than an oil radiator, whilst also letting it get hotter too. You've got the added bonus that it's better for the environment and the Dimplex also doesn't have that oil radiator smell either.
I have had mine through three bitterly cold winters now and it's warmed up an empty flat when I first moved in and saved us when our boiler packed in the day before Christmas. To say its a miracle worker might sound like hyperbole, but it's November and I'm only starting to think about putting my heating on (and asking is it more efficient to leave heating on all day?).
As portable heaters go, the controls are simple: one dial takes you between three heat settings and the other operates a timer. The warmest heat setting will have a room toasty in half an hour. I also use it with my clothes airer to create a heated clothes airer that's the envy of even the best heated airers on the market. The lowest heat setting is one we opt for at the weekends, when we're in the house and we want gentle, low level heat to warm us enough that we don't need to put an extra jumper on. And the medium, well, that's somewhere in between.
It's part and parcel of this style radiator that it's heavier, a little more cumbersome, and slightly slower than your fan heater at changing the thermostat. However, as these go, the Dimplex is the speediest (I feel the difference when I'm near it within a few minutes) and it has nifty castor wheels and a handle for moving it around. Pair that with a cord wrap and the sizable 52 m2 range and this is one easily one of the best portable heaters you'll be able to buy.
Best electric portable heater
I have to admit, given the size and price of the Duux, I was sceptical that it would live up to its reputation as hot stuff. And, of course, I was proven wrong. This handy heater is the quietest, most compact model I've tested and yet the power with which it pumps out 360 degrees of heat is exceptional.
This technically counts as an electric fan heater, but Duux has designed a silent fan that is so quiet, I actually forgot that this is fan operated. It doesn't even cross my mind that this is moving air in terms of the noise level, the only way to tell is that my office gets positively boiling when I've had this on for a few hours. With the air flow behind it, this evenly distributes heat across rooms up to 30m2. It's the smallest range limit of all the electric heaters in this guide, but that just makes it especially useful in smaller rooms and offices.
As well as working as a small space electric heater, this could go down as one of the best budget portable heaters too. It's only £4 more than my Dimplex budget option and yet it's much smaller. It sits under the desk when I'm working and migrates its way down to my damp, unheated basement when it needs to double-up as a bedroom if guests are staying.
The cherry on top is that this is clever too. You can connect it to an app on your phone to change between the three heat settings as well as the eco and boost airflow. Gone are the days of me working with electric blankets around my shoulders: this elegantly and efficiently keeps me cosy.
Best fan portable heater
I understand that this sits on the expensive side of portable heaters, but it will work hard to earn its spot in your home. Using the same amount of power as the oil radiators on this list, the Dyson Purifier Hot + Cool HP1 moves 290 litres of air per second. It can change the temperature of your home in 1°C increments and will be purifying the air the whole time that you're using it.
Why is an air purifier worth having in the winter? We're all cooking, burning, and cleaning without opening our windows. This means we end up with particulates and pollutants in our air that aren't ideal to breathe in. Unlike almost every other portable heater, the Dyson does quiet, efficient, clever air purifying work whilst also heating your home faster than any other model on this list.
For speed and temperature range, this scores top points. It can handle rooms as large as 82 m2, which is significantly more than any other model we've tested. It's also instantly hot and ultra-effective at powering hot air out, but equally won't go above the noise at which you could still watch television or hold a conversation.
The design is another element that no doubt adds to the price tag, because the elegant loop warrants some admiration. So, if you want a portable heater that you can use as a fan and air purifier all year round, it's worth loosening the purse strings.
You can find out more in my full Dyson Hot + Cool HP1 review.
Comparing the models on this list
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Dimensions | Weight | Cost to run | Room size | Temperature range | Heat settings | Power | Guarantee | Distinctive extras |
Dimplex | 46.8 x 28.3 cm | 10.2 kgs | 27-54p/hour | Up to 52 m³ | 5-35°C | 3 heat settings | 2000 watts | 3 years | Frost protection |
Duux | 33.8 x 26.2 x 26.2 cm | 2.4 kgs | 24-47p/hour | Up to 30 m³ | 22-30°C | 3 heat settings | 1800 watts | 2 years | App and smart device compatability |
Dyson | 77 x 35 cm | 5.26 kgs | 26-54p/hour | Up to 81 m³ | 1°C to 37°C | 1°C increments, 10 speed settings | 2000 watts | 5 years | Air purifier and cooling fan too |
To calculate running costs, I used the Ofgen price-cap variable electricity rate for Oct-Dec 2025 which is 26.35p per kWh. I calculated at 50% duty cycle, which maintains temperature and then calculated what they would be on maximum power (happens rarely) and these are the ranges.
How we test the best electric heaters
Unlike our standard buying guides, we stumbled across the best electric heaters completely naturally. Our team all uses heaters in their home as savvy ways to save money, stay warm, and keep their homes healthy, so we have years of experience with these heaters already under our belts.
When we decided it was time to share our secrets with you, we started testing competitors and other models. In some cases, as with the Duux, our home models were knocked out of their top spots. In others, as with the Dyson and Dimplex, our beloved models defended themselves as the best portable heaters. In the case of Shark, we found ourselves testing a brand new heater and loving it instantly.
To make sure that we were still giving you useful, buying guide style information, our electric heaters still went through our standard buying guide rigmarole. We weighed up how they look, the controls on offer, what they need in terms of maintenance, and smart features up against the nitty-gritty detail of whether they heat up a room and how quickly they can do it.
We've got the numbers on everything from how much these cost to run through to the room size that they suit, as well as the experience of using these neatly tucked into our belts. If you don't find an answer to the exact question you're looking for, don't worry, We've got plenty more to say. You can email me with your questions and I'll tell you all about each model.
FAQs
Wat are the different types of electric heater?
There are a few different types of electric heater that have various offerings. The main ones are:
- Fan heaters: these heat up an element and blow air over them to warm up the room. They're quick and affordable, but can be noisy.
- Oil filled radiators: heated by electricity, these use oil to slowly, evenly radiate heat into the room. They're quiet and retain heat well, but slower and often heavy too.
- Infrared heaters: also known as radiant heaters, these emit radiation that warms an object or person rather than the air. It's instant and efficient, but limited in range.
- Ceramic heaters: a lot like fan heaters, these warm up ceramic plates and then use a fan to distribute hot air
Are electric heaters a more energy efficient way to heat your home?
The best electric heaters are very efficient at converting your energy into heat, but that doesn't bean that they're the most efficient way to heat your whole home.
If you're heating one room and you want a quick boost of warmth, an electirc heater makes a much better option than turning yp your whole heating system. However, for large spaces or long-term heating, it's usually cheaper and more efficient to get your central heating running.
Are electric heaters a more cost efficient way to heat your home?
The answer depends on how and where you're using yours. Electricity is typically more expensive per kWh than gas, so running an electric heater all day can be costly. However, if you want to heat one room for a few hours (say when you're working at home) a portable electric heater can be a cost-effective supplement.
What's the difference between an electric heater and an oil heater?
Technically, oil heaters are electric heaters. They still use electricity to generate heat. The difference is in how they distribute warmth. Fan or ceramic heaters warm elements and blow hot air to give instant warmth, Oil radiators warm up slower, but retain heat longer.
So, if you're looking for one of the best portable heaters to keep your eyes off the exact temperature your thermostat should be this winter, the choice is simple. The heaters above are all ones that our editors actually use, every day, in our homes.
