Best electric heaters, tried and tested for heating your home

Best electric heaters at a glance

Best overall – Dreo smart whole-room heater 720s: £113, Amazon.co.uk

Best budget buy – Wessex 2kW PTC heater: £17.99, Toolstation.com

Best smart heater – Mill WiFi Portable Convection Heater: £169, Diy.com

Best wall-mounted heater – Ecostrad iQ Ceramic WiFi Electric Radiator: £305.99, Electricradiatorsdirect.co.uk

Best for the bedroom – Dreamland Silent Power Pure Portable Fan Heater: £114.99, Amazon.co.uk

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★★

Best: Overall electric heater

What we love: Two heating modes, including one for personal and one for whole-room warmth, plus super quiet operation, a timer, eco mode, and a circular design so it doesn’t take up much space

Take note: Wifi took a bit of time to connect

The Dreo Smart Whole Home heater really is smart. Alongside app connectivity, it uses a motorised top which offers either focused hot air or a 360 degrees spread for the whole room. It performs just as well in my small home office as it does in the bedroom, where it kept the whole room cosy. The fan appliance heats up almost instantly, with a temperature range between 5-32º – perfect if you like it to feel like the tropics inside your own home.

The compact, circular design doesn’t take up too much room, and it doesn’t get hot enough to pose a threat to pets. Easy to use via a control panel on the front, the remote control or the app, it was a little slow connecting to the wifi.

I appreciated the five ambient lights, with the orange giving off a cosy glow. The heater is really quiet to run and boasts a 12-hour timer, while the eco heating mode automatically adjusts without running continuously.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Budget electric heater

What we love: Very cheap, compact and lightweight for easy moving; simple to use, and safety features including a tip-over switch

Take note: Is a little noisy when in use, the heat doesn’t stay once it’s switched off

Don’t let the size fool you: this budget appliance throws out a lot of heat. Small enough to pick up with one hand, it’s ideal for moving from room to room. Easy to control: one dial turns it on and off, while the other flicks between the two heat settings. The cooling setting lends it to summer use, too.

It’s PTC ceramic heating, so it starts pumping heat right away. Though a little noisy, it’s a great choice for your home office or garage when you need a blast of heat rather than a steady stream. Safety is also covered, with a tip-over switch and overheat protection. For the price, it’s excellent.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★★

Best: Convector electric heater

What we love: Slim and sleek design; can be wall-mounted or free-standing; operated via a smart app or remote control; and suitable for bathrooms

Take note: 15m² would suit a smaller space, and the app can be a bit fiddly to connect the first time

The Duxx Edge stands out with its suitability for bathrooms. While most heaters are banned from the bathroom – water and electrics don’t exactly go hand in hand – the Duxx Edge 1000 is rated IP24, so it’s splash-proof and designed to cope with a steamy room. But it’s not waterproof, and it is still electric, so please do check the guidance for the best placement before putting it in your bathroom.

The slim design doesn’t take up too much space in your home, while the legs or a wall mount mean you can place it anywhere that works best for you. At 1000W, it’s not the most powerful heater in the Edge range – but it’s energy efficient and perfect for small to medium rooms.

The smart heater is accompanied by an app, but I found it fiddly to connect to the wifi. Once connected, it stayed connected – with seven heating schedules and compatibility with smart home devices like Amazon Alexa. Alternatively, it has a remote.

There are three heat settings and a 24-hour timer, plus an eco mode which uses half the power and also dims the display (a good setting for overnight use). It features the usual safety functions, including a child lock, tilt switch and overheat protection.

Heating up really quickly, it then retains the heat so your room won’t go cold as soon as it’s switched off. It’s also extremely quiet.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★★

Best: Smart electric heater

What we love: Plenty of smart features, low surface temperature, sleek look, and predictive heating

Take note: £169.99 is pricey, and it took a bit of time to get the app to connect

A heater that looks as good as it performs, Mill’s appliance has a sleek white body and silver stand, which makes it look like it’s floating. A small LED panel tells you the current temperature, while a small dial manually controls the temperature. When I tested it in the bedroom, I didn’t notice the dimly lit panel.

It gets up to temperature quickly, while AI predictive heating quickly learns optimal room temperatures and makes it easier to put on a schedule. The app doesn’t just give you access to functions like scheduling, but tracks energy usage – giving you peace of mind when it comes to bills.

It can also sense when a window is open and automatically stops working – a cool feature but hit and miss in practice. The heater is better suited to medium-sized rooms and is very quiet when in operation, making it a stellar choice for a bedroom.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Wall-mounted electric heater

What we love: Stays hot for 40 minutes after switch-off, easy to control either manually or with the app, boost mode for a quick blast of heat without changing schedules, and easy to fit

Take note: High price tag, very heavy, so if you’re wall mounting you’ll need a solid wall, and Wi-Fi range is capped

Looking and acting like a traditional radiator but with smart capabilities, Ecostrad’s appliance is surprisingly compact with a fitted plug. It’s very heavy, so be careful if wall mounting. Designed with a ceramic core, it will stay hot for 40 minutes after switching off – meaning you don’t have to leave it running continuously. Even beyond 40 minutes, the room still felt nice and toasty. It’s also really quiet when it’s running.

Heating up quickly, you can control it via the machine or app – I would recommend the app, owing to the slightly confusing LED panel. The heater’s boost function is great for giving the room a little blast – I used it in the kitchen before making a morning cuppa (it doesn’t mess up any schedules either).

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★★

Best: Oil-filled radiator

What we love: Keeps the room warm after the heater is switched off, digital thermostat and timer, and has wheels and a carry handle, so it's easy to move around

Take note: Heavy if you’re lifting, and no wi-fi or app control

Oil radiators are among the most reliable electric heaters. Getting up to a good temperature, they keep rooms warm for hours after being switched off. This one is no exception, with multiple heating modes too boot. It’s controlled via a display or remote.

Though not lightweight, castors and carry handles make it easy enough to move around. The performance is impressive, with three power settings (low, medium and high). I found the medium setting was optimal for my home, with its 2500W ideal for medium to large rooms.

The only thing to note is that the outside gets hot, so be mindful where to place it if there’s children or pets around.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★★

Best: Electric heater for bedrooms

What we love: Has a built-in air purifier, a small and compact design, is totally silent when working, and has a rapid heating mode

Take note: Only works when the timer is set

Dreamland’s heater does three jobs in one: heating, cooling, and cleaning the air. If you’re freezing one minute and boiling the next, it’s an excellent choice – particularly for the bedroom. The rapid heating mode blasts out hot air in seconds, while the cooling fan works equally well. It’s also impressively silent – you don’t hear it running at all.

However, you can’t continuously run without setting a timer for either one, three, or nine hours. The built-in ioniser made a huge difference to my sleep: I woke up feeling fresher, and the room smelt cleaner too.

Ionisers help purify the air, while reducing dust, pollen and other particles – making the fan a great choice for anyone with allergies (it automatically purifies on either hot or cool mode). The controls are a little fiddly owing to sitting beneath the lid, but this is to keep them free from dust. The heater has excellent reach considering its small size.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Electric heater for cosy spaces

What we love: Cheap to run, realistic flame effect, and pushes air around the room

Take note: A little noisy when on high mode, and doesn’t retain heat once it’s switched off

If you want a real fire but don’t have a chimney, then this is a brilliant alternative. The heater looks like a real fire and gives off a warm, cosy glow even if you’re not running the heater. The buttons on the back are simple to operate, but fiddly when pushed up against a wall. The thermostat ranges from one to eight, with two power output options: 950W or 1900W.

Though it heats rooms quickly, the heat doesn’t stick around once turned off – a common feature of fan heaters. I also found it heavy to manoeuvre, so you’ll want to find it a permanent spot. It can also get very hot on the outside, with the metal casing taking a while to cool down.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★★

Best: Hot and cold electric heater

What we love: Bladeless, so more hygienic; can be controlled via app or remote; purifies the air, and can be used as a heater or a fan

Take note: It is expensive, and you have to buy new air filters when needed

Dyson’s luxury fan can be used year-round. The bladeless fan has a built-in air purifier to help clean the air – and it makes a huge difference. When I used it in the bedroom, the air felt so much cleaner – an important feature with two dogs at home.

For the price, it doesn’t have a huge amount of bells and whistles. It heats, cools and purifies, with the temperature running between 1 and 37ºC. It heats up quickly – even when placed on the highest temp – but can be a little slow to react when turning on and off. It also took a while to connect and sync to the app, which doesn’t just allow you to control the temperature, but gives you interesting stats on air quality and energy usage.

The app also lets you schedule. Though not the smallest or lightest heater, with its 81m² coverage, it’s ideal for larger spaces.

Rachael Penn/The Standard

★★★★☆

Best: Basic electric heater

What we love: Easy to use, extremely portable, and has a cool air fan

Take note: Is quite noisy when in use

This fan heater from Beldray is nothing fancy, but it does a great job of heating up small spaces. With 2000W power, it really does blast hot air out. The adjustable thermostat has three settings, and to be honest, there’s not much difference between the three; it just gets a little louder when it's on the hot setting.

The heater can also circulate cool air – ideal for your home office or even a caravan. I did find that the heat didn’t hang around once the heater was turned off, so if it’s particularly cold, you will want to keep giving it a regular blast.