Convection Heaters with Fans

Heaters with fans warm a room most quickly

Several styles of convection heaters are equipped with fans, which makes them noisy but more efficient at spreading warmth throughout a room. They can supply local heat nearly as fast as a radiant heater and heat a whole room much faster. You can also use many of them as fans in hot weather.

Tower-style space heaters are becoming popular. They're tall and narrow, and they take up less floor space, yet they project heat better than low-slung, baseboard-style heaters. The Honeywell Safety Sentinel Electronic Ceramic Tower HZ-385BP (*Est. $80) is the top pick in a 2008 comparison review at Good Housekeeping, earning top marks for features, safety and ease of use. In addition to all the usual safety features, it has an infrared monitor that senses whether an object is too close and shuts the heater off if it stays too close for three seconds. There's also an alert that comes on when the grille gets hot. It has convenience features, too – for example, you can set a timer to turn it off after a certain period of time. The heater carries a three-year warranty. The handful of owners reviewing it at Amazon.com give it high marks for performance, but some dislike the way it beeps loudly when you adjust the settings, and say its blue light can be disturbing at night.

Reviewers also recommend Vornado Vortex heaters, which use convection heat coupled with a powerful fan to produce warm air that distributes heat throughout an entire room. This line offers a smaller footprint and faster heat distribution than some rivals because the fans are pretty powerful. Both 2005 and 2008 comparison tests at Good Housekeeping recommend Vornado heaters as safe and effective. Tests elsewhere give high marks to the top-of-the-line model, the Vortex Heat Touchstone 500, also called the Vortex TVH500 (*Est. $130). It comes with a remote control, timer and digital thermostat -- all features owners say they appreciate. The heater adjusts itself to produce a consistent flow of air. (Most electric space heaters cycle on and off, and some produce occasional blasts of cold air.) This top model carries a two-year warranty, a year longer than the other Vortex models.

The less expensive Vornado DVTH (*Est. $85) also has digital controls and a consistent flow of air, but lacks the remote control and timer. Owners reviewing it at Amazon.com like the digital controls and say the heater works very well, but we found quite a few complaints about breakdowns and the shorter one-year warranty.

Inexpensive Lasko convection heaters receive fewer complaints and more praise from users than premium brands like Vornado and Pelonis. Lasko heaters have a three-year warranty, which is longer than most. The Lasko 751320 Ceramic Tower Heater (*Est. $50) is recommended by almost 100 users posting reviews to Amazon.com, Sears.com and other retailer websites. This heater includes a remote control -- an unusual feature in this price range -- a seven-hour timer, and tip-over and overheat protection. Most owners say it's quiet, but opinion is divided on whether it's powerful enough to heat a large room. Several comments at Amazon.com point out that the power cord is thin and seems like it could be damaged easily, and others say the thermostat can only be adjusted in five-degree increments.

For even less, the compact Lasko 754200 Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat (*Est. $30), is well-liked by nearly all of the 200-plus users posting comments about this heater to Amazon.com, RateItAll.com, Newegg.com and other websites. It has standard safety features, two power settings (1,500 and 900 watts), a fan-only option for summer use and an adjustable thermostat. Although users says this heater works very well, many report that it is noisy. Several owners say it's too loud for use in a bedroom, though a few find the low-pitched hum aids sleep.

If you'd like a more stylish space heater, the Lasko Designer Oscillating Ceramic Heater Series 6410 (*Est. $45) receives very high ratings in close to 400 user reviews at Walmart.com and Amazon.com. This oscillating heater has a curved body and sits in a wrought iron stand. Although most owners say this heater works very well and is fairly quiet, it does not shut off if tipped over -- a potential safety hazard, especially if you have children or pets.