Best Large Room Heaters

A powerful heater is the golden ticket to enjoying the cold season… as long as it’s energy efficient.
Winter, with its deserted landscapes, overcast skies, bundled-up outfits and rain or snow storms, can be fun… if you have a cozy space to retreat to when your nose and toes start to freeze.

In this article, we’re going to look at the best large room heaters to keep your living rooms, master bedrooms, kitchens and gaming dens toasty. We’ve divided our favorite heaters up into categories of type, and we’ll take an in-depth look at how they function and compare them to find the best heater in each category.

Best Large Room Heaters: Oil Filled Heaters

Oil-filled heaters have a reputation for running in peaceful silence and being beautifully energy efficient. Let’s look at the basic features of our competitors in this category.

 
 
All three of these heaters are wonderful appliances. They are reliable quality, and release a heat that isn’t always accurate to the temperature settings, but builds up steadily until the room is toasty, without drying the air out. They are perfectly silent apart from the occasional tick or creak, are wonderfully energy efficient and come at reasonable prices.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
After checking out the features of these heaters, though, we can see that the DeLonghi is a little behind in the race for top spot in this category. It has no remote and fewer safety features at around the same price point. It’s still an excellent heater… just not quite as incredible as the Pelonis and Aireplus.

Pelonis or Aireplus… Which Comes Out on Top?

Both the Pelonis and the Aireplus switch off if they fall over – an extra safety feature that makes them that much more appealing if you’re using them around pets, kids or someone who’s currently immobile. Plus, they have a remote control, which is so convenient for using when you’re relaxing in your bed or armchair. The control panels are sophisticated, with smooth buttons that are easy to clean and dust, instead of the DeLonghi’s dial and pair of switches. And they have timers, so you don’t need to bother with switching them on and off.

But the Aireplus has to be our favorite model here. The differences are small… but significant enough to make a difference.

It has a thermostat with temperature settings that you can adjust by as little as a single degree, which range between 40 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. The Pelonis merely has five individual temperature settings. And besides the usual three power settings, it has an eco mode which adjusts automatically to optimize the room’s temperature and can help to further reduce your energy bills. The control panel, fitted with five simple buttons and a digital display, looks sleek and is beautifully uncomplicated to operate. And the timer offers more hours – 24 compared to the Pelonis’ 10 – which gives you a lot more space for convenient customizing.

Things to Keep in Mind When Purchasing an Oil-filled Heater

Oil filled heaters are a reliable heating classic that have been keeping rooms toasty for decades. However, keep in mind that they take a few minutes to warm up. They also have no features for circulating air, so they may heat unevenly, or automatically switch off if they are hemmed in by a wall or large furniture (which can create a dam of warm air around them). If you’d like to use an oil-filled heater to warm a large room, you may need to use it together with a fan.

Another point to keep in mind is that the shell does become very hot: too hot to touch. This is no problem when it comes to moving the heater – they are equipped with wheels, and handles that are heat resistant – but they are not ideal for heating rooms where toddlers or babies roam.

Why Oil-filled Heaters are so Energy Efficient

When it comes to using electricity for heating, oil heaters are great at cutting down on those bills. Here’s why: oil heaters are filled with diathermic oil connected to a resistor. When the heater switches on, it starts to warm the oil, which has a unique ability to absorb heat. This means that the heater will continue to radiate warmth for a good twenty minutes or so after it has been switched off, saving on those power bills.

Winner of Best Large Room Heaters: Oil-filled Heaters

The winner in this category is definitely the Aireplus: it combines convenience with quality and cozy functionality.

Best Large Room Heaters: Infrared Heaters

Infrared heaters are also wonderfully energy efficient, and have a nostalgic, fireplace feel to their heating style. Let’s take a quick look at the basic features of our three favorite infrareds.

It’s hard not to be impressed with these heaters. They keep rooms cozy, look stylish and for the most part, run quietly and efficiently. They all have shells that remain cool to the touch, which makes them wonderful for heating up your kids’ rooms or play areas (though they should still keep their hands away from the grids). You can toggle the thermostats through single degrees… And most users report that they are surprisingly powerful.

The LIFESMART and Dr Heater are Similar… But There are Some Significant Differences

 
 
It’s tough to decide which model wins top place in this category. After comparing the LIFESMART and Dr Heater models, it becomes apparent that they’re quite similar. They’re both box-shaped, with a sleek digital control panel and a cozy glowing grid. They are optimized for convenience, with timers that you can set to warm the house before you return from work, and remote controls that you can operate from your bed or chair.
 
 
 
 
 
 
There are a couple of differences between these appliances, though. The Dr Heater model has a gorgeous, laminated, mock cherry finish… the sort of look that blends in effortlessly with warm winter-time décor. It also has a heftier warranty at three years limited. However, it only has a single power setting. There’s no eco mode, so some users have found that their power bills ramped up after installing this baby. Because you’re already paying extra for this model, I’m not sure if the higher bills are worth it. The Lifesmart is still a beautiful-looking model, with an old-fashioned, matte black, cast iron-type finish, and a control panel that is actually simpler, classier and more pleasing on the eyes than the Dr Heater’s.

But I know there are some dedicated lovers of wood finishes out there… and I totally get you. The Dr Heater DR968 is still a highly functional, convenient, and well-designed machine, and it can work out energy friendly if you are careful with how you keep your room insulated from the cold.

What’s Special About the Heat Storm Phoenix

At first glance, the Heat Storm doesn’t compare so well to the other two models in this category. It has no wheels, and there’s also no handle, so it’s kind of inconvenient to cart from room to room. When the fan’s really going at full blast it can get moderately loud. It also doesn’t have the nostalgic, warm, fireplace-like visual appeal of the other two models here: it’s sleek, shiny, and white – kind of spacey.

However, there is a significant bonus to this model: it’s smallish, shallow, and can be mounted on a wall. Because it’s still wonderfully functional – it’s energy efficient, safe and comes with a remote control – it’s the ideal space saving option when it comes to infrared heating.

Why Infrared Heating Feels Special

Infrared heaters have a very natural feel to their heating style. They feel like sunlight, or a soft fireplace glow, on the skin. The cause of this unusual heating style is the technology behind infrareds: they work by emitting (you got it) infrared rays, which don’t heat up the air, but instead transfer their energy directly into the objects in their path. This means that they don’t dry the air out, and they also prevent energy from being lost in a drafty room… making them beautifully efficient.

Winner of Best Large Room Heaters: Infrared Heaters

The winner in this category has to be the LIFESMART LS-6BPIQH-X-IN. It’s functional, gorgeous looking (I feel that an old-fashioned, boxy aesthetic suits the natural feel of an infrared heater), and a really good price.

Best Large Room Heaters: Ceramic Heaters

Ceramic heaters are generally used for smaller spaces: offices, bathrooms and small bedrooms. However, there are a few models on the market that are so powerful that they may just effectively heat your large room… while taking up very little space.

Let’s look at the basic features of our competitors in this category.

All these models are exceptional ceramic heaters. They’re small, but still put out some impressive heat. Having said that, it’s relatively easy to rank them in third, second and first place for this category.

The GiveBest heater functions wonderfully, but grabs attention for the wrong reasons. It’s light and easy to move around, but the fan can get a bit noisy. You can switch it off, but that slows the heating process down. Aesthetically, it’s functional rather than pleasing… and those dials – the primary way to operate the heater – look like they’ll collect dust and be a pain to clean. So, the GiveBest, although it’s still an excellent buy, comes in third place here.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Bojing heater comes in a close second. It’s a cute-looking little heater that’s also so easy to carry from room to room, and makes very little noise. This is because instead of using a fan to circulate air, it oscillates, gently swinging while it heats which helps to mix the warm air with the cool. You can toggle the oscillating function off.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
However, the Lasko heater has to come in first here because of its sheer convenience. It has a timer, so you get that automatic functioning which lets you come home to a warm house, and a remote control, so you can adjust it from across the room. Because it’s a tower, it takes up very little floor space – though it’s taller than the other two heaters here, making it a tiny bit trickier to relocate. The largely unmarked dials of the models in second and third place here mean you’d need some trial and error to get to your ideal temperatures, but the Lasko has a digital display and fully adjustable thermostat. It oscillates, runs quietly and is energy efficient; it also looks sleek and will fit in well into the décor scheme of a modern room.

How to get the most out of your ceramic heater

Ceramic heaters are usually used to warm smaller spaces. Many users report being very satisfied, however, when they used these heaters to warm larger bedrooms and living areas. Here’s what satisfied buyers suggest doing to get these ceramic heaters to cozy up your larger space:

• Keep doors and windows closed.
• Run the fan or oscillating function to circulate air effectively.
• Use two heaters at once (some of these models are so inexpensive that this still works out more cost effective than buying a bigger heater… and then when you need to heat a smaller room, you can just use one without the risk of overheating).

Winner of Best Large Room Heaters: Ceramic Heaters

First place here goes to the Lasko 5572 Ceramic Tower. It’s a bit more expensive than the other ceramic heaters here, but it has extra convenient functionality while still saving space and looking good.

Best Large Room Heaters: Propane and Natural Gas Heaters

Heaters fueled by gas not only heat better than electric heaters: they’re also more cost effective to run. In fact, if it’s safe for you to run a gas heater (check below to see why it may not be safe for you to use one of these models in your space) they are the kings of large room heating. Let’s look at the basic features of our three favorites in this category.

These heaters are a little less convenient than their electric counterparts – they have no timers or remote controls – and you can hear hissing and an occasional popping as the gas burns. However, they are incredibly toasty and wonderfully efficient.

The Portable, Propane Mr. Heater MH18B is Highly Practical

The Mr. Heater portable propane heater is quite different from the other two models here. It’s a modest size and fitted with a large handle: you can easily carry it from place to place. You can hook it up to a small, lightweight gas canister, or a larger, heavy-duty one. Happily, because it’s relatively easy to knock over, it has a tip over safety feature. It’s a lot less powerful than the other two gas heaters here… but still more powerful than most of the electric heaters above.

Really, this model is all about functionality. It’s the ideal buy if you move a lot, or you’d like to take a heater with you on vacation, or use one to warm your garage or closed patio.

The Mr. Heater F255539 and ProCom Heaters are Similar… But One Model Remains More Popular

Both of these models put out an incredible amount of heat. They’re unobtrusive looking, too, and can be either freestanding or mounted on the wall. Five settings ensure you have a lot of wiggle room when it comes to finding your ideal temperature, and inbuilt fans help to keep that warm air circulating. Both heaters are ideal for large, open plan spaces.

There are a couple of drawbacks here. The heaters get very hot to the touch, so children and pets will have to be monitored around these models. And may have to hire a plumber or gas technician to install them for you if you plan on connecting them to your gas line.

Although both of these heaters bring buyers great satisfaction, user reports and reviews show that there is a clear favorite: the Mr. Heater F255539. It’s excellent quality and highly reliable.

Gas Heaters and Safety: What You Need to Know

Gas heaters have a reputation for being potentially unsafe to use indoors. This is because they use up oxygen and release carbon monoxide as part of the burning process.

With the gas heaters in this article, you won’t need to worry about burning away all your oxygen: they all come equipped with tried and tested oxygen sensors that cause the heaters to switch off automatically if low levels of oxygen are detected. However, to prevent toxic carbon monoxide build up, you should always run gas heaters in a room that is well ventilated.

Winner of Best Large Room Heaters: Propane and Natural Gas Heaters

Top place in this category goes to the Mr. Heater F255539. It’s reliable, incredibly powerful, and has a simple, clean aesthetic that will grace any living space.

How to Tell if Your Heater is Powerful Enough to Heat Your Room

Gas heaters are amazingly powerful when it comes to heating large rooms. Experts estimate that you’d need 40 to 45 BTUs of energy per square foot of room space, so the larger gas heaters above can, in theory, effectively heat a space of 750 square feet.

Electric heaters aren’t quite as capable as their gas counterparts. Experts say you need about 10 watts of heating power to warm a single square foot. That means that most of our electric heaters above can supposedly only heat a room of about 150 square feet.

However, many happy users report running the electric heaters in this article to keep 300 square feet and above of room space toasty and warm. So how can you get more square heated with your new heater? Here are our top tips.

• Seal air leaks to keep the warm air in (of course, this doesn’t apply if you’re running a gas heater).
• Keep heater filters clean.
• Keep doors and windows closed.
• Consider insulating your ceilings and floors if they’re not currently insulated.

Best Large Room Heaters for Your Space

In closing, we’d like to leave you with a quick comparison of the different kinds of heaters we’ve analyzed in this article.

Oil Filled Heaters

Infrared Heaters

Ceramic Heaters

Gas Heaters