What heater should i buy

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Thanks to the scientific advancements, there are equipment to help you save yourself from the freezing cold and being comfortable at least at your own house or workplace. Room heater is indeed one of the best gifts from science for those who suffer from cold in the winter. The winter season is all about cruelty and chill. Supposedly this helps the heater warm the room faster and more efficiently than the element alone. We haven't seen it eventuate in our testing.

You'll see the term 'ceramic' used in conjunction with some fan heaters. This is a safety advantage rather than performance advantage, as the ceramic cools faster than metallic heating elements, reducing a burn risk.

The Dyson heaters fall into the fan category. A relatively recent entrant into the consumer market, far infrared heaters heat the room like the sun heats your face without the UV rays so no danger of skin cancer. Whereas other heaters heat up the air in a space, infrared heaters will heat up objects. One of our sister organisations, Consumer NZ , carried out tests on two W infrared panel heaters last year.

They found they were equivalent to most other forms of heating in both performance and costs to run. Left to right: wall-mounted IR panels, radiant heater, oil column heater, fan heater. Courtesy: CNZ. A timer allows you to set the heater to run at set times or periods — useful to heat up the room before you get up in the morning, or at night time, to turn your heater off and save electricity while you're asleep under the doona.

A built-in timer feature on the heater itself is a better option than using a smart plug or timer switch on the power point. Those may not be able to cope with your heater's high current draw and could be a fire risk. The thermostat on your heater is essentially a heat activated switch which allows you to regulate the temperature in the room by turning on the heater on below a minimum temperature, then turning it off again once the maximum set temperature is reached.

A good thermostat will maintain a very consistent temperature. Without a thermostat your heater would run constantly — your room may become uncomfortably hot, and your electricity consumption will be correspondingly high. Importantly, turning the thermostat on you heater up really high won't bring a cold room to temperature any quicker — your heater will still heat at the same rate, you'll just over heat your room if you forget to turn it down when your desired temperature is reached — leave it on your desired setting and your room will warm up just as quickly, but once your target temperature is reached your heater will cycle on and off to maintain a comfortable environment.

Heater thermostats can be either mechanical or digital. Mechanical thermostats use a bi-metallic strip — two different metals laminated together with different rates of thermal expansion — as the temperature changes, the strip will bend or straighten, opening or closing a circuit and switching the heater on or off.

Many modern thermostats are digital, which allows for greater functionality, such as programmable settings. An essential safety feature, a thermal cut-out switches the heater off if it overheats — if something's covering your heater for example — reducing the risk of fire.

We assess the effectiveness of thermal cut-outs in our test. Regardless of the presence of a thermal cut-out, you should never drape towels or other items over any heater to dry — use an appropriate drying rack instead.

Some heaters may have a fuse instead of or as back-up to a switch; this will do the job, but once the fuse is triggered, it will need to be replaced by a service technician before the heater will work again. The cost of this service could be more than the heater's original price tag.

A thermal fuse is not as convenient as a thermal switch; unfortunately, it's almost impossible for a consumer to know whether a heater has this sort of thermal cut-out device. Most heaters have a thermal cut-out of some sort, but not all of them say so in their product specifications. If in doubt, choose a heater which clearly identifies that it has this feature.

Another important safety feature, a tilt switch turns the heater off if it tilts beyond a certain angle or falls over to prevent a potential fire. We've found some heaters don't state whether they have a tilt switch, but still turn off when pushed over in our test. Heaters usually come with a one- or two-year warranty, but some offer more, or even "lifetime" cover.

Regardless of warranty, don't forget your rights under the Australian Consumer Law — the seasonal nature of heaters means you may have only used your heater for a few months out of a given month period. Unless you live somewhere really, really cold then your heater's only going to be in use for part of the year — perhaps only a few months. Which means for the rest of the time it's going to be packed away. On-board cord storage makes this much easier — especially for large, heavy oil column heaters where a floppy cord can get in the way while you're trying to wrestle it into the cupboard for the summer.

Cord length is an important consideration for heaters from both a useability and safety perspective — you need a cord that's long enough that you can position your heater where it's going to be most effective, but not so long that it's a trip hazard — an extra risk for heaters in case you fall on it or knock it over.

We've seen heater cord lengths ranging from under a metre up to 2. As a rule, larger heaters will have slightly longer cords. Importantly, you should never use an electric heater with an extension cord or power board.

Please enter a valid postcode or suburb. Find your nearest store Enter a postcode or suburb then select your preferred local store. TYPES 3. Powered by Gas or Electricity. The first thing to consider is whether you want a gas heater or an electric heater.

Reverse cycle split systems are great for open spaces and are the most energy efficient heaters if they have a good star rating. Types of Heaters. Electric Heaters. Ceramic heating element — generates instant heat from a wider area than quartz models and can be thin so well suited to wall mounting. Oil column — The oil inside the columns heats up slowly. Oil column heaters are safer than quartz heaters and are good for heating bedrooms overnight.

Some fan heaters have heating and cooling settings for winter and summer. Convection heaters — Generate warm air that then rises so only good for low-ceiling spaces. Panel heaters have a thin design that saves space in small rooms, and models with a fan distribute the hot air around the room, but running costs can be high.

Electric fire effect — Produce a fireplace flame effect at the flick of an electric switch with no flue needed. Flued — Built-in flued heaters push emissions outside via a tube the flue , and some have fans to circulate the hot air around the room. Unflued — Portable and run on natural gas or LGP. Heating and cooling. If you want your heater to keep you warm in winter and cool in summer consider: One of the latest portable fan heaters with heating and cooling settings A reverse cycle portable air conditioner that heats and cools and be moved around easily A built-in reverse cycle split system air conditioner that heats and cools must be installed by a qualified professional.