2023 test11 productsHome Appliances
Which Space Heaters Brand Wins?
A head-to-head test of 11 space heaters options with the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.
Budget pick
Amazon Basics
Price shown in test: $20
Check price on Amazon
Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
The measured results
Every number below is read straight from the test. Scroll sideways to see all measurements. Products are listed in the order they finished.
| Product | Settings | Weight_lb | Country Of Origin | Noise Quiet Room_d B | Noise Fan Only_d B | Thermostat Noise | Spot Heat Center_5min | Spot Heat Total 3 Thermo_5min | Watts Low | Watts High Peak | Watts High Stabilized | Tip Over Result | Fabric Test_time To Shutoff | Fabric Temp_F | Room Heat 200sqft_avg Increase_F | Noise_d B | Watts Medium | Brand Resolution | Marketing Claim | Popularity | Noise Low_d B | Noise High_d B | Fabric Test | Features | Type | Btu Claim | Runtime | Spot Heat Even | Safety Grade | Noise Low | Watts High |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Amazon Basics$20 | low 750W, high 1500W, fan only; overheat protection and tip over switch | 2.72 | China | 35 | 53.5 (same on low and high heat since heat setting does not change fan speed) | pretty loud clicking, might disrupt light sleepers | center thermometer +5F to 72F, left/right thermometers unchanged at 67F | 4.4F total (verbatim; inconsistent with the +5F center figure directly above, likely a caption rounding or drop, flagged not corrected) | 922 | 1741 (brief spike) | 1,54 (verbatim as captioned; almost certainly 1,540 with a dropped digit, not corrected) | powered off immediately, plastic did not melt (best tip over rating) | about 35 seconds | 147 | 3.56F per thermometer average (later recap line gives 3.57F for the same test, minor discrepancy, both kept) | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 2MainStay$20 | 700W, 900W, 1500W; cool touch handle; overheat and tip over protection; ceramic heating element | 2.63 | China | not tested | not tested | noisy but a little less noisy than Amazon Basics | center thermometer +7F (most of the three heaters tested so far), left/right thermometers under 1F change; narrator says it directed heat better than Amazon Basics | not tested | 726 | 1760 (brief spike) | 1532 | powered off immediately, plastic did not melt | 1 minute 30 seconds | 313 | 3F per thermometer average, almost as good as Amazon Basics | about 54.3, a little louder than Amazon Basics | close to 1000 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 3Aikoper$24 | three heat settings, overheat protection and tip over switch | 2.24 (called out later as the lightest of the lineup) | China | not tested | not tested | noisy but less noisy than Amazon Basics and MainStay | least progress of the group so far: left/right +0.2F, center +2.2F | not tested | 775 | 1687 (captioned as the lowest power spike of the first three brands) | 1155 (verbatim; notably lower than every other brand's stabilized high reading of roughly 1400 to 1500, flagged as possibly a dropped digit rather than corrected) | very effective tip over shutoff switch, did not melt plastic | 5 minutes 15 seconds, refused to power down and made a very good effort at starting a fire | 320 | 2.87F average, least amount of progress yet | just over 54, similar to MainStay | about 940 | transcript renders this brand as aopa, a coper, Y coper, AER, aoer, and aoba across the video; resolved to Aikoper via the description Products Tested list, which lists no other brand near this price and testing position | ultra efficient fan will heat up any space faster and distribute heat more evenly | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 4GiveBest$30 | overheat and tip over protection, thermostat control | 2.64 | China | not tested | not tested | just as loud as Amazon Basics, described as sounding like a bad engine valve tap | moves into second place, center +almost 6F | not tested | 788 | 1,75 (verbatim as captioned, almost certainly 1750 with a dropped digit, not corrected) | about 1500 | performed very well, did not melt plastic | close to 35 seconds | 236 | 3.87F average, tied for best in the lineup with the Dyson | 52.1, quietest yet at that point in the video | not tested | not tested | claims lower than 45 dB noise | narrator calls it the most popular space heater on Amazon, 50,000 sales in the last 30 days | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 5DREO$40 | 1500W ceramic, heat funnel design, 1 to 12 hour timer, eco mode, fan mode, tip over and overheat protection | just over 3 | China | not tested | not tested | not isolatable, unit beeps while adjusting the thermostat | best by far, center +20F in 5 minutes, narrator calls it very impressive | not tested | 980 | 1666 (brief spike) | 1432, the lowest stabilized high wattage of any unit in the video | heating element powered off immediately on tip over while the fan kept running to cool it down, rather than shutting off completely at once; narrator calls this a better safety design | not tested | not tested | 2.7F average, described as the least progress alongside Lasko despite the strong spot heat result, because it draws only about 1430W | not tested | not tested | transcript renders this brand as drio, doo, dro, and drill across the video; resolved to DREO via the description Products Tested list and the heat funnel / 200 percent farther marketing claim, which matches DREO's own listing copy | claims it can throw heat 200 percent farther than other heaters | not tested | below 40, quietest yet | occasionally reaching 41 | not mentioned by name in the pillowcase/fabric fire section of the transcript, unlike every other brand; likely a transcript gap rather than an actual skip, flagged, not invented | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 6Lasko$65 | not tested | 5.6 | China | not tested | not tested | almost as loud as DREO's | 80.4F (verbatim as captioned; implausible since it would exceed DREO's leading +20F figure and make Lasko first place, not second as the narrator states, almost certainly a garbled decimal such as 8.4, not corrected) | not tested | 854 | 1671 (brief spike) | 1454 | continued supplying power to the heating element for about 25 seconds after tip over before shutting down (worst of the group), plastic did not melt; received the video's worst tip over rating of 3 while most other units scored 1 | 8 seconds, best fabric/fire result up to that point in the video | 162 | 2F average, least progress in the room heating test | about 45.5, quieter than the first four brands but not as quiet as DREO | not tested | transcript renders this brand as Lasco throughout; resolved to Lasko via the description Products Tested list | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | multi-functional remote control for power, oscillation, and thermostat; two quiet heat settings | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 7Mr. Heater$74 | not tested | 8.2 | China | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | powered off on tip over, but the front of the unit is very hot and melted the plastic during the melt test | not tested | not tested | 2.63F average; narrator notes most of the heat goes straight to the ceiling without a fan | about 35 on both low and high, extremely quiet since it has no fan | not tested | not tested | not tested | 10,000 sales in the last 30 days | not tested | not tested | by far the hottest heater in the lineup, quickly melted the pillowcase and started a small fire; a higher-cotton pillowcase caught fire in under 10 seconds | not tested | indoor safe propane heater, not electric; no watt meter reading applies | 4,000 and 9,00 000 BTUs (verbatim as captioned; the second figure is clearly garbled, likely meant to read 9,000, not corrected) | about 3 hours per pound of propane, pilot button held 30 seconds to light | without a fan it cannot direct heat as effectively to one point, but warmed all three thermometers evenly by about 4F each, described as the best even-distribution result yet | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 8Honeywell$86 | up to 1500W, auto shutoff and tip over protection, ceramic heater, programmable thermostat | 8.25 | China | not tested | not tested | quietest thermostat yet at that point, not fully isolatable | +8F, moves into fourth place | not tested | 900 | 2,24 (verbatim as captioned, almost certainly 2240 with a dropped digit; narrator says it could easily trip a 15 amp breaker, not corrected) | 1490 | shut off before the unit's face touched the ground, plastic did not melt | less than 3 seconds, the best fabric/fire result of every brand in the video | 149 | 2.7F average | not tested | not tested | captioned as honey well throughout; resolved to Honeywell via the description | not tested | not tested | 44 | 47.3 | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | A+ in both safety categories, per the narrator's closing recap | not tested | not tested |
| 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared$100 | not tested | 19.2, the heaviest unit in the lineup | China | not tested | not tested | relatively quiet compared to other brands | +19F, performed very well | not tested | 17 (verbatim as captioned; implausibly low next to every other brand's low-setting reading of roughly 700 to 900W, almost certainly a dropped digit, not corrected) | 1846 (narrator says this might trip a 15 amp breaker) | 1526 | shut off as soon as it was tipped over; the transcript does not state a plastic melt result for this brand the way it does for the others, left unspecified rather than assumed | 4 minutes, described as almost as persistent as Aikoper | 31 (verbatim as captioned; given the brand is described as almost as bad as Aikoper, which hit 320F, this is almost certainly 310 with a dropped digit, not corrected) | 3.37F average, made good use of its 1526W draw | just over 49, a little louder than Honeywell | not tested | captioned as do heater, doctor heater, and Dr heater; resolved to Dr. Heater (Dr. Infrared) via the description | not tested | 10,000 sales in the last 30 days | not tested | not tested | not tested | dual heating system with infrared quartz tube, remote control, rated 5,200 BTU, thermostat range 50 to 85F, claims 39 dB quiet operation | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 10Heat Storm$120 | not tested | 7.74 | China | not tested | not tested | relatively quiet compared to other brands | +7F, performed almost the same as Honeywell | 19.7F total across all three thermometers, the highest total heat-throw figure the narrator gives in this recap comparison | 86 (verbatim as captioned; implausibly low next to every other brand's low-setting reading of roughly 700 to 900W, almost certainly a dropped digit such as 860, not corrected) | 1596 (brief spike) | 1585, the highest stabilized continuous wattage of any unit in the video | test skipped; the unit is wall mounted and not subject to tip over by design | about 57 seconds, longer than the best performers but no fire or melt reported | not tested | 3.3F average | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | 42.3 | 53.4 | not tested | Wi-Fi enabled phone control, safe to touch grill, up to 1500W, wall mount design with included hardware and screw template | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested |
| 11Dyson$550 | not tested | 11.87 | Malaysia (the only unit in the lineup not made in China) | not tested | not tested | quietest thermostat in the lineup | +13F, also did a better job than most at warming the side thermometers | 17.2F total across all three thermometers | 1984 on the lowest fan speed, described as very energy thirsty, dropping to 1381 | not tested | not tested | shut off in less than one second after tip over, plastic did not melt | 8 minutes, with two extra pillow covers added partway through since it was not tripping | 191 (the closing recap line separately states Dyson 19.7 de for this same test, which is almost certainly a garbled repeat/collision of the earlier 191F figure rather than a new data point; 191F is used here as the clearer, fully-narrated value) | 3.87F average, tied for best in the lineup with GiveBest | not tested | not tested | captioned as dicing, diCon, and dicd; resolved to Dyson via the description and the explicit statement it is the most expensive unit tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | 58.3, loud on the highest fan speed | not tested | combination space heater and air purifier, HEPA filter rated to remove 99.97 percent of particles as small as 0.3 microns, ships with both filters needed, replacement filters about $37, oscillates up to 350 degrees | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | not tested | extremely quiet on the lowest fan speed | 1500 (transcript phrasing separates fan speed and heat setting readings in a way that is hard to fully disambiguate; kept as captioned, flagged) |
How it was tested
- noise level in dB at low and high fan/heat settings, plus thermostat clicking noise
- spot heating: 3 thermometers placed 36in apart, heater aimed at center, 5 minute temperature increase
- electricity consumption in watts at low and high settings, peak spike and 30 second stabilized reading
- tip over safety: unit powered off and plastic melt check when physically tipped over
- fabric fire risk: pillowcase draped over the heater, time to automatic shutoff and resulting fabric temperature
- 200 sq ft insulated room heating: 30 minute average temperature increase per thermometer
- extension cord overload demo (general safety illustration with two heaters on one cord, not attributed to a specific brand)
Data notes and caveats
This is a per price tier recommendation video, not a single crowned winner: the narrator explicitly recommends Amazon Basics at $20 ('for a $20 space heater the Amazon Basics perform well in the safety testing and I would definitely consider buying it'), DREO at $40 ('I really like the Doo, the doo is not only safe, it also is quieter than the Amazon Basics'), Honeywell as the outright safest ('the honey well is the safest space heater in the lineup with an earning of A+ in both safety categories') though pricier at $86, and Mr. Heater's propane unit as a power outage backup despite being the only unit to start an actual fire in testing. Numeric captioning is heavily garbled across this video: several stabilized wattage readings for individual brands (Amazon Basics, GiveBest, Honeywell) are missing a digit, Aikoper's, Dr. Heater's, and Heat Storm's low wattage readings are implausibly low versus their peers, Lasko's spot heat center figure of 80.4F is almost certainly a garbled decimal, and Dyson's fabric-test recap figure (19.7 de) collides with an earlier, clearer 191F figure for the same test. All are preserved verbatim in results with the ambiguity flagged in notes rather than silently corrected. DREO is also the only brand with no fabric/pillowcase test result anywhere in the transcript, likely a narration or caption gap rather than a genuine skip. The extension cord overload demo near the end is a general safety illustration using two heaters together and is not attributable to a single brand.