Technologies

Best Space Heaters in 2025

CNET’s experts have handpicked the top space heaters to keep you warm and cozy when the temperature outside drops.

Our Experts

Written by Pamela Vachon

Our expert, award-winning staff selects the products we cover and rigorously researches and tests our top picks. If you buy through our links, we may get a commission.

Reviews ethics statement How we test

Pamela Vachon Contributor

Pamela is a freelance food and travel writer based in Astoria, Queens. While she writes about most things edible and potable (and accessories dedicated to those topics,) her real areas of expertise are cheese, chocolate, cooking and wine. She’s a culinary school grad, certified sommelier, former bartender and fine dining captain with 10 years in the industry. When not sitting at the keys, she leads in-home cheese classes, wine tastings and cocktail demonstrations.

Expertise Wine | Cheese | Chocolate | Cooking

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Even as we enter the spring season, it can still get pretty chilly in the mornings and at night. This means that you might be finding that you’re still reaching for your space heater. Using a portable heater is a great way to warm up a single room when you need it, without having to turn on your central heating for the whole home. Modern space heaters offer improved energy efficiency and heating performance, so you can warm up your home without racking up a large energy bill. Just remember that space heaters do come with some fire risks, so be sure to check out our space heater safety guide before use.

What is the best space heater overall?

Our team found the Vornado VH2 Whole Room Heater to be the best overall space heater. It’s small but mighty, and provides consistent heat without making too much noise. In our testing, it performed well when it came to heating up and circulating air throughout the room, and its exterior didn’t overheat. Of course, we’ve found plenty of other great options worth exploring as well. Check out all of our top picks below.

Read more: Ready to Pull Out Your Space Heater? Here’s How Much It’ll Cost You

Best space heaters of 2025

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Pros

Doesn’t take up too much space
Costs less

Cons

Small heat range

Size 6 x 3.7 x 9.2 in. (DWH)

Heat element Ceramic

Additional features Overheat protection, 3 settings including fan-only, adjustable thermostat

Best budget space heater

Lasko Ceramic Heater 754200

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At a fraction of the space imprint of the Vornado model above, and about a third of the cost, Lasko’s Ceramic Heater 754200 is an excellent starting place if you’re still in a trial mindset where a space heater is concerned. Lasko also had a preponderance of mentions for several models among review sites.

Its compact size is better suited to smaller spaces such as small bedrooms or home offices, or even desktop or counter use rather than an entire room. If you live with a perpetually warm person, as mentioned above, this may be an ideal model for creating different heat zones within the same room. Otherwise, users report that it warms up quickly and reliably — ideal for helping you get out of bed on a chilly morning — and its lightweight nature makes it especially easy to move around the house with you as your additional heat needs dictate.

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Pros

Highest user rating
360 degree air circulation

Size 8 x 8 x 11.5 in. (DWH)

Heat element Forced air

Additional Features Overheat and tip-over protection, 2 settings, adjustable thermostat

Best space heater for bedrooms

Honeywell HHF360V

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While the previous two models were the most singled out among product testing sites, this Honeywell model had one of the highest user ratings on retailers’ sites. The feature here that significantly sets it apart from every other model is its 360 degrees of air circulation, relying on top and bottom vents to pull in air and circulate warm air around its circumference. Several users mentioned that its multidirectional airflow made it especially useful for bedroom use to create ambient warmth in a medium-sized space without an intense, one-directional flow.

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$146 at Amazon$146 at Walmart$160 at Target

Pros

Aesthetic design
Sufficient heat in low and high settings

Size 13.7 x 11 x 8.7 in. (DWH)

Heat element Forced air

Additional features Tip-over protection and safety shut off

Best designed space heater

Vornado VHeat Vintage Metal Heater

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$146 at Amazon$146 at Walmart$160 at Target

Who says fan heaters are out of style? Good news for those with mid-century decor who can’t bear the thought of an industrial appliance interrupting their curated look. Vornado’s VHeat Vintage Metal Heater manages to be both aesthetically pleasing and functional, called out by basically every review site I considered. Again, Vornado’s products overall tended to top the lists of best space heaters, and this model is more than just attractive, functioning accordingly, with users reporting it delivered sufficient heat to a small space on both its low and high settings.

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Pros

Additional safety features for bathroom
Versatile
Good price

Size 10.3 x 6.7 x 5.5 in. (DWH)

Heat element Forced air and convection

Additional features Eco mode, tip-over and overheat protection, ALCI safety plug, remote control

Best space heater for bathrooms

Dreo DR-HSH004A

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Of all the rooms in your house, none are as disappointing when overly chilly as your bathroom. Who wants to get out of a hot shower on a cold day and be greeted with the rude awakening of arctic air on wet skin? You can’t put just any space heater in the bathroom, which adds additional safety considerations because of the moisture element. Among those that are specifically designed to be bathroom-safe, this Dreo model was the clear winner, not to mention Amazon’s bestseller in space heaters overall because of its versatility and price. The Dreo DR-HSH004A is equipped with a special safety plug that cuts the power immediately upon contact with water, and its small footprint makes it ideal for one of the smallest rooms in your house with the biggest heat needs.

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Pros

Cooling and heating for year-round use
Air purifier
Sleek design

Cons

Pricey

Size 6 x 8.7 x 24.9 in. (DWH)

Heat element Oscillating forced air

Additional features Tip-over protection, HEPA air purifier, sleep timer, 10 settings

Best dual heater and air purifier

Dyson HP01 Pure Hot + Cool

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While several space heaters here have a fan-only option for cooling during the warmer months, Dyson offers one of the few models that not only has both of these features but works as a HEPA air purifier as well. Dyson’s products typically demand a higher price, and this is no exception, but it is perhaps worth it, given its one-and-done functionality and sleek design. This dual model had the highest user satisfaction rating among retailer sites, with many people pointing out that it was especially ideal for allergy sufferers, as well as lauding its year-round utility.

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Pros

High user ratings
Capable of heating a whole room

Size 7.5 x 8.7 x 23.6 in. (DWH)

Heat element Ceramic

Additional features ECO Energy Saving Mode, remote control, timer, overheat and tip-over protection

Best space heater for large spaces

DeLonghi Ceramic Tower Heater

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Tower-style space heaters, and especially those that oscillate like this DeLonghi Ceramic Tower Heater model, are some of the best options for heating a large space such as a larger bedroom or living room. Their radiant heat is capable of reaching more space both vertically and horizontally because of its size and functionality. This model also had one of the highest user ratings among retail sites, with many users mentioning how quiet it ran, and singling out the utility of the remote control and digital display, which is a less common feature among the space heaters I researched. Several also commented how this space heater felt like it was capable of heating the whole room, rather than just delivering heat to its immediate surroundings.

How we evaluated space heaters

Our list of space heaters was aggregated from numerous review sites for those models that were most frequently mentioned, as well as bestselling models at major retailers such as Amazon, Target, Walmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond. I researched the space heaters in this list by analyzing specs and user reviews, diving deep for mentions of persistent issues, and considering the available features and functionality compared to price as a measure of each model’s overall value. I focused primarily on those models that had extremely high user ratings, typically 4.5 and above with at least 1,000 ratings.

While I didn’t bring every model home and perform extensive hands-on testing, I was able to examine most models in person to get a feel for the design, footprint and intuitiveness of its controls.

Space heaters compared

	Vornado VH2	Lasko Ceramic 754200	Honeywell HHF360V	Dyson HP01	DeLonghi Tower	Vornado VHEAT Vintage	Dreo DR-HSH004A
Settings	2	3	2	10	3	2	5
Heat element	Forced air	Ceramic	Forced air	Forced air, oscillating	Ceramic, oscillating	Forced air	Forced air, oscillating
Adjustable thermostat	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
Tip-over protection	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Overheat protection	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y
Additional features	None	None	None	Sleep timer, HEPA Air Purifier	Timer, remote control, ECO mode	Adjustable head	Remote control, safety plug, ECO mode
Dimensions, (DxWxH, inches)	9.5 x 11.8 x 11.9	6 x 3.7x 9.2	8 x 8 x 11.5	6 x 8.7 x 24.9	7.5 x 8.7 x 23.6	13.7 x 11 x 8.7	10.3 x 6.7 x 5.5
Energy draw	750W/1,500W	900W/1,500W	1,500W	Not available	1,500W	750W/1,500W	900W/1,000W/1500W
Price	$90	$31	$35	$530	$110	$146	$60

Space heater buying advice

Space heater price

Most electric space heaters that operate solely in that function (and not as a dual air purifier) are priced below $150, with many models on this list costing less than $100. Several smaller, well-regarded budget models may even run you less than $50. The size of the unit, additional features, number of settings and heating element all contribute to the overall cost of a space heater.

Space heater size

There are no standard sizes or shapes for electric space heaters, and most of the space heaters I researched did not specify the square footage for coverage, other than to mention its capacity to heat a «small to medium» space or to specify room types such as a bedroom or office. Space heaters may be indicated as tabletop, floor or bathroom models and many also come as tall but narrow «tower» models, which may or may not oscillate, that have a smaller footprint and therefore a smaller horizontal space requirement.

Types of space heaters

While this list consists only of electric space heaters, (as opposed to water- or oil-heated models,) there are several different mechanisms that electric space heaters may utilize to create heated air.

Fan-forced: Fan-forced space heaters circulate air by pulling it into the unit and passing it over a heating element, typically metal coils, expelling the heated air through exhaust vents in the unit.

Infrared: Infrared bulbs are those which convert electricity into radiant heat. This is the least common type among the space heaters we included here, but no less effective.

Ceramic: Ceramic space heaters utilize electricity to heat a ceramic plate within the unit, which then emits radiant heat into the air, with or without the additional use of a fan.

Space heater FAQs

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