Portability features: If the heater will remain in the same spot, you won’t need these, but if you’re likely to move it around your home, wheels and handles can prove useful. To find the best electric heater, our experts start by measuring their power consumption. They run each heater for an hour on its highest and lowest setting and calculate how much it costs for that period.

From the app, you can set the heat mode (high or low), temperature target and toggle standby mode. The app also gives you schedules, so you can set the Princess Glass Smart Panel Heater up to work much like a smart thermostat. If you’re after an infrared heater that retains and emits a certain amount of heat once it’s been turned off, try the Klarstein HeatPal for size. The HeatPal works just like an oil-filled model, only it’s much more energy-efficient – and, in many ways, more effective. This is because it has a very heavy slab of unpolished Mongolian marble sitting behind the grille, which is heated by the element behind it to produce an amazing amount of heat that’s pushed outward and upward. While some heaters benefit from smart controls, I’m not fully convinced here. Princess has covered all the basics, but remember that this device is about heating people directly, rather than the room. There’s less point in, for example, scheduling it to come on before bedtime if it’s not going to result in a toasty bedroom when you retire for the night. I wonder if the Smart Infrared Heater might benefit more from a movement sensor similar to the one used by Meaco’s Motion Eye 1.8kW. This would allow it to detect when you’re near, and switch on for a predefined time. PerformanceInfrared heaters have a markedly different effect to fan or convection heaters. The latter heat a room by circulating warm air which, over time, heats the room and everything in it. They also radiate heat, which is chiefly why it feels particularly warm when you stand directly in front of them. Infrared heaters, on the other hand, focus on this second method of heating. They directly warm up any people, surfaces or pets that their infrared light falls on. If you want to feel the benefit, you need to be reasonably close to the heater. The Princess Smart Panel Heater is the perfect addition to your smart home. With the iOS or Android HomeWizard Climate app you can control your panel heater from anywhere you want. In the app you can turn the heater on/off and adjust the temperature. Set time schedules or start heating your bedroom while you are doing some cleaning up. This way you never have to sleep in a cold bedroom. Princess’ app makes it easy to add and configure the heater, although on Android it nags you for Bluetooth and Location permissions every time you use it thereafter. I grumpily refused to grant them other than during setup, but the app still worked fine. There’s no fan in this model, but warm air rising causes air movement, which I measured at 0.52m/s. It’s enough of a breeze to gently warm a room through, even if it’s not immediately felt in the way that a fan heater’s directional blast is.

However, it should be noted that very few electric heating systems are capable of beating the lower running costs of heating a whole home using a gas central heating system, so we’re still quite some time away from discovering the Holy Grail. Can you really feel the warmth emitted by an infrared heater? This is a fabulous integrated option that will keep your towels warm and deliver a good amount of infrared warmth to the body from the moment you step out of the bath or shower. Out of the box, the panel heater can either be wall-mounted or it can have feet screwed into place so that it can be free-standing. With the latter, the feet are fiddly to screw into place and the instruction manual doesn’t tell you which way round they should go; it just says that if the heater is tilting, you’ve got them on incorrectly. The infrared panel heater is designed to fit seamlessly into your home decor. With the option to mount it on the wall or use it as a standalone unit, you have the flexibility to place it exactly the way you want. With the integrated timer function up to 24 hours, this heater allows you to effortlessly program heating schedules according to your daily routine. Set it to automatically turn on in the morning, ensuring a cozy and warm environment when you wake up. Likewise, you can program it to turn off when you leave for work, saving energy during the day. The timer function offers you the flexibility to customize your heating preferences, making it a convenient and energy-saving feature. The housing is splash-proof (IP44) and can be used indoor as well as outdoor. The HeatPal feels warm near the top about four minutes after turning it on, taking a further ten minutes or so for the marble to emit a small amount of infrared warmth. However, about 30 minutes after having been switched on, the marble reaches full temperature and you can really feel the effects from several feet away.Then they assess how comfortable it is to sit in a room with the heater. Our experts ensure the room is cold beforehand, then use the heater on max to see what difference it makes.