About Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers Portable Heaters Award
Canstar's Most Satisfied Customers Portable Heaters Award reveals the portable heater brand that delivers the best consumer satisfaction to its customers.
We ask Kiwi portable heater owners to rate their satisfaction with their choice of heater brand by Overall Satisfaction, as well as important criteria such as Effectiveness, Features and Value for Money.
Numbers crunched by Canstar’s researchers:
- 556 Customers Surveyed
- 13 Providers Assessed
- 6 Providers Shortlisted
- 1 Award Winner
The best portable heater brands in NZ
The brands rated are listed below in order of best overall satisfaction.
1. Dyson
This year's award win for Dyson marks the second win for the heater brand in three years. Dyson takes home our award on the back of its top 5-Star rating for Overall Satisfaction. It’s a score its customers also award it for Reliability and Quietness.
Dyson has three 4-Star ratings, for Effectiveness, Features and Appearance, and earns its lowest score for Value for Money, which is a reflection of Dyson products' higher price points, compared with the other portable heater brands on our awards table.
Dyson's range of five portable heaters are more like air conditioners than conventional heaters, as the products in the range also act as air purifiers, and can cool as well as heat. Because of this added functionality, they are also considerably more expensive than conventional portable electric heaters.
Prices start at $449 for the Dyson Hot + Cool Jet Focus. Dyson's Purifier Hot+Cool Formaldehyde purifying fan heater is the brand's premium model, which retails for around $999 and includes the following features:
- HEPA H13 and activated carbon filters
- Anti-formaldehyde filters
- Smooth oscillation
- Quiet night mode
- App and voice control
2. Breville
Breville sells two multi-function purifiers: the 1800W AirRounder Connect, for smaller rooms, ($469.95) and the 2200W AirRounder Plus Connect, for larger spaces ($679.95).
Each model features heating and cooling settings, three-stage air purification and can be controlled by voice or via a smart-phone app.
3. De'Longhi
De'Longhi has a range of three types of portable heater:
Oil column: ten models covering 1500W, 2000W and 2400W heaters – prices from $175 to $389.
Convection: six models from 1600W to 2400W – prices from $100 to $400.
Fan heaters: three models from 2000W to 2400W – prices from $199 to $330.
4. Goldair
Goldair retails two portable heating solutions, in the form of panel heaters and portable air conditioners. Top-of-the-range models feature wi-fi and smart home integration.
Panel heaters: six models from 2000W to 2400W – prices from $230 to $500.
Air conditioners: two models, 2.64kW ($550) and 3.53kW ($650), delivering heating and cooling, plus dehumidifying settings.
5. Living & Co
Living & Co's range of heaters comprises:
Fan heaters: two 2000W models, $19 and $35.
Oil heaters: three models from 800W to 2400W – prices from $42 to $79.
Panel heaters: three models from 1000W to 2000W – prices from $45 to $69.
Radiant heater: one 2400W model, $89.
6. Anko
During colder winter months, Kmart stocks a small, budget range of electric heaters. The range includes oil, radiant, ceramic and fan heaters sold under the Anko brand. Typically, all Kmart heaters come with a safety tip-over switch, overheat protection and a 12-month manufacturer's warranty.
Choosing the right heater for you
There are many things to consider when choosing the right portable heater to match your home and budget. However, it's essential to consider certain key factors when making your purchase.
Overall, for most consumers in our survey, Reliability and Effectiveness are the key considerations. This is understandable, as a heater has one main job: to heat up a room quickly and effectively.
And while Value for Money (13%) is the third most important factor, it's on a par with Quietness, which has become increasingly important with the rise in popularity of tower fan heaters.
Here is the full rundown of what the portable heater consumers in our survey said were the main things they considered when rating their purchases:
- Reliability: 33%
- Effectiveness: 29%
- Quietness: 13%
- Value for Money: 13%
- Features & Functionality: 11%
- Appearance & Design: 2%
Types of portable heaters
There are various types of electric portable heaters. Here's an overview of each:
- Convection Heaters
- Fan Heaters
- Micathermic Heaters
- Oil Column Heaters
- Oil-free Column Heaters
- Panel Heaters
- Radiant Heaters
Convection heaters
Like oil column heaters, convection heaters warm cold air by pulling it over heated elements. The air then rises and slowly circulates around the room. Most units including a fan to speed up the natural convection flow.
- Pros: Suitable for heating medium to large rooms and, with quiet operation and a thermostat, are suitable to use in a bedroom overnight. Convection heaters are lightweight and portable, and provide an even, ambient temperature.
- Cons: Can take a while to heat up a large room, especially one with high ceilings. And while most models have a fan, they are often small and not as effective as some fan heaters. Convection heaters can also be easily tipped over.
Fan heaters
Fan heaters come in different shapes and sizes, but all have a fan that distributes heated air. The bigger the fan, the better the heat distribution. Small fan heaters, often featuring ceramic elements, can be a good option if you are the only person in a small room.
Oscillating tower fan heaters usually have a radiant heat source and a fan, and are designed to heat an entire room evenly. Models such as those offered by Dyson and Breville act as portable air conditioners, and can heat or cool air, as well as filter it for dust and pathogens.
- Pros: Fan heaters provide fast heating and larger, oscillating models distribute heated air evenly, so the warm air doesn't remain at ceiling level. Fan heaters can boost the performance of separate convection and oil heaters, helping to warm a room quickly. They are lightweight and portable, and small fan heaters are often cheap.
- Cons: Fans can be noisy, which makes them less suitable for use overnight. Fan heaters can also dry out the air in a room and make it stuffy when used for extended periods.
Micathermic heaters
A micathermic heater combines convection and reflective heating to quickly heat a room. Micathermic heaters are similar to oil-column heaters, but heat mineral sheets, instead of columns containing hot oil.
- Pros: Fast heating – a micathermic heater will usually reach its maximum heat output within 60 seconds. They are generally silent, and are lighter and more portable than oil column heaters. Their quiet operation makes them ideal for heating small bedrooms overnight.
- Cons: The biggest drawback of micathermic heaters is that their exterior surfaces can get very hot, so they can be hazardous around young children. Most models heat from all sides, so they can't be placed near walls or furniture. They do not heat a room as evenly as heaters with fans, and sometimes the mica creaks as it warms up.
Oil column heaters
Oil column heaters warm the air through metal fins that have hot oil circulating through them. The hot air rises and then slowly circulates around the room, providing background warmth.
- Pros: Most oil column heaters have a thermostat control, which allows a room to stay at an even temperature. They are quiet and relatively safe to leave on, so they're good for heating bedrooms overnight. Available in a range of sizes.
- Cons: Oil column heaters take a little while to get up to temperature, so they can take a long time to heat up a cold room. They also struggle to heat rooms with high ceilings, because the heated air rises and collects beneath the ceiling. Large models can be heavy, and difficult to move around a home.
Oil-free column heaters
Oil-free column heaters look like traditional oil column heaters, but instead of oil they use heating elements. This makes them quicker to warm and lighter to move than conventional oil heaters.
Panel heaters
A flat-panel heater draws in cold air over a large, heated ceramic surface; the heated air then rises. While often promoted as economical to run, low-watt panel heaters produce very little heat.
- Pros: Panel heaters have a low surface temperature, which makes them safe for use around children or pets. They're a good option for providing additional heating alongside a heat pump, or continuously heating small rooms, such as an office or small bedroom. They can be wall-mounted unobtrusively, and are quiet.
- Cons: Panel heaters have a very low heat output, so they take a very long time to heat up a cold room. They often don't have a timer, so can be left running accidentally.
Radiant heaters
Radiant heaters are bar heaters with glowing elements and a reflector. They heat objects and people rather than the air in a room, and are either free-standing or wall-mounted, so they can be fixed high out of reach of small children.
- Pros: Good for rooms with high ceilings, draughty areas or large rooms where you only need to heat one area of the room. They are great for instant heat, as you don't have to wait for the air to warm up, and are best used for short periods. They also tend to be cheaper to buy than oil column or micathermic heaters.
- Cons: Radiant heaters only provide heat if you are nearby, although some models come with a fan. They are not suitable for bedrooms at night, as most emit some visible light, and they can also present a fire or burn risk. Most radiant heaters don't have a thermostat or timer.
Extra heater features to consider
When shopping for an electric heater, consumers should also consider:
- Thermostats – help maintain even temperatures and conserve electricity.
- Timers – allow for heaters to be turned on and off automatically.
- Fans – provide for faster heating by distributing heated air evenly.
- Thermal cutout – an important safety feature, turning a heater off if it overheats.
- Tilt switch – another important safety feature, turning a heater off if it overturns.
How much electricity does a portable heater use?
Even though portable heaters don't come with a star rating, you can still work out how much electricity a model will use, and its running cost, by making an estimate based on the following factors:
- The number of kilowatts (kW) the portable heater uses
- How much you pay for a unit of electricity, which should be written on your electricity bill or visible through your power provider's website/app
For example a 2000W heater will use 2kW of electricity per hour when turned up to its highest setting.
So if you're paying the average NZ price for your power, which is around 35.36c per kW, your heater will cost around 71c per hour to run at max temp (2 x 35.36c).
When choosing the right portable electric heater for your home, always consider the unit's wattage. The greater the wattage, the more heat the appliance will produce, and the more electricity it will use. And keep this in mind when setting your desired temperature, too!
If you're spending a fortune on heating using an electric portable heater, it may be worthwhile considering investing in a heat pump. For although they are more expensive to purchase and install, they are considerably more energy efficient.
Heat pumps offer the best energy efficiency of any heating method. This is because a heat pump doesn't create heat. It simply transfers heat from one place to another.
Even when it's cold outside, there is warmth present in the atmosphere. Using the same compressor technology as a fridge or freezer, a heat pump collects heat from the outside air and transfers the heat to inside the home.
The process is incredibly energy efficient. This is clear from the coefficient of performance (COP) of a heat pump, which measures how much heat you get per kW of energy consumed.
While a regular electric heater has a COP of 1 (1kW of energy produces 1kW of heat), a heat pump typically has a COP of 2-5 (1kW of energy produces 2-5kW of heat).
