I started working from home durning the summer. Set myself up in a little corner of my bedroom since it's quieter than anywhere else throughout the day with people coming and going. TV's/phones/tablets blaring all kinds of things. It's worked really well. HOWEVER, it is now November in Oregon and it never dawned on my that it would be so cold sitting so close to the window. I had one of those tower plug in heaters from years ago when our furnace died in the middle of the winter but it felt like it was blowing cold air on me. I considered hanging a heavy blanket up but that would be ugly. I know myself and that wouldn't have lasted long. In this litigious society, I’m not about to suggest that this prohibition is overly broad or more about protecting the vendor/manufacturer than about preservation of common-sense product utility. That would be an unwise speculation on my part. I will say that a hypothetical user of this space heater, employing a modicum of common sense, keeping the bathroom sink securely off and towels away from this unit, might well enjoy a higher degree of personal safety than another, again hypothetical, office worker with a messy desk full of papers and an overflowing trash can. If this second hypothetic user, additionally, has a Big Gulp ™ with a loose lid on the desk near the heater, I’d say that the situation would be even more dire! The 500-Watt power rating strikes a balance between effective heating and energy efficiency. It efficiently warms up smaller spaces without causing a significant spike in your energy bills. This makes it an environmentally friendly and cost-effective heating solution for personal use.

If that’s your idea for this heater, however, you should be aware that the instructions in the box caution against using the heater in a bathroom, or any room where there is running water, or where water might run from one place to another, or maybe in the same general place. A laundry room, for example.