They tend to be cheap to run, but some can be really slow to heat up. Most oil-filled heaters are also fairly heavy and cumbersome, so look out for models that come with wheels. The actual price of the product that you choose is of course one of the most vital aspects of choosing the right product, we will go into that in more detail in just a moment. Depending on the model you get and what you spend, they can be a bit noisy – irritating if you’re trying to work. For now I’d like to touch upon budgeting. Setting yourself a budget before getting too deeply involved in your shopping online is one of the best pieces of advice we can give. It’s very important to do this, because it’s all too easy to get carried away and choosing a product that offers those little extra features but spending a lot more than we could or should have spent.

It's worth also bearing in mind that calculating the cheapest way to heat a room again depends on a number of variables, such as the size of your home and how energy-efficient it is, your heating requirements, and your energy provider. What are the disadvantages of a fan heater? In our tests, we set every heater to run at full blast so you can see the maximum amount it cost to heat our medium-sized test room. If you have the thermostat of your heater set to a desired temperature, the heater will toggle on and off once it reaches that temperature – depending on what's needed to maintain it. The heater won't operate continuously, so won't cost you as much to run. Are electric heaters cheaper to use than central heating? Central heating is much more effective at maintaining a stable temperature over a longer period, whereas the heat from an electric heater will soon dissipate if the rest of your home is cold. Convector heaters are usually taller than fan heaters, but thin and light – making them larger, but still relatively easy to move between rooms. Price is then of course the second part of this tip, and the advice here is to take the time to really study the price of Challenge 2kW Ceramic Fan Heater against other products in the Heaters and radiators category. To help you with that, we’ve run some analysis for you.The first is brand. Looking at the brand of the product is often a really good indicator for judging product quality. For example you’d expect a much higher quality product from a brand known for providing excellent quality than you would from an unknown or even a budget brand.

We buy all the electric heaters we test. We put the bestselling heaters from popular UK retailers through these tests: Heating speed, evenness, and accuracy The brand of product you buy can vary in importance, from person to person. Some people will of course be much more particular about the brands they will use. Whilst others aren’t interested in the brand and are more interested in the overall quality or price of the product itself. Thankfully Challenge is a brand that many customers have grown to love over the years and is very popular for items in the Heaters and radiators category. Cold air setting Some fan heaters can help cool you down too. They're not nearly as effective as a dedicated air conditioner, but a light breeze of cold air is better than nothing. The oil in the radiator acts as a heat reservoir, which stays hot for some time after the heater's switched off. Some are called 'oil-free' and function in a comparable way, just with an internal heating element instead of any oil.Nearly all have some kind of carry handle for moving about and many have a safety cut-out feature, which will switch off the heater if it gets dangerously hot. Keen to optimise home heating? See our advice on boiler controls and thermostats , smart meters , and loft insulation Some portable heaters have useful extras, such as an LCD screen that displays the current temperature or a remote control for turning the heater on from across the room. These features may come in handy:

For example, a home worker might save cash if they turn off the central heating and use a fan heater to periodically heat their home office throughout the day while the rest of the house isn't in use and needing heat. Next up is material. Read through the product description for Challenge 2kW Ceramic Fan Heater to get an understanding of the materials the product is made from. Some materials will obviously be known for delivering better quality item than others. You might also have decided that you’ll only accept a product made from a particular material.If you do then find that Challenge 2kW Ceramic Fan Heater isn’t exactly as you thought it would be, you can easily return it. Just before we get into the detail of analysing the price of this product, we want to briefly highlight the importance of setting yourself a budget before you spend too much time shopping around for a suitable product. It’s all too often that we get carried away when shopping and find ourselves buying a fantastic product, but probably actually overdelivers on what we need and therefore costs a lot more than we should have spent. So spend a bit of time looking around at the sort of price you can expect to pay for products in the Heaters and radiators category and use that alongside your own financial situation to set yourself a budget. Fan heaters can consume a lot of electricity in a short space of time, and are therefore best used in smaller and well insulated rooms.