It is getting cold. Are you ready to keep warm?

Installing central heating, improving heat insulation and draft exclusion of your property of course will certainly help you to stay warm. However, it could be costly to start and to run. Instead of turning on the central heating on for the whole house, you can set to heat up the room you are in only. A quick economical solution is to use portable plug-in heaters. You heat up the room you are in that way.

There are so many heaters in the market. It could be hard to choose! To me, an ideal heater should:

1. be quiet
This eliminated all fan heaters. I grew up in Hong Kong with fans. I think I have heard enough to be convinced that quiet fans are never completely silent- You WILL hear it. If you are sensitive to noise, do not consider them.

2. heat up instantly.
Sorry, but I live in the city and I am impatient. I do not want to wait for a few hours for the heater to heat up! I have to get on with other things in warmth!
Oh well, that eliminates all the oil filled radiators. Easy. They are not that energy efficient anyway. It is only a myth.
All convector heaters are out of question as well. For it to work most efficiently, you should put it by the window. The air draft helps the warm air to circulate in the room. My home has over 3 metres ceiling. It will take a long time for it to happen. No way!

3. be able to follow me around at home.
Ok, I do not mean literally like a dog. But I wanted one that allowed me to move from living room to dining room to bedroom easily, as I could only afford to buy one heater. For that purpose, it is good to choose ones with wheels.

4. be energy efficient.
Once you turn the heating on, you will use energy. But it is good to have an adjustable thermostat so you can have some form of control. Even better a timer!

5. look good.
That is a hard one. Most of the heaters are just ugly. What is wrong with the designers?!

I nearly bought this Delonghi Designer Convector (even though it has no wheels). It is by a respectable manufacturer and it is no doubt the most attractive looking one available in the market. Unfortunately, from the reviews I have read, it is not that well made. The thermostat is not that stable either. What a shame!

What did I choose?


Delonghi Radiant Panel Heater. It has a Mica-Thermic panel which is quiet and heats up the room rapidly. It is not as good-looking as the one Designer Convector but I like the fact that it is thin and the thin panel is behind a black metal mesh. Hence, it does not cry out to you ‘I am a heater!!’ like most bulky or ugly heaters do. It is light and its wheels and handles on top makes it easy for me to carry around. A bonus is that it has drip protection and it can be used in the bathroom  (IP24)! It comes in 3 different models with different power settings-1000/2000W for rooms up to 60 cubic metres (HHP 2000), 750/1500W for rooms up to 45 cubic metres (HHP 1500) and 1000W for rooms up to 30 cubic metres (HHP1000). I found the cheapest one at Argos.

My only criticism about it is that it does not come with a default timer but this problem can easily be solved by using a timer socket.

Have a nice warm winter!

Note: Heater photos taken from Delonghi’s website.