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For a cost-effective heating solution in your space, you’ll want one of the best space heaters for a large room. When designed specifically for large spaces, these devices can quickly heat a living room or a master bedroom that's 300 square feet or larger. As a form of supplemental heating for just a room or two, they can even help reduce energy bills. However, with all space heaters, you'll want to be careful when using these unattended, and around kids and pets.
To choose the best space heater for you, first you have to decide whether you want convection heat, infrared heat, or both:
- Convection heat is the more common kind and is designed to circulate warm air, so these heaters are a great choice for large rooms. These heaters come in a variety of types, but one of the most common are ceramic heaters, which usually feature a fan to disperse warm air throughout a room evenly, and many of them also feature oscillation and a thermostat so you can get the temperature just right. Ceramic heaters also tend to be relatively inexpensive.
- Infrared heaters produce direct heat using infrared rays so their effects are felt very quickly in the people and objects around the rays. They're also nearly silent and because they are a more focused heat than with convection, they are very energy-efficient. However, you might not get that toasty feeling across the whole space unless combining infrared with convection heating, and many of these emit an orange light while operating, which may not be ideal for everyone — especially when used as a bedroom heater.
To help you pick the heater for your home, here’s my roundup of the best space heaters for a large room. All of these heaters can warm up to 300 square feet or more to keep you toasty all day or night long.
1
The Best Overall Space Heater For Large Rooms
- Maximum room size: 300 square feet
With more than 3,300 five-star reviews, the Lasko 6405 Designer Oscillating Heater is a top pick among Amazon users for large room space heaters. This portable 1500-watt ceramic heater has a sleek, faux-stone design and features wide-area oscillation to warm up large room up to 300-square-foot in size quickly with its convection heating. There’s no remote, but it has an electronic thermostat that you can set to your ideal temperature and two settings. It also has a seven-hour shutoff timer.
This versatile heater can be used on your floor or tabletop and features a cool-touch exterior and overheat protection features. However, it does have a fan so it might not be the quietest but it didn't both most customers. One explained: "The oscillation feature of the heater works well and is silent. The fan which ejects the heated air is not. To me, I enjoy that fact, mostly because it's not that loud and can act as a free white noise emitter at no extra charge."
What fans say: “I use it in a 320 square foot guest house with cold tile floors. Keeps it toasty overnight down to 40 degrees outside.”
2
The Best Budget Space Heater
- Maximum room size: 300 square feet
The Lasko 5409 Ceramic Portable Space Heater is a budget-friendly convection option capable of heating up to 300 square feet. It features three settings and has an adjustable thermostat. With its compact size and handle, it's easy to move. There’s no remote or auto-shutoff when tipped over function, but it does have overheat protection. For less than $40, it’s a great deal. The drawback is that there's a fan, and some shoppers noted that it's not the quietest choice. "It's definitely -not- a quiet heater, but it's not loud enough to keep me from sleeping," one reviewer wrote.
What fans say: “I have not used the central heat in the house yet, I turned this on as the inside temp was 60 degrees and outside a very damp 30 degrees, within 30 minutes my living room, dining room and hallway was now at 71 degrees.”
3
The Space Heater With The Biggest Range
- Maximum room size: 1,000 square feet
The Dr Infrared Heater Portable Space Heater uses both infrared and convection heating to warm up to 1,000 square feet of space effectively and efficiently. There’s a remote control with 12-hour auto-shutoff timer and overheating protection for safety. You can set the electronic thermostat from 50 to 86 degrees. It also has wheels attached to the bottom to make it easy to transport from room to room when needed. Plus, the noise level of this space heater is just 39 decibels, so it’s near whisper quiet. Because of its low noise and the orange glow it emits, it's best for living rooms and other social spaces, or bedrooms if you don't mind a little light.
What fans say: “So far I have been very impressed with this heater. We use it in a large room with cathedral ceilings. It takes little time to get the room from 60f to 68f. The heat is a nice comfortable heat and none of us have complained.”
4
The Best Space-Saving Heater (A Wall-Mounted Heater)
- Maximum room size: 300 square feet
The DeLonghi HMP1500 Mica Panel Heater is a thin, sleek space heater that can save you tons of space while heating a large-size room. This space heater, which uses infrared and convection heating, includes a wall mounting kit giving you the option to mount it on your wall. It also has castor wheels and carrying handle, so you can quickly move it from one area to the next and set in any narrow space. The mica panel circulates air without a fan, so this heater is super quiet. You can customize your heat settings via the thermostat and warm up to 300 square feet. There are an internal tip-over switch and thermal cut-off feature for safety, too. However, unlike many infrared heaters, reviewers report that this doesn't emit light.
What fans say: “We were looking for a good quality heater that was safe for pets and kids (2 cats and an infant) to heat our master bedroom, since our son was in his crib in our room for the cold months. This heater fit the bill and did a great job keeping our room comfortable (around 72 F) while the rest of the house was colder (around 68 F) at night.”
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