Originally published on Mamavation: December 30, 2020
As the weather gets colder and colder, have you been wondering which types of space heaters are best for your indoor air? Even if that is far from your mind, it’s been on ours and we’d love to share that with you! You’ve trusted Mamavation to bring you indoor air quality topics like best and worst air purifiers, best and worst candles, and best and worst organic mattresses, now join us for the best and worst space heaters in terms of indoor air quality.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
Space Heaters Can Warm Your Day but Not All Types Are Welcome
When it gets cold, we are cuddle up with a warm blanket, put on our warmer clothing, perhaps start a fire and turn on the heater. But if you have another room that needs to be heated, what type of space heater is the safest around children, grownups, and pets? Mamavation is looking at the following variables to ensure you purchase a safe space heater:
- Promotes safe indoor air quality, i.e., doesn’t emit carcinogens into the air
- Doesn’t have a hot encasement that could pose a burning hazard for children
- Immediately shuts down if it’s knocked over, so cannot start a fire if knocked over by a pet or child
But let’s start off with what we want you to avoid first — propane.
Space Heaters Can Pose a Deadly Problem if You Buy the Wrong One
Space heaters that use propane as a fuel can pose a deadly problem for your indoor air if they are not vented and if the combustion is not complete. Not only does the EPA warn about that pretty clearly, but you’re still able to purchase one easily online regardless if you understand the dangers or not. This is what is released into the air around combustion products like space heaters:
- Carbon dioxide (CO2), a nontoxic gas that forms through combustion. (This is what you exhale).
- Carbon monoxide (CO), a toxic gas formed if combustion is incomplete. Can cause death or permanent brain and organ damage.
- Nitrogen dioxide, a toxic gas and upper respiratory irritant causing cough, sore throat, headache, vertigo, and nausea. Also linked with an increase in asthma.
- Water vapor which can increase moisture problems in the home.
Complete combustion is the most important part here because carbon monoxide poisoning from unvented heaters sometimes happen when there is a lack of air, improper gas pressure, dust, dirt or rust on the burner, incorrect placement of artificial logs, or disruption of burner by air currents.
When other ventilation fans are operating they can reduce indoor air pressure which can trick the machines into back-drafting toxic gases. This back-drafting can happen when kitchen range hoods or bathroom exhaust fans are operating at same time and can lead to levels of carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide exceeding safe levels for California.
The easiest way to avoid this entire mess is to focus on space heaters that are electric instead, which is what Mamavation recommends.
Six Types of Indoor Space Heaters
We found six types of indoor space heaters available for purchase online. Some are also a combination of the choices below. But we are going to start off with the least safe option and go down to the rest for you to see the differences.
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Propane Space Heaters — WARNING NOT SAFE |
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WARNING: Propane space heaters do not use electricity, so instead they use liquid propane (LP). As we learned with candles, burning of fossil fuels creates indoor air pollution, which is why they can be so dangerous to families. These space heaters also pose a risk of carbon monoxide poisoning if not ventilated properly. These propane space heaters also emit electromagnetic waves into the air (similar to infrared) to heat up objects close by. Mamavation does not recommend you purchase these types of space heaters. Pros:
Cons:
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Fan Space Heaters — SAFE |
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Fan space heaters heat up a metal coil and that coil sends heat into the room with a fan. They are typically not as pretty as the other ones and powered by electric. Pros:
Cons:
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Ceramic Space Heaters — SAFE |
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This type of space heater has ceramic plates that are attached to metal coils. They run on electricity that heats the coils and warm up the ceramic plates. Then the heat is released out of the machine and into your room. Some of them have fans and others do not. If they have fans, they heat up the room quicker. Pros:
Cons:
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Infrared Space Heaters — SAFE |
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Infrared space heaters emit safe electromagnetic waves into the air that heat up the physical objects that are present in the room like furniture and people. This technology is the same type of radiation that comes from the Sun to heat up the Earth without the UV rays. These units do not need a fan to operate, however, some do have fans. Pros:
Cons:
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Oil-Filled Space Heaters — SAFE |
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Oil-filled space heaters are filled with diathermic oil that is heated up and circulates through the columns and when it gets hot, it’s released into the air. These heaters do not come with a fan. Pros:
Cons:
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Panel Space Heaters — SAFE |
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Panel space heaters are becoming popular because they can be mounted on the wall or sit on the floor with a stand. They work similarly to oil-filled heaters by letting hot air radiate off the device to heat the room, however, they do NOT use oil. Instead, they use electrical currents to produce heated air. Pros:
Cons:
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Space Heater Safety Features to Look For
There are some tricks to looking for the perfect space heater in terms of safety.
• Make sure it’s tested for safety — Look for some certifications like UL (Underwriters Laboratory), CSA (Canadian Standards Association) or ETL (Intertek), which is the most popular you’ll find.
• Find one with a shut off valve around kids — To prevent burns, pay close attention to how hot the exterior is to the touch. Some units have a shut off valve if the machine gets too hot or is knocked over. We highly recommend that function.
• Propane gas heaters need to have a low oxygen shut off (ODS) — We’ve warned you to death about space heaters and the potential to leak dangerous chemicals into the air, but if you want to ensure that doesn’t happen, look for a unit with a low oxygen shut off (ODS).
The ODS function means it will monitor the oxygen levels and shut them down when they reach a certain threshold. This reduces the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning but does not prevent it completely.
Indoor Air Quality Is Important Considering You Spend Over 90% of Your Time Indoors Breathing
Your indoor air is actually more important than the air quality outside because, well, you are breathing it constantly. The air inside your home is concentrated in such a way that it’s estimated to be anywhere from 2 to 5x more polluted than the air outside according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) while other organizations have estimated that number to be almost 100x more polluted.
Why? That’s because contaminants get trapped inside our homes, especially when they are super energy efficient. Outside, the wind and sun beat down the contaminants and break them down, but inside they have nowhere to go.
This is why it’s important to make a concerted effort to clean up your indoor air and keep it clean. Here are some tips on how you can do that.
1. Open windows every day to allow contaminants outside (yes, even when it’s cold.)
2. Bring in more houseplants — NASA has given us lots of information on what plants have the ability to filter out contaminants in the air.
3. Dust every week and focus especially on the removal of dust bunnies anywhere. In the new study published by the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, scientists researched the exposure to 7 different flame retardants and discovered a clear reduction of exposure to these chemicals achieved through routine increased cleaning inside the home.
4. Get a professional air purifier — The strongest air purifier on the market is the Intellipure Ultrafine 468. Click here to receive 10% off a machine for your home and use “Mamavation10” at checkout. For our entire investigation on purifiers go here.
Mamavation’s Investigation on Space Heaters
Mamavation sifted through over 150+ space heaters available online. From the perspective of safety for children, followed by ease of use, and having additional safety features, we found that these brands were superior in general.
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De’Longhi (although no certifications) |
Dr. Infrared |
Heat Storm |
Honeywell (although no certifications) |
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Lasko |
Life Smart (although people complain of smells when taken out of the box) |
Pelonis |
• Not our favorite space heaters — These space heaters are powered by propane. These are not all the propane space heaters out there, but represent lots of the options.
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Bluegrass Living Bluegrass B30TPB-BB Vent Free Blue Flame Gas Space Heater with Blower and Base Feet-30,000, T-Stat Control, 30000 BTU, Black |
HeatFast HF160G Portable Home, Jobsite, Construction Site Forced Air Liquid Propane Salamander Torpedo Space Heater with Variable Temperature Control, 155,000 BTU, orange |
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Mr. Heater 18000 BTU Vent Free Radiant 20# Propane Indoor Outdoor Space Heater |
Mr. Heater Corporation F299720 Vent-Free 20,000 BTU Blue Flame Propane Heater, Multi |
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Mr. Heater Corporation F299730 Heater, One Size, White and Black |
Mr. Heater Corporation Vent-Free 10,000 BTU Radiant Propane Heater, Multi |
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Mr. Heater F215100 MH4B Little Buddy 3800-BTU Indoor Safe Propane Heater, Medium |
ProCom Liquid Propane Ventless Ice House Heater — 10,000 BTU, T-Stat, Model No.: ML100TBAHR |
• Better space heaters — These space heaters run on electricity and pose no threat of harming your indoor air quality, however, we didn’t find those extra safety features we were looking for.
• Best space heaters — These space heaters run on electric, don’t muck up your indoor air quality, have certifications, and have additional safety features for fire prevention. They also had good ratings on Amazon and we couldn’t find any obvious things wrong with them.
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Amazon Basics 1500W Ceramic Personal Heater with Adjustable Thermostat, Black $30.99 |
Amazon Basics 1500W Oscillating Ceramic Heater with Adjustable Thermostat, Black $35.49 |
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andily Space Heater Electric Heater for Home and Office Ceramic Small Heater with Thermostat, 750W/1500W $24.38 |
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FLAMEMORE CH-3003 Portable Electric Space Remote Control 1500W 6-Element Infrared Heater 12H Timer with Tip-Over and Overheating Shut-Off Quiet for Indoor Use, 12.4in x 15.4in x 15.7in, Wood $109.00 |
Heat Storm Deluxe Logan Portable Infrared Space Heater $114.93 |
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Heat Storm Deluxe Mounted Space Infrared Wall Heater, White $76.72 |
Heat Storm HS-1000-WX-WIFI Wi-Fi Infrared Wall Heater $95.00 |
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Heat Storm HS-1500-ISA Portable Infrared Heater, 1500 watts, Sahara Black $79.99 |
Heat Storm HS-1500-PHX-WIFI Infrared Heater, Wi-Fi Wall Mounted $95.54 |
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Howard Berger Comfort Zone CZ499R Oscillating Tower Heater with Remote Control $64.00 |
KOOLWOOM Portable Electric Space Heater Infrared Zone Heating Systems with Thermostat for Office and Home, Tip-Over and Overheat Protection Remote Control 12hr Timer and Filter 1,000W to 1,500W Dark Walnut $109.99 |
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Lasko 755320 Ceramic Space Heater 8.5 L x 7.25 W x 23 H inches $60.72 |
Lasko 760000 Cyclonic Ceramic Heater $94.19 |
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Lasko Bladeless Ceramic Heater with Remote Control $108.00 |
Lasko CC23160 Motion Heat Plus Whole Room Heater $164.00 |
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Lasko Designer Series Ceramic Space Heater-Features Oscillation, Remote, and Built-In Timer, Beige $76.99 |
Lasko FH500 Fan and Space Heater Combo Tower, 42 Inch, Black White $94.99 |
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PELONIS NTH15-17BRA Portable 1500W Vertical and Horizontal Ceramic Tower Space Heater, Internal Oscillation, with Remote Control, Programmable Thermostat and 24H Timer and Overheating Protection, White $69.99 |
PELONIS Oscillating Digital Fan Heater $48.86 |
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PELONIS PH-17P 1500W Fast Heating, Programmable Thermostat, Easy Control, Widespread Oscillation, Over Heating and Tip-Over Switch Protection, 7.87 x 8.07 x 12.01 inches, white $39.99 |
PELONIS PHTA1ABB Portable, 1500W/900W, Quiet Cooling and Heating Mode Space Heater for All Season, Tip-Over and Overheat Protection, for Home, Office Personal Use, Black, 7 x 5.82 x 8.54 inches $27.90 |
About the Author
Leah Segedie is the President and Founder of Mamavation.com. Mamavation produces award-winning content and independent consumer studies examining the intersection of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and everyday products brought into American households. She’s been referred to by many as “the real FDA.”
Since 2008, Mamavation has been helping everyday moms navigate the grocery store by commissioning consumer studies on food, beverages, personal care products and other such products and thus democratizing science and testing for everyone.
