Recommendations collected by Cheryl Jasper - 10/4/05

1. I definitely recommend a *convection unit*, ie., one with a small fan. They seem unconvincing to many because they don't seem very hot; but because they move your room air around, they will heat it pretty uniformly, which I'm sure you want. They are putting out as much heat as any other, but not leaving it all in one place. And you don't want them to! As to efficiency, heat is the easiest thing to make out of electricity. The part of a light bulb that is NOT efficient is making heat. So unless you buy one that puts out a lot of other things like pumps, lights, refrigerators, etc., it will be hard ot go wrong. 1000 watts is 1000 watts, pure heat. A lot of our houses have outlets on circuits that can't handle all your heater might want to use. Most of ours are on 15 amp circuits. If yours are like that, you might want to stay below 10 amps or so (1200W). Larry mailto:[email protected]

2. Last year I bought a couple of *oil-filled electric space heaters*, each for rooms about the size that you are describing. They worked wonderfully, making the rooms really nice and toasty. I got them at Home Depot and Orchard Supply, respectively. However, they look like little radiators, and I don't think a cat would be safe to rub against it, because they get pretty hot. Also, they don't have a turn-off valve if they fall over. I haven't heard of any that do, but I am not an expert on all types. Since they are filled with gas, they are very quiet, unlike the all-electric ones that have blowers on them (and may be more expensive to run). Good luck!! Pat Jordan

3. Without a doubt, the *Vornado heater*. It's everything you listed. We love it and highly recommend it. We also bought some for my wife's mother, and my wife uses one at her office at work! It uses *convection* to heat the air, so the heater itself is barely warm to the touch, completely safe for cats, children, etc. It is extremely light and portable, and plugs into any electric outlet. It is perfect for small rooms like our monta loma bedrooms. We bought ours a long time ago at Costco, and you know how costco is hit or miss as to what they have, but I believe they sell Vornado heaters at Bed,Bath,&Beyond too. (I don't know how energy efficient it is though.) Dhananjay Ragade

Our favorite electric space heater would be the *Delonghi*. It's oil filled, gives off heat and no danger of getting "toasted" if I rub against it. Used to be at Costco for $40, but that was years ago. Elaine mailto:[email protected]

Lasko Oscillating Ceramic Tower Heater with Remote Control

I ended up going to Home Depot and buying the Lasko model 5132. According to the sales person, ceramic gets hot faster and holds the heat longer, resulting in shorter on times. I also liked the look of this heater and the fact that it oscillates. It has a noticable hum in the high setting but is completely silent in the low setting. The oscillation is completely silent. The idea is that you turn it on high, it heats up the room in a few minutes, and then it lowers itself to the low setting. You can set the temperature you want to maintain, set a timer to automatically turn it off, etc. There's also a remote that works from across the room (handy when you have a broken ankle!). So I'm happy. It will be interesting to see if my electric bill climbs this month. Cheryl Jasper - 10/4/05