Which Space Heaters Brand Wins?
2023 test11 productsHome Appliances

Which Space Heaters Brand Wins?

This head-to-head test of 11 space heaters options has the measured results for each. See how they ranked and watch the full test video.

The verdict
Amazon Basics
Budget pick

Amazon Basics

Price shown in test: $20

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The measured results

Every number below is read straight from the test. Products are listed in the order they finished.

Weight (lb)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    2.72lb
  • 2MainStay
    2.63lb
  • 3Aikoper
    2.24lb

    (called out later as the lightest of the lineup)

  • 4GiveBest
    2.64lb
  • 5DREO
    just over3lb
  • 6Lasko
    5.6lb
  • 7Mr. Heater
    8.2lb
  • 8Honeywell
    8.25lb
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    19.2lb

    the heaviest unit in the lineup

  • 10Heat Storm
    7.74lb
  • 11Dyson
    11.87lb

Country Of Origin

  • 1Amazon Basics

    China

  • 2MainStay

    China

  • 3Aikoper

    China

  • 4GiveBest

    China

  • 5DREO

    China

  • 6Lasko

    China

  • 7Mr. Heater

    China

  • 8Honeywell

    China

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared

    China

  • 10Heat Storm

    China

  • 11Dyson

    Malaysia (the only unit in the lineup not made in China)

Tip Over Result

  • 1Amazon Basics

    powered off immediately, plastic did not melt (best tip over rating)

  • 2MainStay

    powered off immediately, plastic did not melt

  • 3Aikoper

    very effective tip over shutoff switch, did not melt plastic

  • 4GiveBest

    performed very well, did not melt plastic

  • 5DREO

    heating element powered off immediately on tip over while the fan kept running to cool it down, rather than shutting off completely at once; narrator calls this a better safety design

  • 6Lasko

    continued supplying power to the heating element for about 25 seconds after tip over before shutting down (worst of the group), plastic did not melt; received the video's worst tip over rating of 3 while most other units scored 1

  • 7Mr. Heater

    powered off on tip over, but the front of the unit is very hot and melted the plastic during the melt test

  • 8Honeywell

    shut off before the unit's face touched the ground, plastic did not melt

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared

    shut off as soon as it was tipped over; the transcript does not state a plastic melt result for this brand the way it does for the others, left unspecified rather than assumed

  • 10Heat Storm

    test skipped; the unit is wall mounted and not subject to tip over by design

  • 11Dyson

    shut off in less than one second after tip over, plastic did not melt

Room Heat 200 Sqft Avg Increase (°F)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    3.56F

    per thermometer average (later recap line gives 3.57F for the same test, minor discrepancy, both kept)

  • 2MainStay
    3F

    per thermometer average, almost as good as Amazon Basics

  • 3Aikoper
    2.87F

    average, least amount of progress yet

  • 4GiveBest
    3.87F

    average, tied for best in the lineup with the Dyson

  • 5DREO
    2.7F

    average, described as the least progress alongside Lasko despite the strong spot heat result, because it draws only about 1430W

  • 6Lasko
    2F

    average, least progress in the room heating test

  • 7Mr. Heater
    2.63F

    average; narrator notes most of the heat goes straight to the ceiling without a fan

  • 8Honeywell
    2.7F

    average

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    3.37F

    average, made good use of its 1526W draw

  • 10Heat Storm
    3.3F

    average

  • 11Dyson
    3.87F

    average, tied for best in the lineup with GiveBest

Thermostat Noise

  • 1Amazon Basics

    pretty loud clicking, might disrupt light sleepers

  • 2MainStay

    noisy but a little less noisy than Amazon Basics

  • 3Aikoper

    noisy but less noisy than Amazon Basics and MainStay

  • 4GiveBest

    just as loud as Amazon Basics, described as sounding like a bad engine valve tap

  • 5DREO

    not isolatable, unit beeps while adjusting the thermostat

  • 6Lasko

    almost as loud as DREO's

  • 8Honeywell

    quietest thermostat yet at that point, not fully isolatable

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared

    relatively quiet compared to other brands

  • 10Heat Storm

    relatively quiet compared to other brands

  • 11Dyson

    quietest thermostat in the lineup

  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested

Spot Heat Center 5 (min)

  • 1Amazon Basics

    center thermometer +5F to 72F, left/right thermometers unchanged at 67F

  • 2MainStay

    center thermometer +7F (most of the three heaters tested so far), left/right thermometers under 1F change; narrator says it directed heat better than Amazon Basics

  • 3Aikoper

    least progress of the group so far: left/right +0.2F, center +2.2F

  • 4GiveBest

    moves into second place, center +almost 6F

  • 5DREO

    best by far, center +20F in 5 minutes, narrator calls it very impressive

  • 6Lasko
    80.4F1st

    (verbatim as captioned; implausible since it would exceed DREO's leading +20F figure and make Lasko first place, not second as the narrator states, almost certainly a garbled decimal such as 8.4, not corrected)

  • 8Honeywell

    +8F, moves into fourth place

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared

    +19F, performed very well

  • 10Heat Storm

    +7F, performed almost the same as Honeywell

  • 11Dyson

    +13F, also did a better job than most at warming the side thermometers

  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested

Watts Low

  • 1Amazon Basics
    922
  • 2MainStay
    726
  • 3Aikoper
    775
  • 4GiveBest
    788
  • 5DREO
    980
  • 6Lasko
    854
  • 8Honeywell
    900
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    17

    (verbatim as captioned; implausibly low next to every other brand's low-setting reading of roughly 700 to 900W, almost certainly a dropped digit, not corrected)

  • 10Heat Storm
    86

    (verbatim as captioned; implausibly low next to every other brand's low-setting reading of roughly 700 to 900W, almost certainly a dropped digit such as 860, not corrected)

  • 11Dyson
    1984

    on the lowest fan speed, described as very energy thirsty, dropping to 1381

  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested

Watts High Peak

  • 1Amazon Basics
    1741

    (brief spike)

  • 2MainStay
    1760

    (brief spike)

  • 3Aikoper
    1687

    (captioned as the lowest power spike of the first three brands)

  • 4GiveBest
    1

    75 (verbatim as captioned, almost certainly 1750 with a dropped digit, not corrected)

  • 5DREO
    1666

    (brief spike)

  • 6Lasko
    1671

    (brief spike)

  • 8Honeywell
    2

    24 (verbatim as captioned, almost certainly 2240 with a dropped digit; narrator says it could easily trip a 15 amp breaker, not corrected)

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    1846

    (narrator says this might trip a 15 amp breaker)

  • 10Heat Storm
    1596

    (brief spike)

  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested
All measurements (23 more)+

Watts High Stabilized

  • 1Amazon Basics
    1

    54 (verbatim as captioned; almost certainly 1,540 with a dropped digit, not corrected)

  • 2MainStay
    1532
  • 3Aikoper
    1155

    (verbatim; notably lower than every other brand's stabilized high reading of roughly 1400 to 1500, flagged as possibly a dropped digit rather than corrected)

  • 4GiveBest
    about1500
  • 5DREO
    1432

    the lowest stabilized high wattage of any unit in the video

  • 6Lasko
    1454
  • 8Honeywell
    1490
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    1526
  • 10Heat Storm
    1585

    the highest stabilized continuous wattage of any unit in the video

  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Fabric Test Time To Shutoff

  • 1Amazon Basics
    about35 seconds
  • 2MainStay
    1 minute 30 seconds
  • 3Aikoper
    5 minutes 15 seconds

    refused to power down and made a very good effort at starting a fire

  • 4GiveBest
    close to35 seconds
  • 6Lasko
    8 seconds

    best fabric/fire result up to that point in the video

  • 8Honeywell

    less than 3 seconds, the best fabric/fire result of every brand in the video

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    4 minutes

    described as almost as persistent as Aikoper

  • 10Heat Storm
    about57 seconds

    longer than the best performers but no fire or melt reported

  • 11Dyson
    8 minutes

    with two extra pillow covers added partway through since it was not tripping

  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested

Fabric Temp (°F)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    147°F
  • 2MainStay
    313°F
  • 3Aikoper
    320°F
  • 4GiveBest
    236°F
  • 6Lasko
    162°F
  • 8Honeywell
    149°F
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    31°F

    (verbatim as captioned; given the brand is described as almost as bad as Aikoper, which hit 320F, this is almost certainly 310 with a dropped digit, not corrected)

  • 11Dyson
    191°F

    (the closing recap line separately states Dyson 19.7 de for this same test, which is almost certainly a garbled repeat/collision of the earlier 191F figure rather than a new data point; 191F is used here as the clearer, fully-narrated value)

  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested

Settings

  • 1Amazon Basics

    low 750W, high 1500W, fan only; overheat protection and tip over switch

  • 2MainStay
    700W

    900W, 1500W; cool touch handle; overheat and tip over protection; ceramic heating element

  • 3Aikoper

    three heat settings, overheat protection and tip over switch

  • 4GiveBest

    overheat and tip over protection, thermostat control

  • 5DREO
    1500W

    ceramic, heat funnel design, 1 to 12 hour timer, eco mode, fan mode, tip over and overheat protection

  • 8Honeywell
    up to1500W

    auto shutoff and tip over protection, ceramic heater, programmable thermostat

  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Noise (dB)

  • 2MainStay
    about54.3dB

    a little louder than Amazon Basics

  • 3Aikoper
    just over54dB

    similar to MainStay

  • 4GiveBest
    52.1dB

    quietest yet at that point in the video

  • 6Lasko
    about45.5dB

    quieter than the first four brands but not as quiet as DREO

  • 7Mr. Heater
    about35dB

    on both low and high, extremely quiet since it has no fan

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    just over49dB

    a little louder than Honeywell

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Brand Resolution

  • 3Aikoper

    transcript renders this brand as aopa, a coper, Y coper, AER, aoer, and aoba across the video; resolved to Aikoper via the description Products Tested list, which lists no other brand near this price and testing position

  • 5DREO

    transcript renders this brand as drio, doo, dro, and drill across the video; resolved to DREO via the description Products Tested list and the heat funnel / 200 percent farther marketing claim, which matches DREO's own listing copy

  • 6Lasko

    transcript renders this brand as Lasco throughout; resolved to Lasko via the description Products Tested list

  • 8Honeywell

    captioned as honey well throughout; resolved to Honeywell via the description

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared

    captioned as do heater, doctor heater, and Dr heater; resolved to Dr. Heater (Dr. Infrared) via the description

  • 11Dyson

    captioned as dicing, diCon, and dicd; resolved to Dyson via the description and the explicit statement it is the most expensive unit tested

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested

Noise High (dB)

  • 5DREO

    occasionally reaching 41

  • 8Honeywell
    47.3dB
  • 10Heat Storm
    53.4dB
  • 11Dyson
    58.3dB

    loud on the highest fan speed

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested

Features

  • 6Lasko

    multi-functional remote control for power, oscillation, and thermostat; two quiet heat settings

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared

    dual heating system with infrared quartz tube, remote control, rated 5,200 BTU, thermostat range 50 to 85F, claims 39 dB quiet operation

  • 10Heat Storm

    Wi-Fi enabled phone control, safe to touch grill, up to 1500W, wall mount design with included hardware and screw template

  • 11Dyson

    combination space heater and air purifier, HEPA filter rated to remove 99.97 percent of particles as small as 0.3 microns, ships with both filters needed, replacement filters about $37, oscillates up to 350 degrees

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested

Spot Heat Total 3 Thermo 5 (min)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    4.4F

    total (verbatim; inconsistent with the +5F center figure directly above, likely a caption rounding or drop, flagged not corrected)

  • 10Heat Storm
    19.7F

    total across all three thermometers, the highest total heat-throw figure the narrator gives in this recap comparison

  • 11Dyson
    17.2F

    total across all three thermometers

  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested

Marketing Claim

  • 3Aikoper

    ultra efficient fan will heat up any space faster and distribute heat more evenly

  • 4GiveBest

    claims lower than 45 dB noise

  • 5DREO

    claims it can throw heat 200 percent farther than other heaters

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Popularity

  • 4GiveBest

    narrator calls it the most popular space heater on Amazon, 50,000 sales in the last 30 days

  • 7Mr. Heater
    10,000

    sales in the last 30 days

  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    10,000

    sales in the last 30 days

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Noise Low (dB)

  • 5DREO

    below 40, quietest yet

  • 8Honeywell
    44dB
  • 10Heat Storm
    42.3dB
  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Watts Medium

  • 2MainStay
    close to1000
  • 3Aikoper
    about940
  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Fabric Test

  • 5DREO

    not mentioned by name in the pillowcase/fabric fire section of the transcript, unlike every other brand; likely a transcript gap rather than an actual skip, flagged, not invented

  • 7Mr. Heater

    by far the hottest heater in the lineup, quickly melted the pillowcase and started a small fire; a higher-cotton pillowcase caught fire in under 10 seconds

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Noise Quiet Room (dB)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    35dB
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Noise Fan Only (dB)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    53.5dB

    (same on low and high heat since heat setting does not change fan speed)

  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Type

  • 7Mr. Heater

    indoor safe propane heater, not electric; no watt meter reading applies

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Btu Claim

  • 7Mr. Heater
    4,000

    and 9,00 000 BTUs (verbatim as captioned; the second figure is clearly garbled, likely meant to read 9,000, not corrected)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Runtime

  • 7Mr. Heater
    about3 hours

    per pound of propane, pilot button held 30 seconds to light

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Spot Heat Even

  • 7Mr. Heater

    without a fan it cannot direct heat as effectively to one point, but warmed all three thermometers evenly by about 4F each, described as the best even-distribution result yet

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Safety Grade

  • 8Honeywell

    A+ in both safety categories, per the narrator's closing recap

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested
  • 11Dyson
    not tested

Noise Low

  • 11Dyson

    extremely quiet on the lowest fan speed

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested

Watts High

  • 11Dyson
    1500

    (transcript phrasing separates fan speed and heat setting readings in a way that is hard to fully disambiguate; kept as captioned, flagged)

  • 1Amazon Basics
    not tested
  • 2MainStay
    not tested
  • 3Aikoper
    not tested
  • 4GiveBest
    not tested
  • 5DREO
    not tested
  • 6Lasko
    not tested
  • 7Mr. Heater
    not tested
  • 8Honeywell
    not tested
  • 9Dr. Heater Dr. Infrared
    not tested
  • 10Heat Storm
    not tested

How it was tested

  • noise level in dB at low and high fan/heat settings, plus thermostat clicking noise
  • spot heating: 3 thermometers placed 36in apart, heater aimed at center, 5 minute temperature increase
  • electricity consumption in watts at low and high settings, peak spike and 30 second stabilized reading
  • tip over safety: unit powered off and plastic melt check when physically tipped over
  • fabric fire risk: pillowcase draped over the heater, time to automatic shutoff and resulting fabric temperature
  • 200 sq ft insulated room heating: 30 minute average temperature increase per thermometer
  • extension cord overload demo (general safety illustration with two heaters on one cord, not attributed to a specific brand)
Data notes and caveats

This is a per price tier recommendation video, not a single crowned winner: the narrator explicitly recommends Amazon Basics at $20 ('for a $20 space heater the Amazon Basics perform well in the safety testing and I would definitely consider buying it'), DREO at $40 ('I really like the Doo, the doo is not only safe, it also is quieter than the Amazon Basics'), Honeywell as the outright safest ('the honey well is the safest space heater in the lineup with an earning of A+ in both safety categories') though pricier at $86, and Mr. Heater's propane unit as a power outage backup despite being the only unit to start an actual fire in testing. Numeric captioning is heavily garbled across this video: several stabilized wattage readings for individual brands (Amazon Basics, GiveBest, Honeywell) are missing a digit, Aikoper's, Dr. Heater's, and Heat Storm's low wattage readings are implausibly low versus their peers, Lasko's spot heat center figure of 80.4F is almost certainly a garbled decimal, and Dyson's fabric-test recap figure (19.7 de) collides with an earlier, clearer 191F figure for the same test. All are preserved verbatim in results with the ambiguity flagged in notes rather than silently corrected. DREO is also the only brand with no fabric/pillowcase test result anywhere in the transcript, likely a narration or caption gap rather than a genuine skip. The extension cord overload demo near the end is a general safety illustration using two heaters together and is not attributable to a single brand.

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