My home has several different brands of portable heaters. As I have written in previous reviews, my husband is on medications that makes him feel very cold all the time, so I not only prepare with 14 cords of wood for the fall through winter, but also keep portable heaters around to warm him quickly and directly.

After using these brands for a while now, my favorite brand is the Lasko while my husband's favorite is the Lakewood Quartz Heater QTV-22. We own 3 models of the Lasko brand and all are of the styles are "ceramic". This review is on the Lasko Model 5435 Max Endurance.

Types of Electrical Portable Heaters

When you are researching for portable heaters, there are many types to choose from. There are radiant, quartz, ceramic, fan, and oil-filled.

Radiant Heater: Has a flat "ribbon" element to emit heat and glows red.

Quartz Heater: Has a coiled wire-heating element in a glass tube to emit radiated heat

Ceramic Heater: Non-glow nichrome ribbon, stays cool to the touch

Fan Forced: A fan used to force the air over the element for rapid heat distribution

Oil-Filled: Tubular steel element heats factory-sealed mineral oil, which warms the exterior of the heater and emits heat by natural convection.

The maximum wattage of heat allowed by the Underwriters Laboratories is 1500.

Having tried many makes and models and types, I have found to definitely get a "fan-type" which is offered in the ceramic, quartz and fan heaters. The fan will force the heat around the area thus making it warmer quicker.

The Product

• Ceramic stay cool to the touch

• Oscillating

• Electronic LCD room temperature display with programmable thermostat from 60 F to 85 F

• 2 settings: High (1500w/ 5118 current room temperature BTU) and Low (900w/ 3070 BTU)

• Carry handle

• Power indicator light

• Automatic overheat protection

• Dimensions: 11.6 inches in height; 7.8 inches in depth; 5.9 inches wide

Performance

We started out with one of its sister models; a non-oscillating heater and then I found this one that is just like its sister with the exception of the digital thermostat and the fact that it turns side to side. Since buying the oscillating type, personally I really like the fact that you have a choice to push a button for it to oscillate or to blow in the direction that you have it pointed.

Normally, I have this one sitting behind me at my computer desk since my desk is located next to a big picture window which the cold air seems to seep thru the baseboards making it drafty cold when temps dip below 20 in the winter.

I normally just have to use this on the low setting and let it oscillate. It really keeps me and my working space toasty warm and I no longer have those little chills or drafts on my feet or legs.

I have found that the digital thermostat shows the temperature around the area of the heater and not the temperature of the room since it will turn off if you have it in a large room and the other side of the room is 68 and around the heater its 78. Therefore, this works good to use with a digital thermostat if you want to save money and energy by using it in a smaller room, like a kitchen, den, bedroom or small living room. To give you an example of what I mean by room size is our living room is huge meaning 900 square feet with 16 feet high cathedral ceilings and huge picture windows, therefore when the heater turns off, the room is still too cold. However, in our bedroom it worked great! It really kept that room toasty warm. That means you can set your main heating system lower and just use a room heater saving on electrical costs.

We are and have been saving on our electric bill by using the portable heaters as a boost to our furnace. Our bills before the portable heaters were running cIose to $300 a month in the dead of winter. Now, they are running less than $200 a month. Now with energy costs at an all time high, these heaters will really pay off to have.

It is simple to use the digital thermostat since it already shows the room temp; you choose the mode button to select "auto", "low", or "high". When selecting "auto", you press the "+" button to until the desired temperature shows and then you are done. The other button is a "-" button to decrease the temperature. The final button is the choice of "oscillating" to be on or off.

When my daughter comes home for school breaks, she takes this heater downstairs where it will keep her small living room, bedroom, and bathroom heated. I normally turn it on about a hour before she is due to come home and by the time she gets home it has already taken the chill off the rooms and is on its way to warmth.

As far as noise level is concerned, you can hear it but it is not very loud. It is soothing if you are trying to sleep since it will block out some unwanted noises.
This is also small enough to take with you on trips and packs nicely in your suitcase. We took it with us on 2 trips my husband had to go on.

Disappointments

While I was trying out its safety features I noticed that it does not have a feature that shuts off the heater if it knocked over. This really disappoints me and I would not keep it if I still had young children that were crawling around to knock it over even though it stays cool on the outside. Consumers need to keep this in mind to your own living situation if this would be a problem to you.

It does have an over heat cutoff switch.

Final Thoughts

Ceramic heaters seem to be the most wanted heaters by consumers and I have tried several brands now. The Lasko brand is the most reliable one that I have bought and the best heating. If your household can go without the safety shutoff tip over feature, I would recommend the Lasko Oscillating heater lineup as the top performer.

This product has a 3-year warranty which also tells me that it should last for a while.

Reviews on other heaters we have or have had:


Delonghi Fan Heater
Lasko Ceramic
Lakewood Quartz QTV-22
Honeywell Surround Heater
Honeywell Ceramic Heater













Recommended: Yes