Lasko MyHeat Personal Space Heater, Compact, Black

I found this to be the perfect size space heater to efficiently run off my 700wh portable power station without rapidly draining the battery. Using only 200watts, it delivers just enough heat to make a noticeable difference in warming up my small space in a short amount of time. Overall I found it functions as advertised. I bought a second one for another room after being satisfied with the first one. I can warm up my car while the engine is off or warm up my bedroom while my main heater is off. I like knowing I'll have backup heat during a power outage while plugged into my portable power stations. It's quiet and safe. I like the low wattage power consumption while still getting a decent amount of heat from such a small heater. Quality construction gives me confidence it will last a long time. Highly recommended.

UPDATE after one year of ownership: This little heater continues to impress me. I don't know how it would perform in a really cold climate, but here in Northern California, where nighttime winter temperatures rarely go much below freezing, it's outstanding at heating a small space quickly. The room where I now work is unheated; it was converted from being the house's garage. I use a deLonghi oil radiator heater for the main heat in this room, but off course it takes a long time to warm up. The Lasko heats the area around my desk quickly while the deLonghi is warming up. After the deLonghi is warm, I switch off the Lasko. This combination works well for me, and using the Lasko this way allows me to conserve power by using the deLonghi at a lower power setting.I was impressed enough with the Lasko that I ordered a second one (a model 103, identical except for having a red front). I use one in a separate building behind my house and the other in an unheated room inside my house. Neither Lasko is my main heater. They just provide heat while the oil radiators come up to temperature. They also occasionally provide a relatively low power supplemental source of heat as an alternate to using an oil radiator heater at a higher power setting.After a year of ownership, I'm raising my original four star rating to five stars. The price is so low and the heater works so well that the little guy deserves it.My original review:This little guy puts out an impressive amount of heat. It won't heat a large or even medium sized space, but if you need to heat under your desk or very near your person, it definitely puts out the heat. It works well in my 8'x 9' office in a standalone unheated, uninsulated brick building. I've only owned it for two weeks, so I can't attest to its durability, but its three year warranty does offer some assurance.Ironically, I canceled the Lasko after ordering it and ordered a Vornado Personal Vortex 375/750 watt heater instead, but Amazon was unable to cancel the Lasko in time and shipped it. I left it packed in the box for a week, intending to return it... until I became frustrated with the Vornado's pathetic heat and out of curiosity, opened the Lasko and tried it. I was immediately impressed with the heat it generates, so much so that I've returned the Vornado and ordered a second Lasko MyHeat.My main use for the two Lasko's will be supplementing the oil filled heater in my office, which during the winter can be as cold as low forties Fahrenheit when I open it in the morning. The Lasko's will provide immediate heat while the oil-filled heater slowly heats up.A secondary use for one Lasko will be cold weather camping in my truck. The power draw is low enough that I can power it using the deep cycle battery I carry when traveling.My only real complaint about the Lasko is the lack of any tip-over protection. A thermostat would be nice, but for this price, I'm not complaining. However I am knocking off one star for the lack of tip-over protection. This is my one concern about camping with this heater. I don't use heat while sleeping so it won't be a problem for me, but for anyone who camps with it and leaves it on while sleeping, you'll need to be very careful to prevent it being accidentally knocked over during the night and starting a fire. I plan to affix Velcro to the bottom to protect against tipover.Other than that, this is an outstanding little heater. Its looks won't impress people, but it will keep a small space warm while consuming very little power.UPDATE: I've used my Kill-A-Watt meter to confirm the wattage of nine electric space heaters. Virtually all of them have actual wattages that are below the claimed rating. The exception: both of my Lasko MyHeats. Lasko claims 200 watts, but one of mine has an actual wattage of 211 and the other 202. By comparison, the Vornado Personal Vortex Heater, which I originally wanted but ended up returning, claims 375/750 watts, but the unit I had was only 326/696 watts. I don't say this to disparage Vornado. Nearly every other space heater I've tested had lower wattages than claimed, except these two little Lasko's.General information about buying electric space heaters:=============================================I've owned and used electric space heaters since 1988, mostly DeLonghi oil filled radiators. When I recently began looking for a heater that would warm up a room faster, I was frustrated at the lack of hard, objective, facts about electric space heaters. Even the manufacturer websites often fail to mention or makes it hard to learn the most basic information you need to know, such as wattage ratings and warranty lengths. Not even Consumer Reports has enough information to really inform a consumer. Therefore it's up to us as consumers to share what we know. The rest of this review shares some of what I've learned.In case you're wondering what heater I decided on to replace my DeLonghi, I didn't, at least not yet. I tried a Vornado PVH and a Bionaire BH1331-U, but I ended up returning both heaters. I'm sticking with my oil-filled heaters for now.Basic electric space heater facts:1. All electric space heaters are equally efficient. All heaters rated at 1500 watts output the same amount of heat, but may do it very differently. You have to choose the one that heats the way you need it.2. Power consumption is determined by two things: the power setting you're using and how long the heater is actually on. Turning up the thermostat setting doesn't increase the heat or power consumption; it just lengthens the time that your heater will be running.3. To reduce power consumption, use the lowest power setting on your heater that produces the heat you need.4. An electric space heater will save you money only if you turn your central heating down or off and use space heaters to heat only the rooms where you need heat.5. The only kind of electric space heater that's likely to provide adequate heat in a large or draft space is a radiant heater (not to be confused with a radiator heater, which is very different), but radiant heaters pose a fire hazard.Don't take manufacturer wattage claims too seriously. When I used my Kill-A-Watt meter on six space heaters, I found variations of up to 200 watts between the claimed and actual wattage for each space heater. In most cases the actual watts were less than the claimed watts, but one of my DeLonghi's 1500 watt heaters turned out actually to be a 1600 watt heater.Two crucial steps in finding the electric space heater that's right for you:============================================================1. Learn which heater is right for your needs. A huge percentage of complaints by reviewers about space heaters are due to reviewers buying the wrong type of heater for their needs. Your first step should be to decide between the basic types: Ceramic heaters with a fan, oil-filled radiator, micathermic, and radiant. First learn the conditions in which each one works best and works best and then select the type that will work best for your needs. There is no one single "best" heater for all situations. Each one has conditions in which it works well and conditions in which it's terrible.2. Look at the warranties. Warranties on space heaters range from one year to five years. Delonghi and Soleus heaters that I've checked have one year warranties. Other companies, such as Bionaire, Honeywell, Lasko, and Vornado offer three year and five year warranties on many - but not all - of their models. If a company offers only a one year warranty on some models but a five year warranty on others (such as Bionaire), it raises question about the durability of the heater with the shorter warranty. However a long warranty is only as good as the company offering it. Read reviews to learn what experiences people have when their heaters die while still under warranty.In most cases, you'll have to download the manual from the manufacturer's website to get the length of the warranty. It's a nuisance, but it's worth taking the time to do.Don't let anyone tell you that any particular type of heater is "the best". The best type is the one that best suits YOUR needs. The best heater for me might be the worst heater for you. Some heaters heat up a cold room faster, some keep a room at a steady temperature, and some will work better in a large space.Some questions you need to ask yourself before deciding which type of heater to buy- Will it be keeping a room at a steady temperature? (oil-filled radiator or micathermics heaters might be best)- Will it be heating up a cold room? (a heater with a fan or a radiant heater might be best)- Are there children or pets who might be injured by touching a hot surface? (oil-filled radiator and radiant heater might be a problem)- Do you want to heat just a particular spot rather than the whole room? (radiant heaters might be best- Are you concerned about fire risks? (oil-filled radiator or micathermic heaters might be best, though no space heater is completely safe)Oil-filled radiators:These are my favorite heaters. These are the heaters that look like old-fashioned steam radiators. The oil retains its warmth after the thermostat cycles off, which is important if you want to keep a room at a steady temperature. The downside is that the oil takes longer to heat initially, which is why these heaters take so long to warm up.I have two DeLonghi oil-filled radiators; I've been using one of them for 23 years, and the other is about eight years old. I love the heat they provide. It's steady, warm, with no noise and no drying out of the air like with some other types of heaters. They are ideal for maintaining a steady temperature in an enclosed room.Oil filled heaters have a huge drawback, however: they are terrible at heating up a cold room. It can take an oil-filled heater hours longer to heat up a cold room than other types of heaters.The US Department of Energy recommends oil-filled heaters as the most efficient, because the fins generate warmth even when the heater's thermostat cycles off. However this efficiency is only when the heater is continually on, keeping a room at a constant temperature. If you turn the heater on and off frequently, you'll lose most of the efficiency that's inherent in these heaters.If you have children or pets, look into one of the shielded radiator heaters. I prefer the unshielded ones because they radiate more heat laterally, but the surface can get very hot and be a hazard if touched. DeLonghi claims that their shielded radiator heaters circulate heated air more quickly. Both of mine are unshielded, so I have no way of confirming that. My concern about the shielded radiators is that they would direct more hot air up rather than to the side, where I need it.If your electric rates are different for different times of the day, you can use this to your advantage in setting your radiator heater toswitch on and warm the room from cold when rates are low, then let it provide steady heat when rates are higher.A word of warning about oil-filled radiators: if one is poorly made or damaged, it can leak oil and permanently damage rugs and floors or even start a fire. Only buy from a reputable manufacturer and don't accept one that has any visible damage.Ceramic fan heaters:These are great at heating a room quickly, however many people including myself don't like the heat they blow. I don't mind it in my Vornado Personal Heater (375/700watt), which is located under my desk, but I thoroughly dislike it in the old Honeywell ceramic oscillating heater that came with my house. I much prefer the warmth that comes from an oil-filled radiator. Ceramic heaters can be most effective at quickly warming up a cold room.Radiant heatersRadiant heaters (don't confuse them with radiator heaters!) work by heating whatever they are pointed at rather than heating the air in the room. If you have a large, drafty space, a radiant heater might be your best choice, because it doesn't heat the air, only the objects and people it's directed at.Micathermic heatersMicathermic heaters work similarly to oil-filled radiators, except that instead of heavy metal fins filled with hot oil, micathermic heaters have thin sheets of mica that heat up. I've only had experience with one micathermic, a Bionaire BH1331-U, and found that it's exterior surface remained very cool except for a few very warm spots on top. There would be less risk of young children being burned by touching a micathermic heater than an oil-filled radiator. Micathermic heaters are slower heating than ceramic fan heaters, but are faster then oil-filled radiators..Baseboard heatersI have a Lakewood oil-filled baseboard heater I bought five years ago that has many of the advantages of a micathermic heater. It heats faster than an oil-filled radiator but has no hot surfaces and low fire risk. My Lakewood does an excellent job of heating my 12x15 bedroom.However I have not researched baseboard heaters and only have experience with this Lakewood, so I don't know whether others are as good as this one. I was impressed that when I measured the actual wattages of my various space heaters, the Lakewood's actual wattages came closest to its claimed wattages of all the other heaters I tested. Lakewood unfortunately went out of business in 2009 and had a major problem with oil leaking from its heaters a few years earlier. Despite this, it's in many ways my best heater and has the lowest cost of operation.

I have a room that is on a crawl space added on to my old home . It gets a little duct air and I put one of those underdesk heaters in it which raised the temp about 2 degrees which I thought was great . I put this in there and it is fantastic . Now I haven't removed the other heater but I will it is 153 watts . I left the heater run for 3 hours and the walls which are tile are warm when it is below zero out for the first time this winter . I was impressed . I read some people used this in small bedrooms up to about 8 by 10 as supplemental heat and found it hard to believe . I believe them now . Just remember these rooms have another heat source too . It is sad this doesn't have a tip over feature because in good conscience I cannot recommend it for times when people are asleep or away from home . Make sure you have a smoke detector in the room and outside the door anyways . You can use a electric blanket and then turn this on after you wake up . If it didn't works so well l would of taken a few stars off for the danger factor . It must be placed where no pet or anyone could tip it over . If puton a shelf it must be secure . Take care and be careful .UPDATE . I ended up purchasing the Holmes bathroom heater which has all the safety ( GFI and tip over with thermostat ) features needed and really puts out heat for my bathroom . I set the temp and leave it on all winter . I still found a great use for this as I have a security system with a camera to a outside window that freezes up . It is always covered with frost and I am disabled often bedridden and look outside via cameras on a monitor . Only this one window gives me issues . I took this heater and put it on the sill and it keeps the frost off . Before it would get a inch thick if left untreated and I would melt it with a hair dryer it was a real pain . I do not know what it costs to run this full time 3 months a year at 150 watts but to me it is worth it . I love the holmes in my Bathroom the only thing is you must close the door or it will run and run and run and at 1500 watts it will cost some $$$$ . However when i keep the door closed and set the temp it keeps the bathroom at 70 and I turn it on full run when we take showers and it is toasty warm when we get out . I have a small bathroom but it is all tile so it gets cold here in Michigan winters . I would not use this for kids rooms or bathrooms myself not only does it not put out enough heat it is dangerous but it would be good at a desk for a little extra warmth if the boss was cool with it .