Review · Infrared cabinet
Two published numbers make this the easiest unit on the site to check — and one of them tells you it does not fit a 15 amp circuit.
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The Dr Infrared Heater DR-968 is a 1,500 W dual-element unit — infrared quartz plus PTC — in a cabinet with caster wheels. It publishes a 12.5 A current draw, a 39 dB noise level, a 50–85°F electronic thermostat and a 12-hour auto-off timer.
Most heater listings publish a wattage, a room-size claim and a list of adjectives. This one publishes 12.5 A and 39 dB, and both are load-bearing.
The amp figure is the one that decides whether you can plug it in where you want to. 12.5 A matches exactly what 1,500 W ÷ 120 V predicts, which is itself worth something — it means the listing's numbers are internally consistent rather than aspirational.
The decibel figure is the one that decides whether it can live in a bedroom. For scale, a quiet library is around 40 dB. A published 39 dB is at the threshold where a heater becomes background rather than an event, and it is the only reason a fan-forced unit appears in our quiet roundup at all.
Top pick · The published numbers
The one listing in this category that publishes its amp draw and its noise level, which is exactly the arithmetic everyone else leaves you to do — 12.5 A and 39 dB, both stated.
| Published specification | |
|---|---|
| Rated power | 1,500 W at 120 V |
| Current draw | 12.5 A (published) |
| Noise | 39 dB (published) |
| Element | Infrared quartz tube plus PTC |
| Thermostat | Electronic, 50–85°F |
| Other | 12-hour auto-off timer, IR remote, caster wheels, 19 lb |
| Heat type | Infrared quartz |
| Maker’s coverage claim | None published — the coverage figure above is ours |
| Safety listing | No listing mark published in the listing text; check the cabinet's rating plate for the UL or ETL mark. |
Who it is for
A reader who wants to compute the load rather than trust a claim: the published amp draw and decibel figure make it the easiest unit on this site to check.
What it is not for
A 15 A circuit shared with anything else, and not a small room where a 19 lb cabinet on wheels is in the way.
Here is the awkward consequence of publishing an honest amp figure: 12.5 A exceeds the 12 A continuous allowance of a 15 A branch circuit. Electrical code sizes a circuit at 125% of a continuous load, which caps continuous draw at 80% of the breaker rating.
| Heater | Draw at 120 V | 15 A circuit (12 A limit) | 20 A circuit (16 A limit) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 W | 12.5 A | Over the limit | Fits |
| Maximum continuous | — | 12 A = 1,440 W | 16 A = 1,920 W |
Draw computed as watts / 120 V. The continuous limit is 80% of the breaker rating, which follows from the NEC's requirement to size a circuit at 125% of a continuous load (NFPA 70, 210.19(A)(1) and 210.20(A)).
This is not a criticism of this heater — every 1,500 W heater on this site draws the same 12.5 A. It is a criticism of the rest of the category for not printing it. Buy this unit and you know to check the circuit; buy one that publishes only a wattage and you probably will not. The full arithmetic.
| Wattage | Per hour | 1 h | 4 h | 8 h |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,500 W | 27.5¢ | $0.28 | $1.10 | $2.20 |
Computed at 18.34¢/kWh — the U.S. residential average for June 2026 (EIA, Electric Power Monthly, Table 5.6.A, released August 26, 2026). Your rate is on your own bill; substitute it and the arithmetic still holds. Figures assume full output for the whole period.
It combines an infrared quartz tube with a PTC ceramic element and a blower. In mechanism terms that makes it a hybrid: radiant heat directly onto whoever is in front of it, plus convected warm air for the rest of the room. It is a genuine answer to radiant heating's shadowing problem — the person outside the cone is not left cold.
Small rooms, in the practical sense: 19 lb on caster wheels is furniture, and it will not tuck under a desk or beside a nightstand. A shared 15 A circuit, per the arithmetic above. And a modern interior, if that matters to you — the wooden cabinet styling is distinctive and it does not disappear into a room.
12.5 amps, published by the manufacturer and matching the computed figure of 1,500 W ÷ 120 V. That exceeds the 12 A continuous limit of a 15 A branch circuit, so it should not share a circuit with other significant loads.
39 dB, published. For scale, a quiet library is around 40 dB. It is one of the very few heater listings in the category that states a decibel figure at all.
At a published 39 dB it is quiet enough for many people, and it has a 12-hour timer. It is also 19 lb on wheels, which is a lot of object for a small bedroom, and its 12.5 A draw needs a circuit with headroom.
It combines an infrared quartz tube with a PTC ceramic element and a blower — radiant heat onto whoever is in front of it plus convected warm air for the rest of the room.
Heats you rather than the room — excellent where every other type struggles, and the shadowing problem.
12.5 A against a 12 A continuous limit — the arithmetic nobody publishes, and what to do about it.
A two-car garage needs about 9,000 W. An outlet gives you 1,500. What to do instead.
Silent by design, not by adjective — the fanless types, plus the one unit that publishes a dB figure.
Why the sizing rule under-sizes a basement by half, and the units that suit cold, below-grade space.
Ceramic heats the air, infrared heats you. Same cost, different rooms — the verdict per use case.