Comparison · Types
One heats the air in the room, the other heats the things in it. This is the distinction underneath every other heater comparison on this site.
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Convection heaters warm the air, which then warms you — even coverage, slower to arrive, and it disperses when you open a door. Radiant heaters emit infrared that warms people and surfaces directly — instant, directional, and unaffected by drafts.
Convection is heat transfer through a moving fluid, and in a room the fluid is air. A convection heater warms the air touching it; that air becomes less dense, rises, and is replaced by cooler air. A fan-forced heater does the same thing deliberately and faster. Either way, the room's air becomes the reservoir, and you are warmed by being in it.
Radiation is heat transfer by electromagnetic waves, and it needs no medium at all. Infrared passes through air almost untouched and is absorbed by the first solid surface it reaches. You feel it on your skin the instant you are in its path, and you stop feeling it the instant you step out.
The everyday demonstration is standing in winter sunlight through a window: the air is cold, the room is cold, and your face is warm. Nothing heated the air. That is radiant transfer, and it is what an infrared heater does deliberately.
| Type | Mechanism | Fan? |
|---|---|---|
| Ceramic (PTC) tower | Convection, fan-forced | Yes |
| Fan-forced / vortex | Convection, fan-forced | Yes |
| Oil-filled radiator | Mostly convection, some radiant | No |
| Micathermic panel | Roughly half radiant, half convection | No |
| Infrared quartz panel | Radiant | No |
| Infrared cabinet heater | Radiant plus fan-forced convection | Usually |
Most real products are hybrids to some degree; the column describes the dominant mechanism.
Convection wins in an enclosed room you want uniformly warm. A bedroom, a study, a closed living room. Because it heats a reservoir of air, the whole space comes up together and stays up while the room stays closed.
Radiant wins where the air is a losing battle. A garage, a workshop, a basement, a covered porch, a room with a vaulted ceiling, a space with a door that keeps opening. In all of those, warmed air escapes or rises out of reach, and heating the person directly sidesteps the problem entirely.
Ranked for fit, not for hype. Coverage and current draw are computed from each unit’s published wattage. Tap a row for the full write-up, or go straight to the listing.
| # | Product | Best for | Covers | Draw | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | De'LonghiNo photo De'Longhi TRD40615TNo fan, so no noise and no moving dust — and the sealed oil keeps radiating after the element cuts out, which is why an oil-filled unit feels steadier than a ceramic one at the same wattage. | Silence, and a bedroom | 150 sq ft | 12.5 A | Check price on Amazon |
| 2 | Dr. Infrared HeaterNo photo Dr Infrared DR-968The 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. | The published numbers | 150 sq ft | 12.5 A | Check price on Amazon |
| 3 | DreoNo photo Dreo Solaris 718The rare heater whose published coverage claim survives the arithmetic: 1,500 W is a genuine 300 sq ft at 10 W/sq ft, and Dreo publishes that number rather than implying more. | A whole living room | 150 sq ft | 12.5 A | Check price on Amazon |
Coverage computed at 10 W/sq ft, average insulation, 8 ft ceiling. Draw computed as watts ÷ volts. Neither figure is a manufacturer claim.
Top pick · Silence, and a bedroom
No fan, so no noise and no moving dust — and the sealed oil keeps radiating after the element cuts out, which is why an oil-filled unit feels steadier than a ceramic one at the same wattage.
| Published specification | |
|---|---|
| Rated power | 1,500 W at 120 V |
| Controls | Mechanical, with a programmable 24-hour timer |
| Fluid | Permanently sealed diathermic oil — never needs refilling |
| Maker's claim | Up to 75% more radiant surface area |
| Mobility | Front and rear handles, snap-on wheels |
| Heat type | Oil-filled |
| Maker’s coverage claim | None published — the coverage figure above is ours |
| Safety listing | No listing mark published in the listing text; verify the UL or ETL mark on the rating plate. |
Who it is for
A bedroom, a nursery at a safe distance, or anywhere the fan noise of a ceramic heater is the actual problem you are trying to solve.
What it is not for
Fast heat, and not a room you only occupy for twenty minutes. It also should never be tucked beside a bed or curtain — hot surface, 3-foot rule.
2 · 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.
3 · A whole living room
The rare heater whose published coverage claim survives the arithmetic: 1,500 W is a genuine 300 sq ft at 10 W/sq ft, and Dreo publishes that number rather than implying more.
| Published specification | |
|---|---|
| Rated power | 1,500 W at 120 V |
| Maker's coverage claim | 300 sq ft |
| Thermostat | 41–95°F digital, 1°F increments |
| Oscillation | 30° / 60° / 90° / 120° |
| Dimensions | 7.9" D x 7.9" W x 29.7" H, 8 lb |
| Safety | Tip-over cutoff, overheat cutoff, child lock, thermal cutoff |
| Heat type | Ceramic (PTC) |
| Maker’s coverage claim | 300 sq ft |
| Safety listing | ETL listed (stated by Dreo on the product page) |
Who it is for
A living room, bedroom or den at or under 300 sq ft with average insulation and an 8-foot ceiling, where you want to set a temperature and stop thinking about it.
What it is not for
A garage, an uninsulated basement, or anything over about 300 sq ft. It is not under-powered — 1,500 W is the plug-in ceiling — the room is simply too big for one outlet.
Convection warms the air, which then warms you — even but slower, and lost when a door opens. Radiant emits infrared that warms people and surfaces directly — instant and directional, and unaffected by air movement.
In drafty, large or high-ceilinged spaces, yes, because heating the air there is a losing battle. In an enclosed room you want uniformly warm, convection is better.
Both are about 100% efficient at converting electricity to heat. Radiant can require less energy for the same perceived comfort because it warms you without raising the whole room's air temperature.
Yes, better than convection heaters do. Infrared warms the surfaces it reaches regardless of air movement, whereas convected warm air is carried away by a draft before it reaches you.
Ceramic heats the air, infrared heats you. Same cost, different rooms — the verdict per use case.
Heats you rather than the room — excellent where every other type struggles, and the shadowing problem.
Silent and slow against fast and audible — and what the thermal-mass argument is really worth.
A two-car garage needs about 9,000 W. An outlet gives you 1,500. What to do instead.
About 100 W against 1,500 W — when heating the person beats heating the room, and when it does not.
Where the 10 W/sq ft rule comes from, when it breaks, and the exact watt-to-BTU conversion.