10 Best Electric Wall Heaters 2024 in the United States

During the winter, it’s a major challenge to heat your home efficiently, maintaining a comfortable temperature while at the same time not running up your utilities bill too high. Even if you already have central heating, you can still benefit from using an electric wall heater: you can install an electric wall heater in the rooms where you spend most of the time in the evening, and turn on an electric wall heater just in those rooms. These will allow you to reduce the central heating by 5 to 10 degrees. This will translate into noticeable savings on your electric bill. Also, the electric wall heater has many advantages over the other options, such as convection heaters or radiators, which take up floor space. An electrical wall heater will not take up any floor space, and will usually only occupy a small square on your wall.

We’ve composed this buyer’s guide to help you make the right decision when selecting an electric wall heater. It'll help you:

• Choose the right type of electric wall heater,

• See useful tips about that particular type of electric wall heater,

• Read reviews of different brands of electric wall heaters, and what customers are saying,

• Select the best brand of electric wall heater for your needs, and

• Compare prices and find the best deals.

The electric wall heaters reviewed here use radiative heat, convection (circulating hot air by using the principle that hot air rises and cold air descends), or a combination of the two. You can class them in two major categories:

• Wall heaters with a fan: This design will have a heating element--such as a high-resistance coil or ceramic--which heats up quickly. A fan then distributes the heat through vents (called louvers) on the front of the device. The Cadet Heat Com-Pak uses just such a design.

• Fanless wall heaters: These will have a metallic plate that you attach to the wall, and attach to an electrical outlet. It will heat up, and automatically start convection in the room. It will emit hot air through the top of the device, while cooler air will enter into the bottom of the appliance. This method is utilized in the New Age Living Phantom 10 Wall Panel Heater.

Here are some of the things reviewers mentioned about their electric wall heater:

• Energy savings: Look at the wattage of your heater to get an idea of how much power the appliance uses. A kilowatt-hour is a unit of energy that will give you an idea of the amount of energy that is being consumed: If a heater uses 1 kilowatt of power, and it operates for one hour, then it has expended 1 kilowatt-hour of energy. But, if you can use heaters that achieve the same cozy feeling, yet use fewer watts, that will translate into energy savings on your electric bill. The New Age Living Phantom 4 Wall Panel Heater runs on 400 Watts of power--so if it manages to replace a heater that uses 1000 Watt heater, you’ll be saving 6 kilowatt-hours of electricity in 10 hours of use.

• Thermostat: There are some units that don’t have a thermostat--which means that the unit will be on at all times until you turn it off. This can lead to you wasting a lot more energy than what you expected to save! You can install your own thermostat--or buy a model of the same appliance which includes the company’s thermostat. You’ll see single-pole and double-pole thermostats. A single-pole thermostat will only allow you to set the appliance on “low” or “high”--but it will always be “on”. A double-pole thermostat will allow you to turn the device “off”--this is better for energy saving purposes.

• Remote control: Some models, such as the Heat Storm Deluxe Indoor Infrared Wall Heater (Model No. HS-1000-WX) will include a remote control, which allows you to set the heater’s thermostat. This is a nice feature, considering that the manual controls on some heaters may be hard to reach.

• Leaving space in front of the heater: It is advisable to distance the heater from furniture to the sides of where the heater will be installed. It is recommended to leave a space of 3.4" from any furniture, and 4.25" from the floor. Also, you shouldn't place any objects any closer than 3 feet from the heater's vents, so as to allow the air to circulate properly and avoid overheating.

• Installation: Some electric wall heaters can be mounted by means of screws that you insert into studs in the wall. The screws will hold the bracket in place, upon which you place the heater. Others require cutting into the plasterboard in order to insert the wall heater.

• The area that the heater can effectively warm: Wall heaters are limited by the area that they can heat effectively. You should select a wall heater by the area that you have to heat. Calculate your room’s surface area, and purchase the wall heater that will be the most effective. The Cadet Com-Pak Plus Fan Heater (Model No. 67507 )  can effectively heat an area of 200 square meters--so if you have a bedroom that is 20 feet by 10 feet, it should be sufficient. This will also figure into how fast the heater will effectively heat a room. A heater that can heat a room of 200 square feet will get a bathroom hot in a matter of seconds!

• Heat Reflector: Another handy feature that some wall heaters have is a heat reflector. It is more efficient is the wall will reflect the heat of the wall heater, rather than absorb it. The Amaze Heater includes a self-adhesive reflective sheet that you attach to the wall behind the panel. This will minimize the heat absorbed by the wall, and thus increase the efficiency of the heater.

• Noise factor with heaters with fans: There are heaters with no moving parts, such as the New Age Living Phantom Wall Panel Heater. These will be quieter than the models that employ a fan. A heater with a fan will distribute the heat more quickly--but a fan will accumulate dust with time, which will also tend to make it noisier. You’ll have to open the unit every half-year or so, in order to clean out the dust.

• Safety factors: There are heaters that are designed with safety factors, that ensure that the unit operates properly. The Cadet Com-Pak turns itself off if it exceeds the normal operating temperature. And the Amaze Heater is triple insulated, so as to avoid the possibility of electrical shock or short circuit. It is also wise to install the unit in a way that the wires are perfectly concealed inside or behind the unit.

• New Age Living are makers of wall panel heaters, as well as other appliances such as air purifiers, blenders, juicers, walkers, ice cream machines, and more. They were founded in 1996, and have their headquarters in Miami, Florida.

• Heat Storm is a maker of indoor and outdoor heater units, as well as deluxe wall units and heater accessories. They are a brand of EnergyWise Solutions in Cache County, Utah, which was founded in 2008 as designers of infrared heaters. Their heating products include fireplaces, ultraportable heaters, and wall-hanging units. They also have expanded recently to the area of evaporative cooling and air conditioning.

• Amaze Heaters are makers of wall panel heaters which use a drill-less mount. The company was founded in 2011, and are located in Orlando, Florida. The panels are eco-friendly as well as economical and work quietly since they don't employ fans to distribute heat. Their products range from 100 Watts to 600 Watts and boast of being the safest of their kind.

• King Electric Smart Heating Solutions were founded in 1958, and they have their headquarters in Seattle, Washington. They are makers of various types of heaters, including garage heaters, shop heaters, portable heaters, kick space heaters, and more. They also make thermostats, heating cable, hydronic heaters, and more.

• Cadet Heat was founded by Dick Anderson in 1957 and is located in Vancouver, Washington. They make efficient heating products, including wall heaters, baseboard heaters, garage heaters, thermostats, and more. They have teams that work on every stage of their products: engineering, production, assembly, fabrication, and maintenance, up to sales and customer support.