Heating

Heating

Heavins stocks portable and fitted electric heating alongside bottled gas, covering everything from a 60W underblanket to a 4.2kW gas cabinet. The single most useful thing to settle before you buy is whether you are heating a person or a room, because the two need completely different products. Warming a person, with an electric blanket, a heated throw, a hot water bottle or a heat pad, takes tens of watts. Warming a room takes kilowatts. Once you know which you need, the choice narrows quickly, and the sections below take each category in turn. For the wider department including cooling, dehumidifiers and air purifiers see Heating, Cooling & Air Treatment.

Electric Blankets

Electric blankets warm the bed itself rather than the room, which is why they draw a fraction of what any room heater needs. An underblanket sits beneath your sheet and takes the chill out of the mattress; an overblanket lies on top like a duvet and warms you directly, which suits anyone who feels the cold badly. Sizes run single, double, king and super king, and from double upwards dual control matters because it lets each side of the bed run at its own setting. Look for a timer if you want the bed warm before you get in without leaving it on all night. Heated throws are the same idea for a sofa. See Electric Blankets.

Gas Heaters

A portable gas heater burns bottled butane from a cylinder inside the cabinet, so it needs no wiring, moves on castors and works in a power cut. Output runs from 3kW for an average room to 4.2kW for a large or draughty one, with three settings on most models so you can throttle back once warm. All take the standard 11.34kg cylinder, sold separately along with a matching regulator and hose. Ventilation is essential: a gas heater consumes oxygen from the room, so leave a window or vent open and never run one in a sealed room or a bedroom overnight. See Gas Heaters.

Electric Radiators

An oil filled radiator heats a sealed reservoir of oil inside its fins or columns and keeps radiating after switch off, so the heat feels even rather than blown and there is no fan noise. Output spans 500W for a bedroom or nursery up to 2.5kW for a living room, in 5, 7 and 9 fin builds or slimmer columns, portable on castors or wall mounted to free the floor. Thermostats are standard; timers range from a simple mechanical dial to 24 hour electronic and Wi-Fi scheduling. Oil free models heat a dry element instead, warming faster and weighing less but cooling sooner. See Oil Filled Radiators.

Electric Fires

An electric fire is a heater with a flame effect, and the heat is a conventional 1.8kW to 2kW element that switches independently so you can run the flames alone in milder weather. Inset models build into an existing fireplace opening or a stud wall and sit flush, with 16 inch the common size for a standard opening. Freestanding stoves stand on a hearth or against any flat wall with no building work, which makes them the practical choice for a room with no chimney breast. Optiflame and LED log effect fuel beds imitate burning logs, and remote control covers flame, heat and timer. See Electric Fires.

Eco Heaters

Infrared heats surfaces and people directly rather than warming air, the same way sunlight feels warm through glass. Because nothing is spent heating air that then rises to the ceiling, a panel rated in hundreds of watts can feel as warm as a conventional heater rated in kilowatts, which is what makes it the energy efficient option. A 350W ceiling panel radiates downwards over a fixed area and suits a desk or a bathroom; a 700W wall panel handles a living room or a home office. Wall and ceiling mounting keeps units off the floor, and Wi-Fi control lets you schedule around occupied hours. See Eco Heaters.

Portable Heaters

Four types behave differently enough that the type matters more than the brand. Fan heaters blow air across an element and warm a room in a minute or two, ideal in short bursts. Ceramic heaters do the same through a ceramic plate, running quieter and more evenly, with 400W desktop models made to sit beside you. Convector heaters circulate warm air with no fan at all, so they are near silent and suit a bedroom. Halogen heaters radiate straight at whatever is in front of them. Size by room: 400W to 1.2kW for a desk or box room, 2kW for an average room, 3kW for workshops. See Portable Heaters.

Hot Water Bottles

A rechargeable hot water bottle holds a sealed core that heats from the mains through a detachable lead, so there is no kettle, no funnel and no filling aperture to leak. Charge it for a few minutes, unplug the lead completely, and it stays warm for hours. Standard bottles suit a bed or a lap, while the long narrow format is made to lie along the lower back or across the shoulders and is the one to choose for an ache rather than general warmth. Plush and fleece covers are gentler against bare skin and come off for washing. See Rechargeable Hot Water Bottles.

Electric Heat Pads

A heating pad applies steady warmth to one part of the body, so the shape matters more than the wattage. Lumbar pads strap against the lower back, contoured pads drape over the neck and shoulders and stay put unheld, foot warmers enclose both feet, and rectangular pads go anywhere including an abdomen for period pain. Mains pads such as a 70W model give continuous heat for as long as you want it; rechargeable pads trade run time for freedom from a cable. Unlike a microwaveable pack, an electric pad holds a set temperature rather than cooling steadily. See Electric Heat Pads.

Heating Sale

Reduced lines across the whole category, usually spanning portable gas, oil filled radiators, fan and ceramic heaters, infrared panels, halogen heaters and rechargeable hot water bottles. The mix changes with stock. Two things are worth checking before buying from a sale page: match the wattage to the room rather than taking the largest reduction, because an oversized heater in a small room is a false economy, and find out whether a model is reduced because it is being superseded, which is usually fine, or discontinued, which can make accessories harder to find later. See Heating Sale.