Best oil filled radiator room heaters 2023
- The Grapevine, India
- Apr 19, 2023
- 5 min read
If you stay in parts of India where temperatures generally go below 5 degree celcius, a room heater may provide you some relief.
Couple of things to keep in mind:
Heaters require a 16A socket - so if that is unavailable, don’t buy a heater as it can short your circuit.
Most heaters will consume between 1-3KW electricity per hour. So keep in mind it will increase your electricity bill based on your hours of usage.
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There are different types of heaters available in the market. What type of heater to buy based on room size?
For mid to large rooms with more people - you can go with an oil based heater. Here the oil is heated up and heat is transferred to the room. While it takes longer to heat the room - between 15-30 min based on room size - it can keep the room warm even after turning it off - as the oil continues to stay heated and transfers to the room. These can be as noisy as a fan, are the safest amongst the three types we will talk about, and do not reduce the humidity of the room they are used in. They are however the most expensive, largest in size and cannot be wall mounted. This type of heater is what I will cover in this video.
For medium sized rooms like bedrooms - you can go with a ceramic / PTC - convection / fan / blower based heater. A ceramic coil is heated up and then a fan is used to distribute the hot air. These are kid safe and can be used for larger rooms. Depending on the size of the room, these can heat up a room in 15-20min. These are also known to reduce the humidity in the air in the room which can cause dry eyes and itching. These days you do get some heaters with inbuilt humidifiers which can add moisture to the air. In general these range from 1.5-4K, but can go upto 10+k if it includes a humidifier.
For small rooms / home offices - you can buy an infrared / halogen / quartz heater. These are the cheapest type of heater (typically less than 3K) but only heats in a small area. It is also not kid safe as it exposes the heating elements. They make the lowest noise and heat up quickly - in less than 10-15 min. These are known to reduce the humidity in the air in the room which can cause dry eyes and itching. I don’t recommend this at all.
For this video, we will focus on the oil filled radiators - mainly as they are the safest to use as they have safety features, do not affect the ambient environment of the room in terms of humidity, and can be used for medium to large sized rooms - ideal for families.
The first thing to determine the efficiency of an oil filled radiator heater is the number of fins that the heater has. In the case of oil based heaters, fins determine the size and speed of heating of the heater. A 13 fin heater will be larger in size but be able to heat up the room faster. So ideal for large rooms like drawing rooms / living + dining combined. A 11 fin heater will be slightly smaller in size but heat up the room slower than 13 fin. So ideal for bedrooms. And a 9 fin heater will be the smallest in size but also take longer to heat up. So ideal for small rooms like study or small guest rooms. Most brands compared have the 9, 11, and 13 fins option with Havells having the additional 15 fin option that can be used for really large rooms or full houses.
Next is the wattage. Wattage determines how much power the heater will consume, but can also determine the speed of heating. Higher the wattage, higher the power consumed, but also faster the heating.
Amongst the 9 fin models, Morphy Richards, Bajaj and glen have the lowest wattage of 2000W and Black+Decker has the highest wattage of 2500W
Amongst the 11 and 13 fin models - Usha has the lowest at 2300W while most of the others are at 2900W.
So select one based on based on what your preference is - faster heating OR lower power consumed
Next let’s discuss the safety features - All the models compared have overheat protection in which case they automatically turn off if the heat increases beyond a specific threshold. They also have trip protection in which case they turn off if the heater falls. Given the somewhat odd shape of these heaters - this must be a fairly common usecase.
Coming to convenience - they all come with wheels that allow you to move them from room to room. But remember - you do need a high power 16A socket to support it.
Lastly - about the fans, except the models of glen compared, all other models do have a fan that helps to distribute the heat in the room.
So based on all of this, here are my recommendations for the best OFR or Oil Filled Radiator Heaters in India:
For Small rooms - a 9 fin OFR heater is sufficient. For medium - large sized rooms - I recommend a 11 fin or 13 fin heater. Each of the brands I am recommending have variants with different fins.
If you are sensitive to power consumed, I recommend the Morphy Richards OFR heater. The 9 fin model consumes 2000W at the highest setting while both the 11 and 13 fin models consume 2500W at the highest setting.
If you require a model with fastest room heating - I recommend the Havells Oil Filled Radiator models. The 9 fin model consumes 2400W at the highest setting while both the 11 and 13 fin models consume 2900W at the highest setting. Havells also has a 15 fin model that can be purchased for full home or very large room heating.
All these models have all the safety features we discussed earlier, come with wheels for easy movement and have a fan for even distribution of heat.
For the budget conscious - I recommend the Kenstar models (over the Glen models which are at a similar pricepoint) mainly cos’ they have the fan included in the heater. All the other safety and convenience features remain the same.
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