Programmable timer Useful for setting a heater to turn on just before you get home or wake up, so there's no waiting around for the heater to warm up.

If you were to try replacing the use of your central heating by putting an electric heater in each room, it will definitely end up costing much more.Oscillation is the other key feature. Nearly all tower fans oscillate, turning slowly from side to side to cover a larger area, but they differ in how wide the angle of oscillation is. Again, the bigger the space you want to cool, the wider you want it – and you can always turn oscillation off if you just want to keep yourself comfortable. How we test tower fans Decided that a tower fan is for you? Well, now your choice comes down to size and features. Generally speaking, the larger and taller the fan, the higher the airflow and the bigger the room it can cool, with the added bonus that you might not have to push it so hard to have the same effect. This means you can run the fan at a slower speed with – usually – less noise. That’s handy, as noise is the second-biggest factor. A noisy tower fan can be distracting in the daytime, but a real issue if it stops you dropping off to sleep at night. Some portable heaters have useful extras, such as an LCD screen that displays the current temperature or a remote control for turning the heater on from across the room. These features may come in handy: The fan has an adjustable tilt, three speeds settings and an oscillating feature to make you and your surroundings more comfortable, what's more it fits perfectly onto a table. Home Bargains For reasons of hygiene and safety, personal grooming products, cosmetics or items of intimate clothing cannot be returned.

Our fan tests start with a battery of airflow tests, where we measure the speed of the air pushed through the fan at a distance of 1m with an anemometer. We test at maximum and minimum fan speed settings, plus a medium setting in-between. We also measure sound levels at these settings, along with power consumption at the highest and lowest. From there, we use the fan in a selection of different rooms to gauge how effectively they work in different situations and layouts. We also try out any special modes and get to grips with both the built-in controls and the remote control, if supplied. What controls and features should you look for?Adjustable thermostat Using this function, a portable heater will heat the room and when the desired temperature is reached, it will try to maintain the room at that temperature. Most of the cheaper, simpler heaters we tested have a dial thermostat that doesn't let you choose specific temperatures in °C. You'll likely need to buy a more expensive model for that. Our tests also found that they're rarely 100% accurate and will probably think the room is a couple of °C warmer or cooler than it is. Portable electric heaters use electricity, which costs 27.35p/kWh under the current energy price cap. Depending on how effective the heater is, they can take anything from 30 minutes to an hour to notably raise the temperature of a medium-sized room, so if you're only planning on using it until the room gets up to temperature, it will likely cost you between 28 and 55p.

These have exposed heating elements, which heat up cold air as it passes. This often leads to slower, but more even, heating. They tend to be a little slower than fan heaters, but are quieter, and our tests found some are still pretty speedy. The best news is that the QuietSet name isn’t just marketing hype: the HY245E is noticeably quieter than most conventional tower fans, even at its higher settings, with a night mode you might actually sleep through. Other fans are bigger and put out more air over a wider space, but this one delivers more than enough cooling for the average living room during the day and works better in the bedroom at night. And if the price is a little higher, it’s well worth paying. Nearly all have some kind of carry handle for moving about and many have a safety cut-out feature, which will switch off the heater if it gets dangerously hot. The oil in the radiator acts as a heat reservoir, which stays hot for some time after the heater's switched off. Some are called 'oil-free' and function in a comparable way, just with an internal heating element instead of any oil. Frost protection The heater can be set to heat automatically when the temperature drops below 5°C, but you'll need to have it on standby for it to run, so this can limit its usefulness.

Washer dryer

Read our full story on illegal and dangerous plug-in mini heaters for sale on online marketplaces to see those we identified as having serious safety risks.