Convection Wall Heater

If you have an area of your house that could use supplemental heating, I recommend the Econo-Heat convection heater. My experience with Econo-Heat is in our "Three Season Room" (aka "Sun Porch" in warmer areas of the country) which so far this season, with its earliest snowfall in history, has been kept comfortably warm.

The Econo-Heat is a 24" square panel that mounts on the wall using 1" standoffs. It's completely silent and designed for continuous operation. Just plug it in, turn it on, and forget about it. The surface of the square, which is made of some sort of sturdy composite, gets very warm to the touch but not hot. So it's safe for kids, pets, and clumsy adults. The closer you are to the square the more you can feel the heat, but the general idea is that the whole room is kept warm via convection. I know, I was skeptical too, but as I said it actually does work. The wattage is fairly low, under 500 watts, so leaving it turned on all the time not only ensures it has a chance to warm the whole area, but also doesn't cost you too much. (Compare that to a traditional space heater which typically consumes 1500 watts and makes your electric meter spin like whirling dervish.)

I actually use two Econo-Heat units in our Three Season Room because its completely uninsulated, is a large room, and has lots of windows. (The manufacturer's website describes the square footage and other parameters necessary to determine if you need more than one unit.) I bought mine from the manufacturer, without checking Amazon first, where I could have saved about twenty bucks. As you can see in the photo, I haven't gotten around to painting the heaters yet, but that hasn't stopped me from considering them a welcome and toasty addition to my home.