What Heaters Are Safe For Indoors? [7 Options Explored]

Not all heaters are suitable for indoor spaces. However, it's crucial to protect yourself and your family against the harsh cold of winter. The right indoor heater has to combine safety and comfort. That being said, we reviewed reliable sources for heaters that are safe to use inside your home.

There are portable electric and combustion space heaters engineered for safe use. Although more expensive, an electric heater is safer for indoor use. It doesn't risk gas leaks or produce carbon monoxide. Here are some indoor-safe heaters worth considering:

  1. Campy Gear Indoor Propane Heater
  2. Remington Indoor Propane Heater
  3. Dewalt DXH12B Portable Propane Heater
  4. Mr. Heater Portable Propane Heater
  5. Dura Heat Propane Heater
  6. Lasko Electric Tower Heater
  7. Dr. Infrared Heater Portable Space Heater

Some heaters are detrimental to human health because they produce harmful gases. So, keep reading as we discuss ideal heaters for indoor use, and cover risky devices as well.

Modern electric heater on floor at home, What Heaters Are Safe For Indoors? [7 Options Explored]

How Do Heaters Work?

First, let's review how heaters work. You'll want to look at the fuel used to power these devices and how they distribute heat throughout your home. Most heaters use heating oil, propane, electricity, natural gas, or wood pellets.

Central, space, and supplemental heating systems are ways to classify the overall mechanism of heaters. The terminology explains how the device provides warmth for an entire building or a particular space.

electric heater at home

In a central heating system, heat gets distributed in equal amounts across all the rooms of a house. In a supplemental heating system, homeowners turn up the temperature in specific rooms of a house to economize energy use.

A space heating system is a portable device that heats a small to the medium-sized area, providing immediate comfort to surroundings. Some space heaters use biomass such as logwood, wood chips, and pellets.

Heat Sources For Heating Systems

We will cover different heat sources. Each has advantages and disadvantages you should know. Their respective uses and designs depend on the availability and abundance of fuel types, building location, climate, and homeowners' preferences.

1. Furnace

elevated garage space heater mounted on ceiling

A central furnace is the most common inexpensive heating system. It provides heat throughout several rooms of a house by pushing heated air through a network of ducts. A blower motor or fan forces the movement of warm air. 

Using a gas-fired furnace is advantageous for its cooling and heating capabilities. But, it may cause a fire, explosions, or carbon monoxide poisoning. Another disadvantage of a furnace is the loud noise coming from a blower motor. 

2. Boiler

detectors of water pressure and plastic pipes of central heating system

A boiler, which is classified under central heating systems, heats water to produce steam. Then, it uses a pump to circulate hot water through pipes to radiators around the house.

Boilers can be expensive to install but allow zoned heating and cooling. A zoned heating system lets homeowners regulate the temperatures in different rooms individually using separate thermostats. This helps save more on utility bills by heating specific zones in the house.    

3. Heat pump

Heat Pump ground source system

Powered by electricity or natural gas, an air-source heat pump acts as a reverse air conditioner. It collects and absorbs heat from the outside and discharges it inside the house through an indoor air handler. In comparison, a ground-source heat pump uses geothermal energy from underground. 

4. Electric space heater

Affordability and portability are the best features of an electric space heater. This plug-in heater gets filled with oil and converts electric current into heat, similar to an iron or bread toaster. Also, it's ideal for small spaces such as home offices, kitchens, and bathrooms.

Despite being environmentally friendly by not using high-polluting petroleum products such as oil and natural gas, the operating cost is quite high. 

Check out this portable electric space heater with a thermostat on Amazon.

5. Active solar heating

Solar water heater on roof top

As the name suggests, this system uses solar energy to heat liquid or air, and transfers the heat directly into the interior space. Some solar heat can get directed to a storage system for later use. 

Solar heat can get distributed around the house using a radiant floor, baseboards, radiators, or a central forced-air system. However, it can only reach 100% efficiency when supplemented by other home heating systems. 

What Heaters Are Safe For Indoors?

There are many indoor-safe heaters available on the market. Their reliability, cost, efficiency, British thermal units (BTUs), and safety have been reviewed carefully. So, you can make the best choice.

Note that the BTU rating of heating gauges the amount of energy a heater uses to produce heat. So, the higher the BTU rating, the more heat a unit can give off. 

1. Campy Gear Indoor Propane Heater

This heater is for the outdoors, but it is safe to use inside your home. It has a heating capacity of 9000 BTU which provide comfort in a 10x20, 12x12 room or 15x15-foot room. It's also has stove features. 

Check this heater out on Amazon.

2. Remington Indoor Propane Heater

This lightweight indoor propane heater has a wind-resistant frame, and can generate 16000 to 32000 BTU to heat up to 300 sq. feet of space. It also includes a safety shut-off valve and tip-over switch.

Check out this propane heater on Amazon.

3. Dewalt Portable Propane Heater

This heavy-duty and versatile propane heater has a high-speed fan, tip-over safety switch, 12000 BTU output, and an oxygen depletion system.

Check this out on Amazon.

4. Mr. Heater Portable Propane Heater

This product is ideal for heating enclosed spaces up to 200 sq. feet and can produce 4,000 or 9,000 BTU per hour. Also, it has a low-oxygen safety shut-off system to show when there's a considerable oxygen depletion level in a space. 

Check out this propane heater on Amazon

5. Dura Heat Propane Heater

This propane heater has 40000 BTU output and is safe for indoors. It is easy to use and can adequately heat a two-bedroom townhouse, or a 26x30-foot garage.

Check out this product on Amazon.

Because propane heaters use gas to operate, it's important that they have features for carbon monoxide, overheating, and fall detection.

6. Lasko Electric Tower Heater

This compact oscillating heater has a built-in auto-off timer and convenient remote control. It is space-saving and can sit on the tabletop or floor. 

Check out this electric oscillating tower heater on Amazon

7. Pelonis Oil-Filled Radiator Heater

This heater has built-in safety and over-heat protection. It automatically shuts off when accidentally knocked down and doesn't generate annoying or disturbing noises.

 

Check out this electric oil-filled radiator heater on Amazon.

8. Dr. Infrared Heater Portable Space Heater

This heater is known for being reliable. Its rating is evident by its accurate electronic thermostat, and built-in overheat and tip-over protection.

Check out this portable space heater on Amazon.

Why You Shouldn't Use Outdoor Heaters Indoors

street gas heater for a patio with a flame

Gas-fueled heaters produce some carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, nitric oxide, and carbon monoxide during combustion. For example, a patio heater is not safe for indoor use.

When you use a heater designed for ventilated areas in an enclosed space, the gas it releases builds up because of poor air circulation. As a result, anyone who inhales these poisonous gases may experience nausea, headache, dizziness, and difficulty breathing.

Using outdoor heaters indoors is potentially fatal, so exercise caution.

What Is The Safest Heater To Leave Unattended?

focus on electric halogen heater

Here are some of the safest heaters, as reviewed by Ozone Hole, that have tip-over sensors, auto energy-saving mode, timers, and cool-to-touch features. Some of which we already discussed in detail before. 

  1. AirNmore Comfort Deluxe Space Heater
  2. Dr. Infrared Heater Portable Space Heater
  3. Asterion Indoor Electric Space Heater
  4. Comfort Zone Oscillating Space Heater
  5. Vornado MVH Vortex Heater
  6. Lasko 755320 Ceramic Space Heater

Paying attention to your heater to prevent it from tipping over is inconvenient and worrisome. It's such a relief to know that engineers have designed indoor-safe heaters that we can leave unattended. 

Conclusion

Modern electric heater on floor at home

It's critical to be responsible and knowledgeable about heaters, to provide comfort for the family during cold seasons. Although most heaters have an indoor-safe design, homeowners should not be 100% complacent. These devices and appliances can still malfunction and potentially endanger lives.

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