This budget space heater is great for small spaces

We’re expecting some chilly temperatures in the coming days, so it’s worth being prepared for what’s in store with one of the best space heaters. If your home is anything like mine, you’ll have hot and cold spots even when the central heat is pumping. For me, my master bedroom is the chilliest spot, so I was eager to get the Pelonis space heater hooked up so I could experience a toasty room first thing in the morning.

And the Pelonis didn’t disappoint. This room happens to be an ideal size for the Pelonis, as does my smaller home office. But in larger spaces like my living room and kitchen space, the Pelonis was overmatched. Still, it pumped out a decent amount of heat for a unit of its size. The remote control is a nice addition, but it rarely worked, which is my biggest complaint with this unit.

Here's how the Pelonis space heater stood up to our tests.

Pelonis 16-inch space heater review: Price and availability

The Pelonis Space Heater costs $65 and is available from several major retailers, including Amazon and Walmart, where both are currently discounted to $49.95. Pelonis also offers a one-year limited warranty on the heater.

Pelonis 16-inch space heater review: Design

This compact Pelonis heater measures 16 inches tall and approximately 6 x 6 inches wide and deep. It’s V-O flame-resistant to combat fire hazards and includes a 45° tip-over protection, which cuts power should the unit fall over. It also includes overheat protection and a 24-hour automatic shut-off, topping off a host of safety features.

The main body of the Pelonis heater rotates on a small base, and there’s a small rear handle to make it easy to place the heater wherever you need it. The top of the unit has an LED display to show the temperature setting and other important information at a glance. You can control the settings using the buttons on the unit or via the included remote control

Two heating levels provide plenty of flexibility for different-sized spaces. The high setting blasts out 1,500 watts, while the lower setting operates at 1,300 watts. You can also opt for the eco mode, which helps reduce energy use by cutting the wattage intermittently once a target temperature has been reached.

Three wind modes are addedAdding to the Pelonis’s versatility: standard, neutral, and sleep. Use regular for maximum blowing capacity and sleep for reduced wind production, significantly reducing noise.

Pelonis’s website lists that the space heater has a timer that allows you to set the unit to operate for a specific time. The company’s website is unclear regarding the length of the timer, mentioning both a 7-hour and 12-hour timer. However, the printed manual accompanying the unit indicates a 12-hour timer.

Finally, the Pelonis heater has a PTC (positive temperature coefficient). This means the heating element resistance increases as it gets hotter and stops drawing current if it overheats. Such elements only draw the current it needs to maintain a set temperature and no more. This increases efficiency and allows the heater to reach the target temperature more quickly.

Pelonis 16-inch space heater review: Performance

Home office:
I first used the Pelonis heater in my home office, which is about 100 square feet. But before using it, I turned off the furnace in the house to ensure there weren’t any complementary heating sources in the room. Outside temperatures hovered around 30°F on the day I tested.

The temperature in my office started off at 64.8°F, according to my portable thermometer. After 35 minutes, the Pelonis heated up the room to 70°F. It also lowered the humidity in the room by 1%. (It’s worth noting I live in Colorado, which is notoriously dry already.) I performed the testing using the heater's high heat setting, which is 95°F.

Bedroom:
From there, I moved the Pelonis into the main bedroom, which is twice as large as my office at 200 square feet. The bedroom is at the back of our house and was built as an addition, so it generally stays much colder than the rest of the house.

The temperature in the bedroom started off at 58.6°F and 32% humidity. Once again turned the Pelonis up to the high setting. After 40 minutes, the room temperature rose to 65.3°F degrees and the humidity dropped to 27%.

In small rooms, the Pelonis did an excellent job of heating the space quickly. However, given its small stature, I figured it would falter in larger spaces. So for my next test, I moved it to the living room.

The living room is connected to the kitchen in a semi-open floorplan, so I was asking the Pelonis to heat up about 460 square feet — quite a grand task for a small heater. When I started the Pelonis, the room’s temperature reading was 63.5°F and 30% humidity.

After an hour of running on high with the oscillation activated, the temperature read 66.7°F and 28% humidity. While that’s not a big change, it is impressive, given the unit’s small size. I probably wouldn’t rely on the Pelonis as my sole source of heat for a room (or rooms) this size, but it did make an impact.

Noise levels:
It’s not a noisy unit by any stretch, though my decibel meter did read a higher level than Pelonis advertises. It was around 50 dB on the high setting, whereas Pelonis advertises 32 dB. But keep in mind that I measured the noise level at the highest setting, so other modes will be quieter.

Sure enough, it read right around 40 dB in the sleep mode, but this is still more than claimed. So, consider the advertised decibel reading a minimum rather than a max.

Wattage:
The heater does use quite a bit of energy while running. It pulled around 1,330 watts while running on high, which is what you’d expect from a heater that advertises 1,300 and 1,500-watt settings. Heaters notoriously pull a lot of energy, so this isn’t a surprise. But by comparison, I’ve tested some dehumidifiers and appliances that are much larger than space heaters, which only draw half the energy. This isn’t a knock against Pelonis, but it is a big consideration if you buy any space heater.

Remote control:
I did have trouble with the remote control. It worked intermittently and then only when I was close to the unit. I swapped the supplied batteries with some I had to hand, but this didn’t make a difference, and the connectivity problems continued.

Pelonis 16-inch space heater review: Verdict

The Pelonis space heater is ideal for small and medium-sized rooms, and while it can pump out a good bit of heat in larger spaces (up to 500 square feet), it’s probably not the best choice. In this case, the Lasko FH500 is more suitable for coverage.

In the sleep mode, it runs quietly, making it a good option for bedrooms. The oscillation works efficiently, distributing heat widely within a room, and the LED screen on the top is great for easily seeing vital information.

Unfortunately, the remote control was largely useless. On the high setting, the noise level reaches around 50 dB. If you value quiet, especially in the home office, this isn’t a deal breaker but something to consider. If you prefer something more quieter, though, the Dyson Purifier Hot + Cool HP07 is ideal.

But if you’re looking for a powerful, small heater to keep your bedroom toasty before you hop beneath the sheets, the Pelonis is a good choice.