Working in a large, open plan office, I am often very cold indeed. Naturally I seem to be pretty cold blooded and find that the centrally controlled climate of our working environment does not keep me at a nice temperature. To this end I wanted to invest in a small portable heater for under my desk which I can use to heat the area around my desk and keep me happy (the health and safety aspect of this is another issue altogether which - working for a public sector organisation - is akin to negotiating a major peace treaty but hey ho).

I picked this one up from Argos where it is part of their Value range of household goods, priced at £13.99, as I have had a pretty good experience with this particular range in the recent past I was pretty confident this would be a wise and good value investment and so far this assumption is proving correct.

The unit itself is small enough to be absolutely fine under a desk, it is only 26cm high and 21.5cm wide at the broadest point, it has two dials, one controls the speed/intensity of the fan and the other the temperature. There are two speeds and two heat settings plus a cold air function which I have yet to try out (but maybe summer 2012 will prove a stunner after all and this will come into it's own!).

I found the lead is long enough to reach from the wall to a suitable position under my desk, I estimate the lead to be about 1.5m long which should be plenty for most uses.

When I first turned this fan on it smelt horrifically of burning dust and plastic - and I was a little worried that it was going to explode! But thankfully once it had been blowing for a few minutes the smell dissipated and it has not done it again since, I think it was simply the fact it was a brand new and unused item.

I tend to use this for short, intense blasts of heat rather than leaving it on all day under my desk, I feel with it being such a small device which pumps out a lot of heat it is better not to tempt fate by making it overheat. For what I wanted it for this is perfectly adequate though and it certainly warms up the area around and under my desk quickly and efficiently.

I feel that this is a pretty simple but effective heater which is great value for money, for my needs it suits the purpose brilliantly and I would certainly invest in another should the need arise elsewhere in the home or work environment.