We had been happy enough with a 2500 watt fan heater to add a bit of warmth in the caravan, but my husband's uncle suggested we really should go with a halogen heater instead as they burn quite a bit less electric and put out more heat. ( this is one of those relatives who really doesn't offer advice unless he knows what he is talking about, so we do tend to listen, especially since he has had his caravan many years). By way of a demonstration he showed my husband his heater turned on, and said two would easily heat the whole caravan, and one could do the job if the caravan were not too large. At only 1200 watts, this sounded like a better solution then our current heater, and when we were lucky enough to pick one up free through an unofficial freecycle run through a local community centre, we had to give it a try.

This heater has 3 light bulbs, or bars. You can choose how many bulbs to use by pushing the appropriate number of buttons at teh top of the heater, with each bulb using 400 watts, so all three would use 1200 watts. Our heater has one bulb burned out so we can only use this with one or two bars on. This could be replaced at a cost of less than £3, but with a whole new heater costing only £11.99 delivered from Amazon, the previous owners decided not to bother. We decided we would just try the heater out with 2 bars and order another bulb if needed. As it stands though, on a very cold night in early April, this was more than enough to heat the front the room, and actually did bring up the temperature quite a bit for the entire caravan. We would usually use two bars at first to get some heat into the room and then turn it down to 1 bulb, which means, for the majority of the time, this heater was keeping us very comfortable at only 400 watts. Even at one bar, I am quite certain this was heating the room up far more than our old fan heater. Of course this stays on, where the fan heater does cut on and off, so this must be considered as well when when calculating usage costs, but I still feel with only one bulb running 400 watts that this has to work out to significant saving in overall usage, and I do believe that if we ever had to replace this unit at £11.99 , it would easily pay for itself in electricity savings.

The down side to this heater in my opinion is glare, although I note another reviewer felt this was not a problem for this model, so I imagine it depends on the person, as well as where it is placed. We found that having this near the small LCD screen TV we use in the caravan just didn't work as the glare made the television unwatchable, but moving the heater to the other side of the room solved this. I do feel that this would annoy me at night as well, as I prefer to sleep in a dark room, but we do not run a heater when we are in bed. I find that two bars on this cast off a fair amount of light. I also find that the warm glow has a psychological effect though. I think it makes you feel warmer, so as long as it is positioned away from the television, and not left on overnight, I do actually like the light effect, although it does annoy me if the heater is set to oscillate, and we do not use this function, as the whole room heats up very quickly anyway,. There is a slight noise with the oscillation as well, but it would not be an issue, if we did want to use this function.

I would note though, that while this heater does a brilliant job for us, the front room on a caravan is quite small. Also, while caravans are not the best insulated, there is still a large difference between and April night and the middle of January. I am certain a person using this in extreme winter weather would need the full 3 bulbs, but even so this is putting out so much more heat than a fan heater at less than half the wattage.

This is fairly large. It is at the caravan so I can 't measure it, but I would estimate at least 2 feet high. It does take up more room than our fan heater, and while I wouldn't say it is ugly, is most certainly is not a decorative item. This isn't an issue for me, I could care less what it looks like as long as we stay warm, but there certainly are more discreet heaters available. While this is large, it is not very heavy and is easy enough to carry from room to room if needed. The cord is of heavy industrial type, and plenty long, but I didn't think to measure it before leaving.

The only other downside I can find to this heater is the smell if it has been storage when first turned on, but I do think this is common to all electric heaters. If they get dust inside them, there is a distinctive smell as the dust burns off. After a couple of uses though, this is fine, and I suppose you could open it up for a more thorough clean if you wished. It does some how seem to attract dust and always has a noticeable layer over the top when we open the caravan, but this is easily wiped away with a damp cloth.

As I mentioned, I had always felt the fan heater did a good job, but having tried this, I would never go back to a fan heater. The difference is really remarkable, and I am so glad we were advised to get one. I would very strongly recommend this for an emergency heat source, or heating a caravan. I also think it might be handy to heat a single room in winter rather than heat the whole the house. The only situation where I would prefer the fan heater would be for travel, as it is much smaller and I imagine the bulbs could be broken if rattled about enough. I would always take a heater with me if staying in a holiday camp like Haven, and for something like that ( where you aren't paying the electric anyway) I would still prefer the fan heater. For anything, halogen would now be my first choice, and this an excellent heater at a bargain of a price.