Features to look for: halogen wall mounted heater

There are a number of features to be aware of when looking to buy a wall mounted halogen garden heater.

The first is the heat output (really the energy output) in kw and a minimum power output should be 1kw (or 1000 watts). 500 watt heaters are not generally effective unless you are very close to them.

Running costs are important as these heaters use energy at a constant level. A typical 1kw heater should have a running cost of somewhere in the region of 7 to 8 pence per hour (UK) dependent upon tariff, or 10 cents per hour (USA) dependant upon tariff level.

A heater outputting 1.4 or 1.5kw will probably have an hourly running cost of 11 or 12 pence (UK) per hour.

Heat outputs and running costs are one thing, but determining both the power output and the number of heaters required means looking at the heat zone that any given heater can warm up.

1kw heaters will heat up an area of up to about 6 square metres (over 6 square yards), whilst a 1.5kw heater will expand that area to about 10 square metres. If you wish to provide heat to an area of around 20 square metres, then you need 2 X 1.5kw heaters, or 3 X 1kw heaters to do the job.

Aside from heat emission and running efficiency, the other features to look for include having a full (and correctly rated) weatherproof cover.

In the UK this means looking for a designation like IP55, IP65 etc, where IP stands for Ingress Protection and the two digits that follow it relate to resistance (or protection) against solids and liquids.

i.e. in the case of the designation IP44 this would signify a cover that:
(first 4) Protected against objects greater than 1.0 mm diameter
(second 4) Protected against splashing water

Please note that, the higher each number in the two digit sequence is does NOT necessarily signify a greater protection, just a different level or kind of protection.

Finally, look for the inclusion of cables that can be directly connected to a mains electricity socket or hard wired to a suitable connection point. These cables need to be insulated and waterproof and should be included, as should any fixings.

One common misconception is that electric heaters are cleaner and more environmentally friendly than gas powered heaters. However, research has shown that this may not necessarily be the case. Electricity is generated from gas, oil, solid fuel and nuclear energy and many proponents of gas powered heaters claim that the real emissions (at power stations) are higher for the electric heaters.