I’m an HVAC Expert Who’s Spent His Life in Drafty Old Houses. This Is My Favorite Space Heater.

After a decade of testing and reporting on home-heating systems and a lifetime of dwelling in drafty old houses, I’m convinced that if you need a space heater, nothing is as comfortable as an oil-filled radiator.

When I was growing up, my family had one, and it helped my brother and I get through the frigid Boston winters (unfortunately, our creaky old central furnace couldn’t always keep our bedrooms cozy). Although I hadn’t yet aged into having opinions on heaters, I could appreciate how this radiator eased the pain of crawling out from my cozy flannel sheets before school.

Eventually I did start to obsess over the thermostat, as dads seem predisposed to do. And I bought a De’Longhi radiator-style space heater, which Wirecutter has recommended since 2017, to supplement the janky HVAC in my own hard-to-heat New England bungalow.