It’s that time again; the coldest weeks of the year are upon us. For some lucky folks, this means they can turn off the air conditioning. But for the rest of us, it’s a time of soaring energy bills. And the bigger your home is, the higher those bills will soar. There are several ways of doing this. You could invest in more energy-efficient windows, or put plastic wrap over the ones you have. But even the most energy-efficient home can still cost a lot of money. This is particularly true if you live in some of the colder parts of the country. When temperatures dip below zero, your furnace might even be running continuously.
Another, more obvious option is to turn your thermostat down. Unless you have small or cold-blooded pets, there’s no reason you can’t go down to 40 or 50 degrees. It will still be warm enough that your pipes won’t burst, and your bills will definitely go down. But there’s a reason most people set their thermostat somewhere in the vicinity of 70 degrees. That’s the temperature where human beings are most comfortable! With a space heater, you can get the best of both worlds. You can turn down your home’s thermostat to keep your bills low. Then, you can take your space heater to whatever room you’re in. That way, you’re still comfortable, but you’re not wasting money heating rooms you’re not using.
We’re about to review the PARIS RHÔNE 1500W Portable Heater. This is a compact space heater with three different heat settings and a built-in timer. It also has a number of important safety features to keep you and your house safe. But those are just a couple of the things we’ll need to look. We’ll need to look at the heating performance, and your various settings and options. We’ll have to talk about the control scheme, and how it’s operated. Additionally, we’ll look at the physical design, and how it’s constructed. After considering all of these various factors, we’ll be able to give a fair evaluation. Let’s get started!
Design & Construction
The PARIS RHÔNE 1500W Portable Heater has a sturdy black plastic housing with an easy-to-clean finish. The shape is roughly rectangular, although the corners are rounded to avoid any sharp corners. The overall size of the heater is 6.3 inches wide, 6.14 inches deep, and 10.04 inches tall. It’s small enough to carry in one hand, and light enough, too. There’s even a little cutout in the top back of the housing, which can be used as a handle. Just beneath this, there’s a round vent, which serves as an intake for the internal heating element. The front of the housing consists mostly of a black metal screen, which is where the hot air comes out.
Of course, the magic happens on the inside of the housing. This is where you’ll find the heating element. The main element is located towards the rear of the housing, and is made from ceramic. Ceramic is a more efficient heating material than bare metal, and it’s surprisingly durable. As air comes through the back of the housing, it passes over the element, and gets heated up. A fan is located towards the front of the housing, which pulls the air through and expels it out the front. Despite this design, the PARIS RHÔNE heater has a working volume of only 40dB. That’s as quiet as soft speech, so you’ll barely notice it’s running.
The control buttons are located on the top of the housing, towards the front. These consist of a row of six soft touch buttons, which are easy to operate. In fact, they’re so sensitive that you can activate them just by brushing them. The left hand button is a power button, which should be self-explanatory. The next button adjusts the heating intensity. The “+” and “-“ buttons adjust the temperature setting. The fifth button turns the oscillation mode on and off. The last button, at the right side of the row, controls the heater’s timer setting.
To the rear of the control panel, you’ll see a bright LED display. This display tells you everything you need to know about your heater. To begin with, you’ll see the current temperature in large numerals, displayed in degrees Fahrenheit. To the right of this, there’s a red light that illuminates when the heater is active. There’s also a little clock icon that lights up when the timer is running. To the left of the temperature, there’s a fan icon, which indicates that the fan is running. There are also “Hi” and “Lo” indicators to let you know what heating power is being used.
This space heater is covered by a 12-month manufacturer’s warranty. That way, you’ll be protected from any defects in parts or workmanship. If anything fails prematurely, you’ll receive a free replacement or a refund.
Everyday Operation
So, we’ve discussed the PARIS RHÔNE space heater’s physical design. But how does it actually perform when you’re using it to heat your room? To begin with, the heating element gets hot very quickly. In fact, you’ll start feeling the heat within 2 seconds of turning it on. This is a major improvement from some other types of heater, which can take a minute or more. Not only that, but because this is a forced air heater, it spreads the heat around efficiently. This is different from a radiating heater, which takes longer to distribute the heat around the room.
The product literature describes three different heating modes, from 900 to 1,500 watts. This isn’t exactly the case. There are, indeed, 900 and 1,500-watt heating modes. However, the third mode isn’t really a “heating” mode. It’s a simple fan mode, without any heat. This actually makes the heater more versatile, since you can use it as a fan during the warmer months. The 900-watt setting, meanwhile, is suitable for smaller rooms or lower temperatures. The 1,500-watt setting is very powerful, and is suitable for higher temperatures and larger spaces.
In total, the PARIS RHÔNE heater is rated to heat rooms up to 270 square feet. This is actually a bit of a squishy number. In practice, your performance depends mostly on the demands you’re placing on the heater. If you need to heat a larger space by a few degrees, you’ll be able to. But the smaller the space, the more you’ll be able to increase the ambient temperature. What we can say definitively is that most household space heaters won’t go any higher than 1,500 watts. That’s because you’d need a 20-amp outlet to run a more powerful one. So unless you’re buying a much fancier heater, this is the most power you’re going to find.
When you turn on the heater, it will default to 95 degrees. From there, you can use the “+” and “-“ buttons to adjust it as desired. It can be as high as 95, or as low as 41 degrees. One thing we would have liked is a memory function, since it would have been more convenient. As is, whenever you move the heater to a different room, you have to reset the temperature. This is a minor inconvenience, but it’s worth pointing out.
In addition to adjusting the temperature, you can also set the heater on a timer. Tap the timer button, and you’ll add time in one hour increments, for as long as 12 hours. That way, if you want to run your space heater overnight, it will automatically shut off in the morning. Otherwise, the heater will run indefinitely. You can also activate or deactivate the oscillation function. When it’s oscillating, the heater will rotate 70 degrees, which helps distribute hot air better. But depending on your placement, it can sometimes make more sense to leave the direction stationary.
One thing to keep in mind about any space heater is that they’re going to dry out your air. That’s not a knock on any particular heater – it’s just physics. If you’re feeling dried out in your warm room, consider obtaining a humidifier, like the Levoit Dual 100.
Safety & Extras
The PARIS RHÔNE space heater is constructed from a flame-retardant plastic for safety purposes. In fact, it has a rating of V-0, which is one of the highest fire-resistance ratings available. In lab testing, the plastic is intentionally set aflame, and it goes out by itself within 10 seconds. That’s good to hear, but it would be ideal if the heater never caught fire to begin with. For that reason, there’s internal circuitry to detect overheating. If the housing starts to get too hot, the heating element will shut off automatically. Along the same lines, there’s also a tilt sensor inside. This will shut the heater off if it tilts by more than 45 degrees. You don’t have to worry about it starting a fire because it got kicked or knocked over.
One last feature we should mention is the display dimmer. When the controls aren’t used for a few minutes, the LED display will automatically shut off. That way, it won’t keep you awake at night.
This is a great little space heater for many purposes. But like any electric space heater, it’s not suitable for use in a vehicle. This is bad news if you have a van or a truck with a sleeper cab. In those situations, it’s best to use a Chinese diesel heater. They run on your vehicle’s fuel, and they’re a very popular choice with truckers.
Final Verdict
The PARIS RHÔNE 1500W Portable Heater is one of the better-designed heaters on today’s market. It’s lightweight and portable, and surprisingly powerful for the size. It doubles as a fan, which makes it versatile enough for summertime use. It also has all the safety features you’d expect from a quality space heater. If you’re looking for a reliable option, this is an excellent choice.
