The internet is currently flooded with ads for the Heatoor, a tiny plug-in ceramic heater promising to warm entire rooms for pennies. To see if it lives up to the hype, we bought one with our own money and set it up in an uninsulated 1910 villa bedroom during a brisk five-degree Wellington night.
The Real Power Meter Data
Our inline power meter revealed that the Heatoor draws exactly 500 watts of electricity on its high setting. While the marketing claims this low wattage can heat a large room, physics tells a different story in typical drafty New Zealand conditions.
After three hours of continuous operation, the ambient temperature in our 12-square-meter testing room rose by just 1.2 degrees Celsius. The device only provides noticeable warmth if you sit directly in its narrow path of hot air.
Calculating the Real Cost
Based on an average Kiwi electricity tariff of 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, running this 500-watt unit costs about 15 cents per hour. While that sounds cheap on paper, the lack of thermal output means you will likely keep it running constantly without ever achieving a comfortable room temperature.
Compare this to a standard 2000-watt oil column heater which costs around 60 cents per hour but cycles off via thermostat once the room is warm. The Heatoor simply lacks the raw heating capacity required to overcome typical NZ drafts.
Our Independent Verdict
The Heatoor is not a miracle heating breakthrough; it is a basic personal fan heater packaged in clever marketing. We recommend skipping this unit if you need to warm an actual living space, and investing instead in targeted draft-proofing or a thermostatically controlled panel heater.