Comfort Zone Ceramic Oscillating Digital Review

The Comfort Zone space heater offers above-average heating abilities but is sidelined by high operational costs.

Performance Comparison

Personal Heat

To calculate the scores for personal heat, we took two key uses into consideration. The first was how well each heater could fit and function under a desk and the other was how well each heater worked when set up in an open room. The Comfort Zone has a medium-large footprint but isn't too tall to reasonably fit under most desks. It doesn't blast you with hot air but blows gently diffused warm air at a pleasant rate. This is great for maintaining a comfortable temperature but perhaps not ideal if you need to get warm quickly.

This heater was one of the best for feeling its at heat at a distance. Even when sitting six feet away from this unit, our testers could feel its comforting warmth washing over them. It wasn't the warmest stream of air but it covers more of your body than other models at a distance.

Convenience

Convenience refers to how intuitive and user-friendly each model is. We took into account things like the inclusion of a remote and how many settings each model has. The Comfort Zone can be operated in either a high or low setting and it gives you the option to select a specific temperature, ranging from 59 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It has a well-thought-out remote control, an oscillating body, and the ability to be used just as a fan. Additionally, it has a run timer that can be set in one-hour increments, from one to eight hours.

Small Room

To calculate how well each heater could heat a small room, we used a laboratory-grade thermometer to measure and record how much heat was added to our 161 square foot testing room over the span of an hour. We recorded the room temperature in twenty-minute intervals throughout the hour. When used in our small testing room, the Comfort Zone had promising results. While it's a bit slow to get started, after 20 minutes of operating, it heated our room up by eight degrees — one of the highest of any model. At the end of an hour of use, the room was a full 12 degrees warmer. These temperature increases are some of the highest in our fleet.

Power Consumption

Space heaters are known to be power-hungry and we wanted to know just how much energy each one was using. We used a wattmeter to measure the kilowatts per hour used by each heater. We used that number and multiplied it by the determined average of a kwh. This let us determine the cost per hour, 10 hours, a month, and so on.

As much as we loved the serious heat this until can crank out, it comes at a cost. The Comfort Zone was one of the most expensive heaters to operate. We considered a full day of use to be 10 hours, which cost $1.83 or $54.90 when run 10 hours a day over 30 days. This model has one of the highest operational costs in our test group.

Value

Whether or not this is a good buy will come down to some personal preference. If you want a heater that can crank out some serious heat and you don't mind a higher operational cost, you'll be pleased with your purchase. If you want something you can run all day long, you might be a little sticker-shocked when it comes time to pay your utility bill.

Conclusion