A house in Australia usually needs both jobs done and has a budget for one. These pages work through the decisions in the order they actually come up: what kind of machine, then what size, then which brand.
The specifications here come from the energy and water rating labels, published noise figures and the retailer listings each product links to.
Start with the type question
These decide more than any brand comparison.
- Panel vs oil column vs ceramic vs fan heater: every plug-in heater costs the same to run, so the choice is noise, speed and what happens after switch-off.
- Ceramic heater vs fan heater: both blow warm air; one is quiet enough for a bedroom.
- Tower fan vs pedestal fan vs air circulator: only one of the three does anything when nobody is sitting in front of it.
- Portable air conditioner vs split system: a portable keeps the hot half of the machine in the room with you.
- Dyson purifier vs fan: whether the filter earns its price.
Heaters
- Noirot vs De'Longhi panel heaters
- Nobo vs Noirot panel heaters
- De'Longhi Dragon vs Radia S
- De'Longhi Dragon 4 Pro vs Dragon5
- De'Longhi vs Goldair heaters
- Dimplex vs De'Longhi heaters
Air conditioning
Fans, purifiers and dehumidifiers
Four things worth knowing before you shop
Every plug-in electric heater costs the same to run. A 2400-watt heater turns 2400 watts into 2400 watts of heat whether it is a $21 fan heater or a $450 panel. At around 32 cents a kilowatt-hour that is roughly 77 cents an hour flat out. The only thing that changes the bill is how often the thermostat lets it run, which is why insulation and a closed door beat any feature on the box.
A reverse-cycle split system is the exception. It moves heat rather than making it and returns roughly three to four kilowatts of warmth per kilowatt of electricity. In a room used every day through winter it costs a fraction of any plug-in heater to run, which is how the installation cost comes back over a few seasons.
Read the climate zone on the energy label, not the headline stars. Air conditioners carry separate ratings for hot, average and cold zones under the government scheme. The same Fujitsu 2.5kW unit rates 5.5 stars for cooling in a hot zone and 5 in an average one, and heating ratings are consistently lower than cooling ratings across the whole shelf.
Oversizing an air conditioner is its own problem. A unit much larger than the room cools fast, switches off before it has removed any humidity, and starts again minutes later. The room ends up cold and clammy and the compressor wears through short cycles.
