DeLonghi HMP1500 Mica Panel Heater

UPDATE: As my 5 Star Review reported, below, I was going to get more of these, and I did place an order for two more, for my office space and for another office area and they arrived a few days ago. WORK GREAT!!!! This truly is a new kind of heater in how it pours out consistent warmth, and gives an overall even feeling of heat better than any heater I've used (and I've used a lot over the years). I think what I like most is that it doesn't dry the air as much or ever make things stiflingly hot, like can happen with forced air space heaters. My Vornado, for example, is a proper heater, but I can wake up sometimes and it's just gotten way too hot in the room, even with the thermostat it has, but this one, WOW, once things get warm, adjust it to stay that way, and even by morning the place is just incredibly pleasant, no more chill but no stuffy overheating issues either. LOVE THIS HEATER!!! Oh, and as others have noted, pets love it too -- I have a stray cat at work that has adopted the place, and she often hangs out when I'm working late. She's skittish (not with me anymore -- will climb up on my chest to nap, never mind that I have work to do, haha) so new things are always scary, and she was really leery of this when I unboxed it and set it up, looking at it like it was not to be trusted, but, once I had it set up, she first slept a good ten feet away from it, where she could keep an eye on it, haha, but an hour later I found her sprawled out upside down next to it, happy as can be! ORIGINAL FIVE STAR REVIEW: So, my apartment has a useless little gas heater I don't use, but, with winter's chill now settling in, I am always on the lookout for something better than the space heaters I use now. The ones I have are pretty great -- the best one is a Vornado, and the other is an Optimus, and both are tops compared to any space heaters I've ever owned in the past -- but with a serious cold snap they have been pretty challenged to turn icy air into much of a warm breeze. Honestly, it's a little daunting, trying to heat your place with something other than a true forced air furnace of some sort, because almost no heater, whether ceramic, oil radiated, glorified hair dryer, whatever, seems to really get consistent reviews as a "good" solution for patched together heating strategies. For all of our great progress in America, it's amazing how many of us don't have warm homes, or just sound solutions for the chilly places in which we live. Even this one seems to have mixed reviews, but I was just honestly intrigued with the "new idea" concept of it, this flat panel that is light and portable and can even be hung on a wall, wow! It seemed worth a try, especially with the excellent return policies Amazon provides. My first impression? Bigger than I thought, and lighter than I imagined. You look at it and think...hmmm, really? This is a heater?? It more resembles a radiator pulled out of a truck or something, or, more accurately looks like a flat screen tv of some kind, and is, in fact, about the size of a 32" LCD television, more or less. It looks very modern, although, as I say, it is big (I assumed it to be much smaller, more like the usual floor space heater in size) and do be aware that, because it is light, it does roll around if you bump into it, at least on hardwood flooring. It does have a tip over safety switch, so that's good. It's totally stable, and I don't mean it tips over easily, but it rolls really well on a smooth flat surface, is all I'm saying. Assembly was super simple -- pre-installed screws in the bottom accommodate the feet, one at each end, and the feet have great little rollers. Long cord too, which is a bonus. Operation is by simple dials at the side -- Off, and then Minimum and Maximum on the top dial. The lower dial is temp control, from 1 though 6, plus a "frost" mode (will explain). It is thermostat controlled as well as able to be just turned on or off, so, crank it up to 6, let the room get to the temperature you want, then dial back the lower dial until you hear a click, and the heater will cycle on and off to maintain the temperature you've set. This is kind of a manual thermostat, in that you do not set a temperature setting, of like 65 degrees or something -- you let the room get to where you like it, then rotate back the dial to that point (which is when you hear the click) and basically you and the heater agree now on how warm you like the room. I actually prefer this because many space heater temp thermostats are not accurate, in my experience, so, setting it at 73 or whatever is not really reliable in terms of the room staying at that temperature. With this one, it goes by feel, so however you like the room on that day, which you then "set" on the lower dial, is how much heat it will try to maintain. The "frost" setting is very cool. Turn it to Max and set it on Frost (the little frost symbol on the dial) and the heater will never let the room drop below 41 degrees, it claims, or, in other words, won't let things get cold to the point of freezing. This setting is designed to accomplish this with minimal power usage, and I can see where this would come in useful for specific situations. The heat itself is fantastic. I can see why there are so many pics of pets snuggled to this -- it is a very pleasant radiation of heat that is, for lack of a better word, cozy. What you feel is a bubble of heat around and above (but not behind -- the back does not radiate heat) the heater, and, at first, it can seem like it is only warming a localized area, but leave it on, and warmth accumulates in the overall greater area. Because heating is concentrated most, nearest the unit, and takes a while to start heating up the room on a larger scale, I will say that I can agree with those on here who have had complaints, since this definitely seems more suited to a smaller, confined space than an open environment. Without any forced air to spread the emanated heat, this is much like a non-ducted fireplace, with the "most" heat felt, obviously, being in the area nearest the fire and it does take a few hours before the rest of the area starts to benefit from all of the wonderful heat pouring out. So, this is not something, in my opinion, that would do well if one expected to heat much of any space beyond the range of the unit itself... What is that range? Well, basically, the smaller the enclosed area, and the more enclosed it is, the better. A 250 square foot area, open on many sides, is not going to heat up as well as a 250 square foot room with just one entry, for example. I'm not sure at what point this heater is overwhelmed by the space it's trying to heat, but if you have any kind of larger, open, drafty real estate you're trying to warm up, just consider that (like any space heater, of course) effectiveness dims in proportion to the open square footage of your space. That being said, this performs "better" than the usual space heaters, for an area that is small and enclosed --the heat is more evenly distributed as time goes on and the "toasty warmth" zone is much larger than any fan heater. Like my Vornado, a fan heater is really only nicely warm in front of the very narrow spot where the heat is blowing and the further you are away from it, the more it's just a breeze you are feeling -- a not so warm breeze. That can be improved somewhat with oscillating heaters (like my Optimus) that help push heat around somewhat, but then the trade off is that you only get warmed directly when the heated air washes your way on its way past you -- and then you turn the oscillation off, in frustration, tired of waiting for your turn for heat as it sweeps left and right. With this version, this big space of radiation is certainly an improvement -- and I can see the wisdom of pets who want to steal a spot right in front -- because you have a "heat zone" that you can certainly feel, directly, extending out past the already larger dimensions of the heater itself (compared to most space heaters). That zone is about three feet wide, side to side, about two and half feet deep (meaning, 2.5 ft in front of the heater itself) and a good five feet high (in other words, three feet above the heater itself). As I said earlier, it's like a big heat bubble and, while you can't feel direct heat the further you get away from that bubble, the general room temperature starts to go up as time goes by. In that respect, it borrows some of what those oil-filled radiator heaters provide, as a heat source that takes more time to make heat in a bigger area, but, as the hours go by, is pretty effective at that task. With this one, after about five hours I find myself turning it down, when I've left it fixed at its highest setting, because the room is actually getting too warm. I like this heater enough that I am getting two more, for two offices at work that aren't well heated by the old central air system down there (it's an old building with poor duct work). Because they are somewhat small and very enclosed, I think this style of heater will prove more effective than the current "fan" style space heaters being used now, which are somewhat challenged to create a workable warmth. Like any heating unit, don't expect miracles from this. It's not a ducted system for whole home heating. My living room, for example, gets very nice with this heater, but step into the kitchen or dining area and that heat doesn't go around corners. On very cold days, I still rely on more than this unit, also turning on the oven, boiling a large pot of water without a lid (humidity is heat's best friend!) and I actually switch between this heater and my Vornado, kind of letting this one create the pleasant heat, then using the Vornado to distribute that heat around, then back to this one (I can't have them both on at once, since this is an older apartment and the fuses will blow if I have any two big draw appliances on the same circuit). So, it's a great tool to have in the war against the cold. Plus, it has the huge benefit of being silent in operation, so no more annoying fan noise if binge watching on the weekend or whatever, haha. Regarding complaints about the smell, yes, when first used, like, the very first time, it emanated an obvious odor, which I can assume is the burning off of whatever is on there from the factory. It was not stifling or overwhelming, and I didn't even need to open a window. It dissipated within hours and, for every use after, there has been no smell at all. So, that odor issue is a one time, first use thing only. Overall, I really think they are onto something with this fresh design, and it seems to combine a lot of the best aspects of good space heaters, and eliminates known drawbacks. Radiation heat is more even, it is a well-dispersed heat, it is highly portable, noiseless and is probably one of the most pleasant feeling warmths of any space heater in the heat it provides. I'm very pleased with this purchase, and confidently recommend it, if it suits the need you have. I hope this has helped -- thanks for reading!